RUMOR: NBA Owners Think Cooper Flagg Lottery was Rigged for Mavs | So What if it Was?
A rumor about the NBA Draft Lottery has sparked major controversy (again…), with questions swirling about whether the process is rigged, especially after the Dallas Mavericks landed Cooper Flagg with just a 1.8% chance of getting the #1 pick. Dive deep into the Mavs’ tanking strategies, the impact on the team’s future, and how Kyrie Irving, Mark Cuban, and the rest of the NBA shape the conversation around draft fairness and league operations.
Hosted by Nick Angstadt, this episode explores the Dallas Mavericks’ approach to rebuilding, Mark Cuban’s candid thoughts on tanking and fan experience, and the ongoing adjustments for the Mavs following the Kyrie Irving situation. Join the discussion as Nick Angstadt unpacks narratives about NBA conspiracies, the structure of the Draft Lottery, and how rookie contracts like Cooper Flagg’s give teams an edge. The episode also references other teams and players including the Utah Jazz, Toronto Raptors, and Miami Heat, as well as figures like Jason Kidd. Tune in to hear a breakdown of the future for the Mavs and what Cooper Flagg means in this new era.
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42 Comments
Mavs getting a top5 pick this year also…remember. Mavs, never EVER moved up in draft. How many standard deviations in this scenario?
if it was rigged, it makes me worried cooper will have no reason to be loyal to Dallas
30 members of Seal Team 6 died all at once, three months after getting "Bin Laden", that is legitimate too… right? Folks, if they can do things like that, rigging ping pong balls is actually kind of easy.
I’ll never forget seeing the Mavs name at the top of the draft picks. I was genuinely furious. I was pacing around my room wanting to throw shit. Called my GF and Dad pissed because I felt betrayed by the sport I loved.
The second that happened I knew in my heart the Luka trade was rigged.
Nico should be arrested for fraud.
Yeah no shit who cares. If so it’s the closest thing to justice we could get after the NBA allowing a trade that 2K wouldn’t allow, that destroyed the value of the team for years and robbed the Mavs fanbase and Luka of another legacy like Dirk’s…..
The lottery has been rigged for decades more than likely. Last year was just blatantly obvious.
What am I still mad about? Dallas was in the freaking FINALS. The FINALS with a team of good guys you could pull for. Now, you are hoping on unknown picks to lead you to the promised land. This really feels like the Pelicans situation to me. Bad for a long, long, long time.
I watched the draft lottery live and cried when we made it top 4 and it kept getting better with every team called that wasn't us
By the way, why do you think Ernst and Young wouldn't play ball with the NBA? Plausible deniability is a wonderful thing.
It wasn't "rigged" it's more like compensation for letting Luka go to LAL. Coop was the replacement
It was rigged as a deal to save ratings by sending Luka to lakers to save ratings in exchange for cooper
The implications that the lottery was rigged can only mean one thing, that the conspiracy theorists were right. How about an investigation.
They still owe us another top 4 pick since they completely obliterated our championship window when they stole Luka from us. We will be waiting until around 2031-2033 (when Coop enters his prime) to even begin seriously competing again (unless Coop has unprecedented growth in his game in the next couple years).
Of course, to the league, this is only a problem when the Mavs win #1 pick and not when the Spurs go #1, #4, and #2 in three straight years.
In other words, the Luka trade was for AD, Christie, a #1 pick, and Flagg. What's not to like? Nico fell on his sword for an organizational decision.
BTW, does anybody remember the auditing firm, Arthur Andersen? At their peak, they rivaled Ernst & Young. Their downfall is proof that auditors like Ernst & Young can be corrupted. It happens on Wall Street all the time.
I've always humored the idea of the draft being rigged, but Cooper to Dallas after the Luka trade was just too obvious 😂
A lot of small minds will claim "The lottery is rigged!" but none of them will be able to explain how it could be rigged.
Conspiracy theories are just a shortcut to feeling intelligent
You'd have to be a little naive to believe it wasnt fixed.
Rigged and Luka trade was rigged too. They went right to the most popular team in the NBA the Lakers with no negotiations of any other team and traded Luka in the middle of the night. Fans weren't happy. Flagg is great but I loved Luka.
If we get a top 4 pick again it’s definitely rigged…….and justified lol.
OMG as soon as you said it, it clicked. The NBA rigged the 2006 finals. That's where it all started. And due to that, the League owed Cuban a favor. But in order to redeem that favor, they needed to negotiate a deal that incorporated Cuban liquidating assets so he could poise for a political career, Israel would get major stake in a premier team, LA would receive it's flagship player to replace LeBunion, The Sands Corp would get their attempt at lobbying Texas, and the Mavs would receive the next premier prospect. All they needed was some corporate blowhard to execute the the deal and be the scape goat. Nicky my boy, you've cracked it!
It doesn't make any sense. Every time I hear this claim, while if "feels" like the NBA pulled a fast one because of the timing and dumb luck, it doesn't make sense under the slimmest of logical scrutiny.
1.) The Mavs were one quarter away from making the playoffs. And that is with Kyrie and AD not playing a single full game together due to months of injuries. The Mavs would have had to make AD and Kyrie and their agents stage their injuries or something to avoid making the playoffs outright or getting HC advantage in the playins just so they could call in their favor. We just as easily could have been the 15th pick with a better 4th quarter.. And take the Kyrie ruse all the way til now. But the Mavs were even playing AD in the play-in game to try to make the playoffs so that's not it either. And Nico would have every motivation to showcase AD-Kyrie to try to salvage his destroyed reputation and show that we are a real contender without Luka.
2.) Rigging the lotto is too risky for Silver and Ernst & Young. They would be sued, fired and Silver likely criminally charged. Especially with the gambling angle, there is too much criminal risk to be involved in rigging a longshot outcome under such well-observed circumstances. E&Y is a big four accounting firm. While we all understand the NBA had good reason to protect Dallas from itself and appease the rightfully mutinous fanbase (Flagg is the only reason I came back) from everything I know about the lottery, having a machine that knows how to rig the lotto balls in favor of somebody is a level of chicanery that would be both unlikely and illegal – would have required numerous levels of complicity.
3.) On paper, the Mavs should have been a dark horse without Flagg when they finally got healthy. While I agree AD wasn't the greatest fit with Flagg, he would have been a good fit with Kyrie. I think Nico's vision was likely to fail, but I can understand why erring on the side of a player who is one of the best defensive players in NBA history and also an offensive superstar works in theory. The health stuff is all beyond anyone's control, but if the Mavs were healthy and rolling right now, most of the wayward fans would come back. The rest of us would have found a different team and been a fan of them. I was shopping for Pacers gear last spring even before their run. The NBA could have pressured the owners to fire Nico to save the fanbase and that would have been less controversial or require criminal complicity.
4.) The fact that it seems so obvious people told jokes about it before it happened is exactly why they wouldn't do such a thing. Why would they do the most blatant thing possible knowing the criminal, civil and professional risk and people definitely asking questions and spreading conspiracy theories for years, which would lead them to latch on to any meat on that bone if it existed.
As far as tanking is concered, we gotta touch it, rub it, and hold it
It was dude, the league is ran by the chosen ones , la is there home team, they believe they're entitled to ownership over everything in the world , read their book. My god you're owners are bribing our pres to go to war against the will of the people
Is the Pope catholic 🙄
Wizards fans would like to have a word…
We know it wasn’t rigged but it is still fun to watch other teams fans wallow in the feelings that the MAVERICKS felt for all the years of never catching a break in the draft or even a stinking coin flip. Much deserved!!!!
NBA playing top level chess. Nick A makes it sound like he may or may not have read checkers instructions (and he doesn’t care)
If it’s true then isn’t the NBA just as legitimate as wrestling?
Of course it was, Dallas is quickly becoming the #3 market in America. Mavericks are essentially the Texas Lakers.
Absolutely rigged. And this is why the NBA was also involved and not just Nico(🐀) and his buddy Pelinka being corrupt. Imagine they made us do this trade and we didn’t have Flagg.
2:54 they still draw 🏓 balls?
It was absolutely rigged and the proof is Dallas only negotiating with one team in the league for a young superstar!!!!!
If, and I mean IF the draft was rigged, the franchise and fan base deserved Cooper Flagg because they just gave away the GREATEST player alive, solely to make the Lakers relevant in the worst trade since the 1919 redsox traded away Babe Ruth! So the franchise and fan base deserved this!!!!!
We're winning the number one pick again because it's rigged lol
Kinda hard to believe that 29 other owners and GM's would allow their competitor (the Mavs) to get a #1 pick with nothing in it for them. This doesn't even take into account the other 13 teams in the lottery had the most to lose especially the team that got bumped down to the the fifth pick.
Also, how do you get Ernst & Young to risk their reputation for something that would ruin their standing if the lottery was rigged and they did not know it or let it happen?
Really ? Tell me, you didn't ever think the NBA is straight !?!..Ewing to the Knicks ?… cheating referees…China $$…Steve balmer and Leonard scandal
You guys campaigned for this – NO AD, NO KYRIE – Ya'll deserve this mess. But, Isaac can take his victory lap – let me know this goes. How about the story lines, ya'll discussions topics – HAHAHAHA – look what ya'll have ask'd for – Nick you seem like you'll be ok because you just love talking so much. I for one won't be Locked On Losers!
If we get top 3 pick, the Mavs should trade Gafford and Marshall to move up from 29 in the draft. Would be an awesome end to the Luka era, because now we would have two (hopefully) awesome players from the draft,, Kai back, and a trade or free agent or two, WE'RE BACK BABY!
Spurs, Cavs cmon so many teams
We only don’t care cause we got Flagg. Irony being we wouldn’t care about the mavs at all if they didn’t.
Super bowl weekend trying to claim the airwaves
I bet one of those owners were from Utah!!!😂😂😂