Mavericks rumor shuts down Cooper Flagg nightmare every fan feared

Everything changed for the Dallas Mavericks when they won the NBA Draft Lottery on Monday night in Chicago. Mavericks fans entered last night with little hope for the franchise's future, but excitement has quickly returned to Dallas.

The Mavs had just a 1.8 percent chance of winning the lottery, and the basketball gods were clearly on their side as they walked away with the No. 1 pick and the chance to draft Duke phenom Cooper Flagg this summer. Flagg is one of the best draft prospects this league has ever seen, and he happens to fit perfectly into Nico Harrison's "defense wins championships" vision for the Mavericks.

As soon as the Mavs won the lottery, fans' and media members' minds were spinning with the different possibilities of what Dallas could do with this highly coveted asset. Everyone just saw Harrison trade Luka Doncic just a few months ago, and fans feared that he had another big trade up his sleeve. Some thought that Harrison would consider trading the pick to go after a superstar such as Giannis Antetokounmpo, and fans got a clear idea of Dallas' plan for the No. 1 overall pick on Tuesday afternoon at the perfect time.

Mavericks refuse to fall for Cooper Flagg trade trap

According to ESPN's Tim MacMahon, the Mavericks will not explore trading the No. 1 pick, and they plan to draft Flagg in June's draft. This news gave every Mavericks fan a sense of relief, as many thought that Harrison would go after an experienced star who would match up with Dallas' timeline rather than drafting the 18-year-old Flagg. It couldn't have come at a better time, as it shuts down all of the speculation and gives Mavericks fans a sense of hope that better days are ahead.

Drafting Flagg is the clear right choice, as he has the potential to turn into a Hall of Famer one day if everything goes according to plan, and the Mavericks are going to be in a great spot for years to come with him as the centerpiece. Flagg will have the chance to learn from legendary veterans such as Klay Thompson, Anthony Davis, and Kyrie Irving in Dallas, and the Mavs winning the draft lottery took them from an awful situation immediately back to contention.

Landing big-time players on cost-controlled contracts is the way to win in the NBA, and that's exactly what happened on Monday night. Dallas will have Flagg on a rookie deal, and now that they are guaranteed to draft him rather than shopping the pick, Harrison can fully focus on building the best roster around him to succeed now and into the future.

Mavericks governor Patrick Dumont considers the chance to draft Flagg a "gift," and while Harrison is fully in charge of all basketball operations for the time being, Dumont has the final say. It seems like Dumont is set on bringing Flagg to Dallas, and Mavericks fans who were worried that Harrison would trade Flagg for a superstar can rest assured that Flagg will be a Maverick in less than a month and a half.