The Dallas Mavericks had perhaps the craziest year for an NBA team ever in 2025, when their general manager went rogue and traded young franchise centerpiece Luka Dončić, only to be saved by winning the NBA Draft lottery.
That general manager, Nico Harrison, has since been fired. New ownership realized that entrusting him with full autonomy over the organization was a mistake.
But conveniently, the franchise had already been gifted a full reset by lucking into the opportunity to draft Duke’s Cooper Flagg, a generational prospect already setting the league on fire as a 19-year-old rookie.
The 180-degree spin from losing to Dončić to getting Flagg was almost too good to be true.
Indeed, in a recent appearance on the Chapo Trap House podcast, investigative podcaster Pablo Torre suggested that some owners in the league believe Dallas’ fortunes in its opportunity to draft Flagg may have been about more than luck.
“I remember I was at an event, and I spoke to two NBA owners. This was the day after the NBA lottery. And those two owners were both like, ‘This was obviously fixed,’” Torre said.
“I’ll tell you that I remember I was at an event and I spoke to two NBA owners. This was the day after the NBA lottery. And those two owners were both like, this was obviously fixed.” – @PabloTorre on Dallas winning the draft lottery
Via Chapo Trap House: https://t.co/Mskn1D21Jd pic.twitter.com/AGNHOrhwca
— Dru (@dru_star) February 18, 2026
While Torre emphasized that these owners were merely expressing concerns, he said he was sharing the story to show that NBA fans are not the only ones who wondered about the strange sequence of events from the Dončić trade to lottery night.
“I’m saying literally two NBA owners did not trust the hand of Adam Silver to remain out of the proceedings, in terms of rigging the NBA Draft lottery,” Torre said.
Starting in 2019, the NBA smoothed out the odds it gives teams in its draft lottery. The top four teams now have an equal chance of receiving the top overall pick, while teams higher in the standings now have greater odds.
These changes have led to several shocks on lottery night, beyond the Mavericks winning with just a 1.8 percent chance. The Atlanta Hawks won the 2024 lottery (albeit ahead of a far weaker draft) with just a 3 percent chance.
As for Torre’s sources, their response was the same as anyone’s the day after Dallas’ surprise win. Competitors love to talk trash, and Torre had a chance to hear from two rival owners the day after the Mavericks went from a laughingstock to a concern once again.
But never before has a team in such dire straits, with incredibly wealthy new owners, been on the receiving end of such a massive boost. While Dallas looks ahead to a bright future with Flagg, the rest of the NBA is seemingly still skeptical as to how the Mavs ended up here.