How a coin flip with the Bulls landed the Mavericks the No. 1 pick

A rollercoaster season for the Mavericks came to a thrilling end on Monday, when Dallas was awarded the No. 1 overall pick for the first time in its history at the NBA Draft Lottery in Chicago.

As is the case with any lottery, luck played a huge part in the Mavericks winning the night’s biggest prize, but Dallas’s luck started well before the ping-pong balls dropped in their favor.

Last month, the Mavericks (39-43) won a coin flip with the Chicago Bulls (39-43) that gave them a 1.8% chance to win the draft lottery, as opposed to a 1.7% chance.

While the 0.1% jump might have been viewed as inconsequential at the time, it proved to be all the difference on Monday evening, as the Bulls ended up with the No. 12 pick.

Dallas will now have the opportunity the consensus No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg. Flagg averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.4 blocks per game in his freshman season at Duke.

The first round of the 2025 NBA Draft will take place on June 25 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

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