The Dallas Mavericks won the NBA draft lottery on Monday night. The Ringer's Zach Lowe was in the building to watch the drama unfold behind the scenes moments before the league announced the results on live television. According to Lowe, the people in the room that night were as shocked as the rest of us and it turns out that eight different teams came within one lucky bounce of winning the right to draft Cooper Flagg No. 1.
Lowe told his incredibly detailed draft lottery story to guest and Ringer boss Bill Simmons on Tuesday's episode of The Zach Lowe Show, revealing that the usually reserved audience of league executives couldn't stay quiet when the Mavericks won.
He also explained just how painfully close so many other teams came to getting the top pick.
Lowe broke down exactly what could have happened after the first three balls to come up were 10, 14 and 11.
"Now there's like this delicious 20 seconds where everything's in play," said Lowe. "Almost everything. If the number, if the last ball is six, Blazers win the lottery. If the last ball was a one, Wizards win the lottery. If the last ball was a two, Pelicans win the lottery. If the last ball is a three Brooklyn wins the lottery. If the last ball is a four Toronto wins the lottery. If the last ball is a seven, Mavs. If the last ball is an eight, the Bulls win the lottery. If the last ball is a nine the Kings win the lottery. And here's the kicker. If the last ball is a five, a 12 or a 13 the Spurs win the lottery for the second time in three years. The Spurs actually had the best odds in that 30 seconds of winning the lottery.
So the Mavericks won, but according to Lowe seven other teams came within one ball of winning the lottery. And the Spurs had a three-in-11 chance in that moment. Somehow knowing all this the Mavericks seem even luckier than before.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Zach Lowe Details How Close Eight Teams Came to Winning the Cooper Flagg Lottery.
