Another star headed West after NBA Draft lottery breaks for Mavericks

The No. 1 pick in the NBA Draft is headed West for the second time in three seasons with the Dallas Mavericks winning the NBA Draft lottery on Monday despite longshot odds of 1.8%.

The Mavericks go from winning the West and earning a trip to the NBA Finals just a year ago to trading Luka Doncic and getting the No. 1 pick just a year later. That top pick is by consensus expected to be Cooper Flagg, just like two years ago when the San Antonio Spurs shot up to get the generational Victor Wembanyama. The Spurs, also moved up this year to No. 2 in the lottery, which will give two teams in the West elite players.

As a freshman, Flagg scored 19 points per game at Duke, taking them to an ACC title and a Final Four. The 6-foot-9 forward from the state of Maine was a consensus All-American and won the John Wooden Award for college player of the year in his lone season on campus.

He’s a two-way force with wild upside, strong rebounding skills and an ability to play a few different positions. He’ll slide into the Mavs next to future Hall of Famers Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis, as well as a core with many role players who were in the NBA Finals a year ago. Dallas is an instant contender, even with the shock trade of NBA All-Star Doncic to the Lakers for not a ton a few months ago.

Also, a contender will be the Spurs, who can utilize the No. 2 pick in a trade to get another star around Wemby, already doing so at the deadline with the pickup of De’Aaron Fox. That team was on a postseason path but faded after both Greg Popovich and Wemby suffered medical issues. In their rough end to the season, Stephon Castle stepped up and won Rookie of the Year. They may be further away than Dallas, but could supercharge their rebuild via trade or by adding one of two Rutgers stars in Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey, who are expected to be the second and third picks.

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Also on Monday, the Giannis Antetokounmpo rumors heated up with several Western Conference teams expected to try trading for him this summer. Both teams mentioned because of the lottery should also be watched on that.

The West is and has been for years, the better conference for years, making things again tougher on the Denver Nuggets. Not only do they compete for playoff spots with these teams, but they also play more games against them and need to win the West in order to get to the NBA Finals.

The Nuggets do not have a lot of options for moves this offseason, but at 2-2 with the Thunder in Round 2 — their hopes are still alive now, unlike these other teams — though the window could be shortening with the talent once again coming West.