The Dallas Mavericks shocked the NBA world when they won the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery on Monday night. By being awarded the first-overall pick, which they had a 1.8% chance of securing, the Mavs have guaranteed themselves the ability to draft Cooper Flagg, a generational forward talent.

Although some noise has been made about GM Nico Harrison and the team possibly exploring trade avenues for Giannis Antetokounmpo or other superstars by dangling Flagg and the first pick in this year's draft, that won't be the case. The Mavericks fully intend on keeping the first pick in the 2025 NBA Draft to select Flagg, according to Tim MacMahon of ESPN.

Trading away the ability to draft Flagg isn't something the Mavs will “entertain,” as Flagg can be an immediate contributor to the organization's championship dreams.

The Mavericks have been under a ton of heat from their fans over the last few months in the aftermath of trading superstar guard Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in the deal that involved Anthony Davis. Harrison has received the most scrutiny from this decision, as fans in Dallas have been calling for him to be fired for weeks.

There were long-term concerns about the Mavericks' business model and that of the city of Dallas because Luka was no longer the face of the franchise. Now that they own the first-overall pick and can draft Flagg, a lot of these tensions are eased since the presumable first pick commands a large spotlight.

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Patrick Dumont, the Mavs newest owner, considers this opportunity to draft Flagg a “gift,” according to MacMahon. The organization has no intentions of seeing Flagg wear a different team's jersey, as this is the best thing that could have happened to the Mavericks since trading Luka.

Flagg has long been viewed as the best player in the 2025 draft class for quite some time.

Aside from being named the 2025 National Player of the Year and a consensus first-team All-American for leading Duke to the Final Four, Flagg stood out when he went up against the league's best in Las Vegas last summer when he was a part of the USA Basketball Select Team.

He is ranked first on ClutchPoints' 2025 NBA Draft Big Board 1.0, as well as projected to be the first pick in ClutchPoints' 2025 NBA Mock Draft 1.0. 

Flagg will be the first pick in this year's draft, and he will be heading to Dallas despite ongoing conversations among fans claiming that the team should pursue other avenues on the trade market.