The Dallas Mavericks lost their franchise player, but they will get one right back.
In a suspiciously odd turn of events, the Mavericks came out on top in the 2025 NFL Draft Lottery.
They only had a 1.8% chance of winning the lottery.
However, NBA analyst Bill Simmons saw it coming two months ago.
Shortly after the infamous Luka Doncic trade, the renowned analyst claimed that the NBA would save basketball in Dallas and reward them with that selection.
“I’ll make a prediction. Because we saw this in 2011, when Cleveland miraculously won the lottery the year after LeBron [James] left. I just think Dallas [Mavericks] wins the lottery now,” Simmons predicted.
The Mavs may have had just a 1.8% chance to win the NBA draft lottery, but @BillSimmons saw this coming back in March. 🔮 pic.twitter.com/fZk7nNH0NR
— The Ringer (@ringer) May 13, 2025
While the narrative about the NBA being scripted is full of holes and doesn’t add up, it’s hard not to have some doubts about this outcome.
For starters, it would be the second time in the last six years that a team with low odds of getting the No. 1 pick gets him right after dealing their star player to the Los Angeles Lakers.
Then again, we’ve seen this kind of thing happen multiple times in the past.
LeBron James going to Cleveland, Derrick Rose to Chicago, Patrick Ewing to New York City, or the San Antonio Spurs getting Victor Wembanyama.
To add insult to injury, the Chicago Bulls and Miami Heat could’ve also gotten the pick, but didn’t.
The Bulls lost a coin toss to the Mavericks, and they got the spot the Heat could’ve gotten if they had lost in the Play-In Tournament.
Whether the lottery is rigged or not is not up to us, but you have to feel great for Mavs fans.
They definitely needed a win, even if that meant that Nico Harrison got to make the pick.
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