The Dallas Mavericks shocked the basketball world when they landed the No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft Lottery, despite holding just a 1.8% chance of securing the top selection.
Just months after unexpectedly trading away former franchise cornerstone Luka Doncic midseason, the Mavericks now have a chance to usher in a new era with Duke Blue Devils freshman sensation Cooper Flagg — the consensus No. 1 pick for much of the past year.
Although the NBA draft is still 12 days away, Dallas may have already tipped its hand. A photo of Flagg appeared on the team’s official website, seemingly welcoming him to the franchise and sparking widespread speculation that the Mavericks have made their decision.
"Front Office Sports" further fueled the buzz, posting: “The Mavs have seemingly announced their selection of Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 pick on their website. The draft is in 12 days,” along with a screenshot of the image in question.
Fans reacted to the news:
"Announcing it 12 days early is wild," a fan said.
"The Mavs stay embarrassing themselves," another fan posted.
Someone else added, "They didn't "announce" it, this is clearly just a publishing mistake on the website. They announced their draft party and likely updated the wrong graphic by mistake."
One more fan commented, "Can we get any more embarrassing? Like seriously man. It stinks. Because I know it’s an honest mistake by someone, but we are already so far under the microscope."
It was likely a publishing error, as it’s highly unusual for an NBA team to announce its draft selection weeks before draft night — even in a case like this, where Cooper Flagg is widely expected to be the No. 1 pick.
Flagg, the standout freshman from Duke, led the Blue Devils to the Final Four and dominated across the stat sheet. He averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game, leading the team in nearly every major statistical category.