CHICAGO — The ping-pong balls have spoken: Cooper Flagg could be headed to Dallas to start out his NBA profession.
And a fan base that misplaced Luka Doncic this season might need a brand new star to cheer for.
The Mavericks received the NBA draft lottery on Monday evening, giving them the No. 1 decide in subsequent month’s draft — and the primary likelihood to take Flagg, the freshman who led Duke to the Remaining 4 in his lone school season and the consensus participant of the 12 months.
Dallas bucked large odds to get it finished, with solely a 1.8% likelihood to win the lottery coming into Monday. A Mavs crew that went to the NBA Finals final season, then scorned its followers by buying and selling away Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, left Chicago with the most important prize.
San Antonio — with back-to-back rookies of the 12 months in Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Citadel — will decide second, Philadelphia will decide third, and Charlotte will decide fourth.
Flagg averaged 19.2 factors, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists whereas main Duke to the Remaining 4 in his lone school season. He shot 48% from the sector, 39% from 3-point vary, 84% from the foul line and was The Related Press’ nationwide participant of the 12 months.
And he’s had success towards NBA gamers already. Final summer time, when the U.S. Olympic crew was holding its coaching camp in Las Vegas upfront of the Paris Video games — the place the People received gold but once more — Flagg was a part of the choose crew introduced in to scrimmage towards the Olympians.
Flagg, who was 17 years previous on the time, greater than held his personal in these exercises.
Utah will decide fifth, Washington sixth, New Orleans seventh, Brooklyn eighth, Toronto ninth, Houston tenth, Portland eleventh, Chicago twelfth, Atlanta thirteenth and San Antonio 14th.
