DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks struck gold in the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery after receiving the No. 1 overall pick. The lottery news came a few months after Dallas traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. While Mavs GM Nico Harrison told reporters that “fortune favors the bold” after selecting Cooper Flagg in the NBA Draft on Wednesday night, Wings star Arike Ogunbowale admitted that it was a “blessing” for the Mavs.

“Cooper, he's amazing,” Ogunbowale told reporters after Wings practice on Thursday. “I mean, he's a two-way player, you know, three-level scorer. Seems like a humble kid. It's amazing that after the Luka situation Dallas was able to get the number one pick. That was kind of a blessing there.”

Ogunbowale — who has played for the Wings since 2019 — has seen the Mavs endure their share of ups and downs over the past few years. Doncic and Ogunbowale were in Dallas for similar time-frames, as Doncic made his Mavs debut in 2018. They led the NBA and WNBA Dallas teams until Doncic was traded in 2025.

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Regardless, Ogunbowale believes the Mavericks can find success during the upcoming 2025-26 season with Flagg on the roster.

“Obviously having Kyrie (Irving) back whenever he gets healthy, having AD (Anthony Davis) back, think they just signed (Daniel) Gafford back,” Ogunbowale continued. “Like, it's just gonna be a really good team. It's gonna be exciting. I've been to a lot of Dallas Mavs games and the energy is always crazy so especially getting a number one pick, I think is gonna be crazier.

“So I'm excited to go to games this year.”

It sounds like Arike Ogunbowale plans to attend at least a few Mavericks games during the NBA season. Her next appearance at the American Airlines Center will come much earlier, though, as the Wings will host the Indiana Fever on Friday night at the AAC.