What the Mavs and Spurs SHOULD do with their Top 2 picks | 2025 NBA Draft

What the Mavs and Spurs SHOULD do with their Top 2 picks | 2025 NBA Draft

[Music] Where were you when things turned upside down in the association? I personally was in my kitchen. I could not believe seeing that the Dallas Mavericks won the NBA lottery last night securing the number one overall pick. They had a 1.8% chance of securing that number one overall pick. In fact, I think when they entered this conversation, they were sitting at 11. Instead, it is Dallas taking over that number one spot. So, not only do we get the number one overall pick in the NBA, remember we just locked up Paige Beckers in the WNBA championship. Everyone’s laughing, including LeBron James. Um, I also laughed, guys, because I couldn’t believe this happened. I probably laughed as much as LeBron James did, but LeBron doesn’t get to laugh because he got our superstar Luca Donuch. Um, so we’re all happy. We all got what we want, it seems. As we welcome back Ashley Nicole Moss, we also bring in our basketball analyst and draft expert Kyle Boon. Kyle, I am coming to you first. You have watched me this entire basketball season as the Mavs traded away our generational star. How on earth did we get so lucky with that first number one overall pick? And I’ll take it a step further as well. What does Nico Harrison do with it? Look, I I think you kind of deserved it after the last year that Dallas Mavericks fans have had. I think you got to give me the flowers. A 1.8% chance. Definitely not likely. Uh, but Dallas, you know, for the first time wins the lottery since it since it was implemented in 1985. And Dallas has had really unfortunate luck in the lottery since the lottery system was in place. This is actually the first time ever they moved up from their pre-l position. So, you know, if ever there was a chance to win the lottery, this is the year Cooper flag the ultimate prize and come away with, you know, one of the best prospects in a long time. And you know, after trading Luca Donets earlier this year, Dallas has struggled with injuries. Uh, you know, the the fan base has, you know, threatened to riot and, you know, now things are starting to turn around in Dallas. Good for them, man. I I truly still don’t believe it. I will see what happens. I know everyone though doesn’t share my same excitement, my same sentiment. I am talking about the woman to my left and Ashley. Um, a Ashley, we know that there’s this narrative, right, in the NBA that the system is rigged, right? And we see that across the board. Um, but when you think about how the lottery system works, Utah the worst team in the league by far last year and they end up with the fifth overall pick. Is the system fair? No. And and look, I’m not condoning teams tanking and that’s what the lottery is supposed to prevent. It’s supposed to discourage tanking. But the issue is is that the lottery also has resulted in not doing what the primary goal is, and that is to help the worst teams in the NBA get better. And when you look at Utah, when you look at the Wizards for example, yes. Were there some instances throughout their season, Utah specifically, where it seemed like they were actively trying to tank? Sure. Would that have ultimately made a difference in how bad they were this particular season? No. It was just a bad team. The Wizards were just a bad team. But when you look at since the NBA changed their lottery system in 2019, the teams with the worst record in the league have never won the lottery and picked first overall. They have always picked fifth overall. So if you’re looking at this and you are a team actively struggling and you are trying to compete and it’s not like you’re tanking, which again I’m not condoning at all and the lottery is not trying to reward. It’s frustrating because how do you get better? Utah is not a sexy market for free agents. Uh Washington be clamoring to go to Utah. Nobody’s clamoring to go to Utah. It’s kind of like what Cleveland was after LeBron left. And you know, there are just some markets that struggle to get those big names. And because of that, by byproduct, they don’t perform well in the regular season. So if you are those teams, how do you possibly get better? Free agents are out of the mix. The lottery just constantly seems rigged. And it doesn’t matter how bad you are, you’ll never get that first pick. A team like the Dallas Mavericks with a 1.8% chance and traded away a generational player in Luca just to be rewarded to get the best two-way player in the draft in Cooper Flag. If you are a team that has been actively struggling, if you are a team in an organization that has been struggling for years, you’re extremely frustrated because how do you rectify your situation? I don’t know if the algorithm needs to be changed. I’m not sure if the lottery itself needs to be um adjusted, but the way that it is currently constructed and the results that are constantly being pushed out every single year just defeat the purpose, which is to try to even the playing field in the NBA and not have really, really, really great teams and really, really bad teams. There’s always going to be a level of disperseness between good teams, bad teams, middle of the road teams, but you can’t get better if you’re not in the game. And every time it seems a bad team is in the game, they get cheated out of it. Kyle, I’d love to hear your stance on this because Ashley brings up some great points, but I’ll push back just a little bit in saying that the Mavs did lose a lot when we traded away Luca. They were in the They were, but it wasn’t all smooth sailing is my point here. So, when you look at the lottery, how do you Does it need to be changed? I think Ashley nailed a lot of points here. I I think the idea of changing the lottery system like they did in 2019 where they flattened the odds um and essentially took the worst team, the worst record and had a 25% chance to win the lottery. It now goes to 14% chance for the three worst teams. I think they had the right idea in mind. Uh but the execution and the way that has played out uh since 2019 just has not been ideal. The team with the worst record has not picked number one since 2019. That’s since the new imple implementation of the new system that since the flattened lottery odds, the team with the worst record has now fallen to the number five pick three years in a row. And you just have to feel for, you know, the Washington Wizards, the Charlotte Hornets, the Utah Jazz, teams that, you know, realistically could have altered their course of their franchise futures last night, falling out of a potential number one pick, out of a chance to draft Cooper Flag. And meanwhile, Dallas Mavericks with a one 1.8% chance get to pick number one in this summer’s draft. Listen, I feel bad for all those other teams, but not that bad. No, you don’t. I get it. I’ll take it. Um Kyle, as we push this forward here, we know the Spurs were one literally seconds away from earning that number one overall pick, but not far off there at number two. When you look at the roster they’ve got currently, obviously WBY working back from the deep vein thrombosis, you got De’arren Fox, the trade that came as well um from the West Coast. Listen, the rookie of the year in Stefon Castle, just to name a couple of pieces there, who could be a good compliment at number two for them. Don’t overthink it here. It’s Dylan Harper. I think he’s the clear second prospect in this year’s draft class. It falls off obviously after Cooper flag, but Dylan Harper, 6’6, combo guard from Ruters, the son of Ron Harper, who played in the NBA. He’s got a ton of experience. He’s got a good pedigree. He’s a former five-star recruit. averaged uh one of the most prolific scorers in college basketball as a true freshman this last season. I think he’d be a great pairing next to Victor Womenyama. Really good addition in the back court. Can play multiple positions. I think Victor Womenyama Dylan Harper, that team is set for success for a really long time in the Western Conference. All right, we’ll see how it all works out, guys. Thanks so much. Go Maps. Uh by the way, uh the city is up, man. That’s all I can say. We are certainly up. Here’s a look at those NBA prospect rankings. You can find the full list on cbsports.com. No surprise, Cooper Flag is up there at number one. Got to think Dallas is leaning that way or maybe even leading a trade. That’s a story for another day. But Dylan Harper checking in at that number two spot. Kyle Boon likes the idea of him linking up with Wimi out in San Antonio.

Ashley Nicole Moss and Kyle Boone join CBS Sports HQ to discuss if a change is needed for the NBA Draft lottery and what the Mavs and Spurs should do with their picks.

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