Paige Bueckers On Mavs Miraculously Landing No. 1 Pick, (Presumably) Cooper Flagg: ‘God Makes No Mistakes’
The Dallas Mavericks won the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery — despite having only 1.8 percent odds of doing so. The outcome was so unlikely, in fact, that WNBA star rookie Page Bueckers thought it was fake news.
"Yeah, that's another thing that I didn't think was real at first. I think 1.8% odds to get the first pick," Bueckers told the media on Tuesday. "But I believe God makes no mistakes, and so that happened for a reason."
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For UConn, Bueckers was a unanimous first-team All-American and Big East Player of the Year in 2021, 2024 and 2025. Fresh off her NCAA Women's Tournament championship, the star guard was selected at No. 1 overall by the Dallas Wings last month, creating instant excitement within the fanbase. Ticket sales surged 13x on the day after the draft compared to the five-day pre-draft average, according to SeatGeek.
Now, she's excited to share the hype with the Mavericks' presumed first pick, Cooper Flagg.
"I know Cooper doesn't take it for granted that he's the No. 1 as of right now. He'll wait to hear his name get called," Bueckers said. "But if that's the case, which it most likely will be, that will be super exciting for the entire organization, who's not on a rebuild and who already has a great team. To add him to a championship-level team is a very nice addition."
Paige Bueckers and (probably) Cooper Flagg will be huge stars as rookies in Dallas.
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Flagg is coming off his freshman campaign at Duke, in which he averaged 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 blocks and 1.4 steals per game, leading the Blue Devils in all categories. He led Duke to a Final Four berth and earned the Lute Olson Award, ACC Player of the Year Award and National College Player of the Year Award.
Of course, Mavericks fans will have to wait until the NBA Draft on June 25 to officially welcome Flagg to the city. But maybe a couple of generational talents converging in Dallas at least sort of makes up for losing Luka Doncic.