SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — The ping-pong balls have spoken: Cooper Flagg might be headed to Dallas to start his NBA career.

And a fan base that lost Luka Doncic this season might have a new star to cheer for.

The Mavericks won the NBA draft lottery on Monday night, giving them the No. 1 pick in next month’s draft — and the first chance to take Flagg, the freshman who led Duke to the Final Four in his lone college season and the consensus player of the year.

Dallas bucked huge odds to get it done, with only a 1.8% chance to win the lottery coming into Monday. A Mavs team that went to the NBA Finals last season, then scorned its fans by trading away Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, left Chicago with the biggest prize.

San Antonio — with back-to-back rookies of the year in Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle — will pick second, Philadelphia will pick third, and Charlotte will pick fourth.

Flagg averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 assists while leading Duke to the Final Four in his lone college season. He shot 48% from the field, 39% from 3-point range, 84% from the foul line and was The Associated Press’ national player of the year.

And he’s had success against NBA players already. Last summer, when the U.S. Olympic team was holding its training camp in Las Vegas in advance of the Paris Games — where the Americans won gold yet again — Flagg was part of the select team brought in to scrimmage against the Olympians.

Flagg, who was 17 years old at the time, more than held his own in those workouts.

Utah will pick fifth, Washington sixth, New Orleans seventh, Brooklyn eighth, Toronto ninth, Houston 10th, Portland 11th, Chicago 12th, Atlanta 13th and San Antonio 14th.

Ashley Smith represented the Utah Jazz at the lottery in Chicago.

NBA Draft Lottery Order:Dallas MavericksSan Antonio SpursPhiladelphia 76ersCharlotte HornetsUtah JazzWashington Wizards New Orleans PelicansBrooklyn NetsToronto RaptorsHouston RocketsPortland Trail BlazersChicago BullsAtlanta HawksSan Antonio SpursMORE | 2025 NBA Draft Lottery:

The Jazz have been in the lottery the last three years, ever since trading away their two superstars – Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell.

Since moving Gobert to Minnesota and Mitchell to Clevelend, Utah has reportedly been on a mission to secure a top spot in the lottery – if not the Number 1 pick.

Utah started the 2022-23 season with a 10-3 record – seemingly forgetting they were supposed to lose their way into the lottery. However, they went 27-42 the rest of the season.

They had the NBA’s ninth worst team and didn’t move sports in the lottery. Utah picked Taylor Hendricks from Central Florida. Since entering the league, he’s averaged 7.1 points and 4.7 rebounds in 21.7 minutes.

The Jazz took a 31-51 record into the 2023-24 NBA Lottery. They moved up (or down) one spot in the overall rankings. With the eighth worst record in the league, Utah got the 10th spot in the lottery.

Utah picked Cody Williams from Colorado. In his rookie season, Williams averaged 4.6 points and 2.3 points in 21.2 minutes.

After three years of developing young talent, Utah had the worst record in the NBA during the 2024-25 season. They won a franchise record low of 17 games, losing the remaining 65.

The highest selection Utah has ever had was in 1980 when they picked Darrell Griffith with the second over pick.

The New Orleans Jazz had the top pick in the 1979 NBA Draft, but traded it to the Los Angeles Lakers, who took Magic Johnson.

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