The NBA Draft Lottery last night revealed the order of team picks for the draft itself, which will occur in just over a month. At the top, the Dallas Mavericks jumped a whopping 10 spots to No. 1 overall, while they were followed by the San Antonio Spurs, who jumped up six picks, and the Philadelphia 76ers, who were slated to pick sixth. This marks the sixth straight time since the lottery odds were flattened in 2019 that none of the top odds holders got the first pick.
Advertisement
Each of the projected top four highest-picking teams fell as far as they could. The Utah Jazz, projected to pick first, went to fifth. The Washington Wizards dropped to sixth. The best outcome of those unlucky underachievers were the Charlotte Hornets, who managed to cling to the fourth overall pick against all odds.
A growing chorus of people who claimed the lottery was rigged have now been amplified by angry fans looking for a target for their rage. It’s been the prevailing conspiracy theory within NBA circles for some time. From Patrick Ewing’s frozen envelope to Zion Williamson arriving in New Orleans as an Anthony Davis replacement, people have been calling foul for years.
To this end, a clip of LeBron James’ appearance on The Pat McAfee Show from months ago, during which he talked about the coincidence of his eventual arrival in Cleveland, has been making the rounds again. While LeBron doesn’t put his tin foil hat on, he did say, “Let’s keep LeBron home, you know, Patrick Ewing on the Knicks … I understand the assignment, guys.”
During the draft, James tweeted once again, laughing at something. Fans interpreted it as a reaction to the lottery’s suspicious tactics.
An added element of this growing “plot” is the massive Luka Doncic trade that took place during the season. With him now the face of the Los Angeles Lakers, overeager Tweeters are claiming that part of the trade agreement guaranteed the Mavs would get the first pick in return for making the Lakers relevant again.
There’s a recent trend of teams getting the first pick after trading a star to Los Angeles. First it was Chris Paul heading to the Los Angeles Clippers, leaving the Pelicans with Anthony Davis, who begot Zion, and now Luka followed suit, netting the Mavs Cooper Flagg.
As fun and sleuthlike it feels to uncover all of this, the unfortunate truth is that there is almost no way to guarantee this outcome in a way necessary for a rigging. The Mavs had a coin flip with the Chicago Bulls for the 11th odds. Additionally, if Dallas had won their play-in game against the Memphis Grizzlies, they would have never been in the lottery to begin with.
Lastly, while the company vetting the draft, Ernst and Young, has a history of committing fraud, this would be a huge scale undertaking that would result in hundreds of people becoming felons just to enrage Wizards fans, which feels … unrealistic.
The reality is that the Mavericks just got extremely lucky. Last night’s lottery is a huge loss for tanking everywhere, and the Western conference continues to become more and more stacked. Giannis Antetokounmpo may be coming over, while Cooper Flagg will try to revitalize a Mavs team that has absolutely no long-term young talent, just vets and All-Stars now.
