Did the NBA get that right? Nico Harrison must be beaming right now. No one knows if he got lucky, or if this was his master plan all along. The entirety of Dallas wanted his head on a stick after trading Luka Doncic to the Lakers. Even active NBA players were questioning this decision. But the lottery spin from today’s Front Office Show has turned the tide in the Mavericks’ favour drastically, and the fans are not having it.

No one thought giving away your brightest prospect in decades would make sense at all. Their season eventually came crashing down, just about making the play-ins after finishing #10 in the West. But they tanked that too, giving Jason Kidd and Harrison more time on the drawing board. But the host of the Front Office Show has tweeted about the lottery spin for the 2025 NBA draft, which has surprised the NBA, to say the least.

This was all that Nico Harrison needed. He’d mentioned many times how unhappy he was with Luka in the squad. And they’re missing a go-to point-getter in their squad since his trade. With a 1.8% chance to get the overall #1 pick in the draft, it opens up a huge avenue for Harrison to improve the squad. But the fans aren’t believing it for another minute.

Nico Harrison’s luck not sitting well with NBA fans

The most obvious notions to this can be summed up by the comments that read, “No shot that shit is happening” and “Worst outcome”. The fans don’t know whether it’s just sheer luck from the Mavs’ side, or more towards the possibility of the lottery being rigged

The lottery pick is mainly designed for the teams that didn’t make the playoffs. It’s so that they have a higher chance of getting better players from the NCAA or otherwise and improving their teams. We all saw the fortunes of the Mavs after the Don settled elsewhere. Purposefully or not, their season tanked and they got better chances in the odds.

Does this speak towards the possibility of it being rigged? This fan certainly thought so when they said, “Adam Silver has already started trying to bail Dallas out of their mess. If they get a decent pick we know why.” This isn’t too outside the realm of possibility. Let’s break it down.

Nico Harrison is known to have his way, and achieve it in secrecy. It says a lot when you managed the most blockbuster trade in history and even transfer brokers didn’t know about it. While working with Nike, his team were called the “Marines” for keeping all communications in the gray. His relations with NBA Commissioner Adam Silver are also top notch. Could this prove the fact that it all worked in his favour? It seems too easy to chalk it down to chance.

Another comment read, “The basketball Gods cannot allow that to happen because that’s ridiculous. Do they instantly win the trade if that’s correct?” Yes, but not exactly.

If you see the tweet correctly, it does state that the Mavs only have a 1.8% chance of getting the #1 overall pick, and only an 8.5% chance of coming in the top 4. But if you go back to last season’s draft, even the Hawks had only a 3% chance of having the #1 pick. They defied all the odds, and got that pick. So you can never count the chance factor out of this equation.

I mentioned that they need a go-to point-getter in their team. Kyrie Irving is out with an ACL tear, and a January 2026 return would be his best-case scenario. They can’t go half a season without him, only to then pin all hopes on him for the next half. So, what’s the reprieve? If you’re Nico Harrison, you should be looking at one name- Cooper Flagg.

One fan already caught wind of the rumor, stating “nico harrison would treat flagg right u cant lie.” Nico’s scouting is unbelievable. So how would Flagg look in the Dallas royal blue and black?

Well, even getting him is a tall task at the moment. For now, they just won the tie breaker with the Bulls due to having the same season record. Their odds at the No.1 pick are only gone up 0.1% after having won this tiebreaker.

When everything is said and done, this draft class could be one of the strongest in recent memory, so the Mavericks should be able to unearth some decent talent to help their team finish in the back half of the lottery. Media sites have already spoken about Flagg being the only way to redeem the Doncic trade.

Has it all worked out for Nico Harrison? Not yet. It all will when we see Cooper Flagg announced. That’s the dream scenario. That’s the only way his name can be redeemed in the city of Dallas. But until then, he’s still public enemy no. 1.