The Silver & Black have options for what to do with their picks before the draft gets underway June 25.
SAN ANTONIO — Lightning almost struck again for San Antonio.
Instead, that warmth Spurs fans might have felt Monday night is from the bolt that hit North Texas: The Dallas Mavericks secured the first overall pick for the first time in franchise history at the NBA Draft Lottery, winning the sweepstakes for hyped prospect Cooper Flagg after entering the night with just a 1.8% chance of doing so.
Two years after taking Victor Wembanyama to kick off the 2023 NBA Draft, it briefly looked as though the basketball gods may bless the Spurs again. They beat the odds to jump into the top four Monday evening, having entered the night where their most likely outcome was settling for the No. 8 pick after finishing 34-48 this season.
San Antonio held its collective breath, images of Wembanyama throwing it down to Flagg likely already forming in the minds of the most eager fans, before it was announced they grabbed No. 2. Minutes earlier they secured pick No. 14, conveyed to San Antonio from Atlanta as part of the 2022 trade that sent Dejounte Murray east; it became a lottery selection when Atlanta lost to Miami in the Eastern Conference Play-In Tournament.
The Spurs had just a 29.6% chance of moving into the top four.
“When you jump into the top four again, you put yourself, as an organization, in a place to make a really big acquisition with a really good player,” said Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson. “That’s what we’re looking to do.”
Now the Silver & Black – their head coach and young core of the future determined – are on the clock as they decide how to arm up for the future, and whether that means using the No. 2 pick at all or trading it away. The team boasts the last two Rookie of the Year winners in Wembanyama and Stephon Castle, and had a 6.7% chance of hitting lottery gold and nabbing the top overall selection in this year’s draft.
They nearly beat those odds.
What happened instead momentarily deflated the drama in the Alamo City, but boosted it for the rest of the basketball world. Three months after Dallas sent 26-year-old franchise cornerstone Luka Doncic to the Lakers in one of the most stunning (and eyebrow-raising) trades in professional sports history, the Mavericks are set for an injection of talent, expectations and – if Mavs fans are ready to lay down the pitchforks they’d been pointing in the direction of Dallas GM Nico Harrison – excitement.
Barring a major development, it’s widely expected that Flagg, the cherished 6-foot-9 Duke forward, will go No. 1 when the draft kicks off on June 25. He averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.4 blocks in his freshman season as a Blue Devil. The Utah Jazz came in with the best odds of nabbing the top pick but ended up with the fifth selection.
In a move that puts the team’s future front and center, the Spurs sent newly christened head coach Mitch Johnson to Chicago to be San Antonio’s representative at the lottery. Afterwards, he shared a message for fans via the team’s social media accounts, saying, “We’ll be working all day and night to make the best decision we can to continue to add talent to this team you guy support.”