The Dallas Mavericks got a much-needed win in Monday night's NBA draft lottery, coming away with the No. 1 pick against long odds. General manager Nico Harrison now has a lifeline to salvage something special out of dealing Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers and conspiracy theorists have new data points to put up on their corkboards.
The prevailing wisdom is that by virtue of some nice luck, the Mavericks have secured the immediate future of presumed No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg. But Jay Wiliams, speaking on Tuesday's Get Up, floated the idea that the best thing for Dallas to do might be to trade the pick for an established star.
"When I look at the value, could you potentially package something like this and get a Giannis," Williams said. "Could you package in a trade to get a Devin Booker? Could you get a Tyrese Maxey. If your championship window is in two to three years, could you utilize that pick and some assets to get somebody who's ready to contribute to you right now?"
.@RealJayWilliams details why the Mavericks should consider trading the top pick instead of drafting Cooper Flagg 👀 pic.twitter.com/VCZPejOlQM
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) May 13, 2025
Williams's deskmate Alan Hahn did not co-sign this idea, citing that getting Flagg would be a gift from the basketball gods. And drafting the Duke product would certainly be the sane thing for the organization to do. Possibly a shot at redemption, even by accident.
But Harrison, obviously, marches to the beat of his own drum. Passing on Flagg would be a risky move and getting Giannis feels like the only scenario in which the fanbase would stomach it. At the same time, are they really going to trust whatever wheeling and dealing occurs?
Dallas should probably signal publicly that they're open to all offers this time around to see if they can get a king's ransom for the pick and play that game until the last possible moment. Having the safety net of Flagg is certainly nice and may change the narrative —if even for just a bit.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as ESPN Analyst On Why Mavericks Should Trade No. 1 Pick Instead of Drafting Cooper Flagg.
