The NBA's top draft pick will introduce himself to North Texas in a matter of hours.
Eighteen-year-old Cooper Flagg will host his first press conference Friday in Dallas.
"I think he's made for Dallas," said Mavericks CEO Rick Welts.
The franchise-changing selection follows the Mavs’ miraculous stroke of luck when the team won the NBA Draft Lottery in May.
“When we won the lottery, I think in the three days following that we sold $8 million worth of new season tickets, which is quite extraordinary. Obviously, phones are ringing off the hook today,” Welts told NBC 5 on Thursday, the day after the first round of the draft.
Welts was at Wednesday’s watch party at the American Airlines Center, along with 6,000 fans there to witness the team's top pick.
“I was struck with how many kids were there last night. We also drafted a player who won’t turn 19 until next December, so I think there’s a real opportunity for a whole new generation of Mavs fans to have their hero,” said Welts.
The line of fans waiting to buy a Cooper Flagg jersey extended down the concourse at the AAC. Welts said about 2,000 were sold at the team store.
It was a memorable night, he said, from start to finish.
“It is my first Dallas experience of getting high-fives from random fans while walking my dogs at 11 o’clock at night, so that was fun,” recalled Welts.
The celebration comes after a tumultuous season of injuries and trades that led to fan protests.
But defying a 1.8% chance of winning the draft lottery put the Mavs back on top.
When asked if there was ever a doubt that Flagg would be the team’s first pick, Welts replied, “If it hadn’t been, I think I would probably be in witness protection program today, so I was certainly relieved when we made the pick.”
NBC 5 sat down with Welts right before he flew to New York to bring the superstar and his tight-knit family back to Dallas, where Flagg will wear jersey No. 32—his mom's number from high school.
“You can’t make this up. If I had made up that story, you wouldn’t have believed me,” said Welts. “It’s a wonderful story and probably says everything about him.”