The NBA lottery happened last week and rumors have been circulating over the draft being rigged. As many people know the Dallas Mavericks traded their star player Luka Doncic to the Lakers for Anthony Davis. This trade was seen as the worst trade in sports history causing a lot of backlash on the mavericks franchise especially on the GM Nico Harrison. This trade was especially weird due to Luka Doncic just taking the Mavericks to the finals the year before. Due to the Mavericks doing that ridiculous trade many have speculated that some strings were pulled behind the scenes to make sure the mavs got the first pick. The NBA is all about ratings and with ratings getting lower they needed something to get them back up. When the Luka trade happened that’s all the sports world talked about boosting the ratings of the NBA. Especially since Luka was traded to one of the biggest franchises, the Lakers. The weird thing about this is the Dallas Mavericks only had a 1.8% chance of getting the first round pick. This draft is especially huge since one of the most talked about prospects of all time is in this draft Cooper Flagg.
Cooper Flagg is a 6 ‘9 forward who is not only good on offense but is also elite on defense. Defense is a huge part of the NBA and is what Nico Harrison favors saying on multiple occasions that defense is key. This is especially important considering that Luka is one of the worst players on defense. Cooper Flagg averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds and 4.2 ast with a blk and a steal every game in the 24-25 season at duke. Since Cooper Flagg was entering the draft it put a huge audience on it. Everyone was waiting to see where he would end up. When big name prospects like Cooper Flagg enter the draft people expect him to go to one of the teams with the worse records.
The thing about the NBA draft is that it doesn’t work like the NFL draft; the worst team doesn’t get the first pick guaranteed. They use a lottery system with 14 ping pong balls and each team has a different combination. The worse your regular season record is, the higher chance you have. The NBA does this behind closed doors which lead many to speculate that they rig the results. These theories haven’t only been around for this draft it happens with almost every big name Lebron to the Cavs, Shaq to the Magic etc.
People will always think things are rigged especially if the prospect is talked about. The Dallas Mavericks weren’t the only team to jump in the lottery; the San Antonio Spurs jumped up to number 2 with only having a 6% chance. Another example is last year the Hawks only had a 3% chance of getting the number pick but still did. Yet that is never talked about due to the draft not being as hyped up as this one. The lottery is based all on luck and even though the odds were against them it wasn’t impossible. With the Mavs making such a blockbuster trade a few months ago and Cooper Flagg being in the draft makes fans analyze everything; but there is no definitive evidence of the NBA draft rigging the lottery, only speculations.
