Mavericks' stunning draft lottery shocker just saved Nico Harrison's job

In what was the wildest night in Dallas Mavericks history back on February 1, the trade of Luka Doncic sent shockwaves across the NBA. It was arguably the worst trade in NBA history, and it led to fans calling for Nico Harrison's job immediately after.

While Anthony Davis and Max Christie have shown to be strong pieces to help the Mavs, fans can't help but wonder what more could've happened with Doncic in their future, as he had just led the Mavs to the 2024 NBA Finals. Either way, he was the face of the city of Dallas, and the fans will never forget their generational superstar getting traded.

The basketball gods have just gifted the Mavericks with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. With arguably the best player in college basketball in Cooper Flagg likely coming to Dallas if they keep the pick, it almost seems like a whole new life and a new era for Harrison with his GM career.

Harrison was just bailed out by the lottery, and there's no way around it.

Harrison's career was just saved by Flagg and the NBA Draft Lottery

With the odds mostly at the No. 11 pick, the Mavericks originally were likely going to select someone like Egor Demin from BYU, Jeremiah Fears from Oklahoma, or Jase Richardson from Michigan State, as they needed guard help badly. Now, all of that is out of the picture.

Now, with the chance to draft Flagg, Harrison was just given a last breath at continuing his NBA career, when he even admitted after the Doncic trade that he and Jason Kidd would one day bury themselves in a few years. This was deemed as one of the weirdest comments that Harrison could say after trading away Doncic, as he meant that he wouldn't care about the long-term picture.

The post-Doncic trade was marked by injuries, tough losses, and angry fans. Harrison was just gifted with a ninth life with his NBA executive career to grab Flagg in the 2025 NBA Draft. Fans will most likely still call for Harrison's job for making the worst trade in sports history, but getting an 18-year-old Flagg will make the Mavericks look relevant for a long time.

It's almost like the basketball gods felt the pain in Dallas that they had to gift Mavs fans with a player like Flagg. Harrison is at the forefront of the decision-making in Dallas, and his decision to trade Doncic alone should've been enough for Patrick Dumont to fire him.

Mavs fans will still think ill of Harrison, that won't change at all, but getting a gift in Flagg will save Harrison's tenure as an NBA executive for what could be a long time. Flagg is a game-changing prospect, and if the Mavericks select him, they'll be back to contending in no time.