The Rigged NBA Draft Lottery?

The NBA Draft Lottery for 2025 has delivered shocking results with the Dallas Mavericks securing the number one pick for Cooper Flagg despite having extremely low odds compared to teams like the Washington Wizards who finished at the bottom for consecutive years. This outcome follows a suspicious pattern where teams receive top picks after significant player movements, raising serious questions about whether the lottery system is truly random or rigged to create marketable storylines.

• Historical pattern shows teams getting first picks after star trades (Cavs after LeBron left, Pelicans after AD left)
• Washington Wizards remained second-worst team for consecutive years yet couldn't secure the top pick
• Dallas Mavericks were merely injured last season, not truly one of the league's worst teams
• Cooper Flagg in Washington could have been marketed as "The American Flagg"
• Pairing Flagg with Luka and Kyrie creates immediate storylines and marketability
• Ernst & Young's auditing process now under scrutiny from skeptical fans
• Spurs secured second pick despite seven teams having worse records

Please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, and tell anyone who's anyone about the show. I'm trying to get the ratings up a little bit, and I want to know what you all thought about this lottery.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome to Get a Bucket

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

What's up everybody. It's your favorite show's favorite show Get a Bucket. I'm your host, trey, and, as usual, I hope you're all having a wonderful, wonderful day. Today we're going to talk about my 2025 NBA Draft Lottery recap, but before we do that, please make sure to hit that like and subscribe button. Comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. Trying to get the ratings up a little bit, you know, just a little bit. Like I said, we're going to talk about the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery recap. It's a good one.

Speaker 1: 0:27

I'm not going to lie to y'all. We have a lot of things to talk about, but, most specifically, this is the first time where I actually can say the NBA gave off its rigged vibes to me like legitimately rigged vibes, and it's quite disgusting reason why I say this. The dallas mavericks won the draft. Congratulations to the mavericks. By the way, you know, I'm saying this is a wonderful pickup. For you guys like I think this is a storyline that we can follow for the off season, into the season and the future. Problem is, though, where we started from right, like it was not the best. Keep in mind, ladies and gentlemen, keep in mind we do have history, where you know what these picks. They've gone this way a little bit right. We got 2010, when the Heat acquired LeBron James, the Cavs got the first pick Shout out Kyrie Irving right. Then we got 2011, when the Clippers got Chris Paul and the Hornets got Anthony Davis. Shout out AD right. Then we got 2010, when AD went to my Lakers Well, the Pelicans they ended up getting Zion with the number one pick, right. So you know, know, again, we got ad in the mix as well. Then we got to talk about luca and we traded him for 80, like. We have situations, ladies and gentlemen, where the teams we have seen these teams make picks right after a weird off season or a weird trade. Okay, so that has occurred in the past. The problem I have is where this is coming from. Again, everybody that I just listed off is in this mix. We got Anthony Davis, we got Kyrie Irving okay. So it applies to Luka Doncic. I mean to Cooper Flag now as well, along with Luka Doncic. They're all in this mix right now. But this is why I'm this is my problem, okay, this is my problem the percentage odds that we had for 2024.

Speaker 1: 2:29

Let's, let's go back to 2024 real quick. The Pistons, wizards, hornets they were supposed to get the number one picks, right. Notice how the Wizards were at the number one odds yet again. They were in the thick of things, for the number one odds Couldn't get it. Yet again, they were in the thick of things for the number one odds Couldn't get it. Let's now go to 2025. The Wizards are yet again in the thick of things. You got the Jazz, the Wizards, the Hornets.

Speaker 1: 2:54

Ladies and gentlemen, these are the orders in which the worst teams are ranked from worst to least worst. That's what we're looking at right here. So when I see the Dallas Mavericks get first, the Spurs get second. Remember, this is where we're coming from. Let's look at the Spurs real quick. Spurs had a 6% chance at winning. There are one, two, three, four, two, three, four, five, six, seven teams before we get to the spurs. But they get number two. All right, cool.

Speaker 1: 3:32

But like the maths, and and, ladies and gentlemen, again, I really I listed off those weird trades that occurred, right, right. So when, like when, the Mavs do this and they get the number one pick, does it not sound like that? And keep in mind I mentioned this happened before. So what's the difference? Well, the difference is those teams that actually did get the number one pick. They were at a. They were a bad team. The Mavs were injured. The team injuries derailed them but they were kind of close to making it to the playoffs. But that team gets the number one pick. I do understand Nico Harrington getting death threats and you want to maybe try to save the man's life. I do hear that. Adam Silver, I understand you trying to be a hero, but we are taking away from the game.

Speaker 1: 4:34

I've been saying and preaching that the Washington Wizards were going to get the number one pick and draft Cooper Flagg when he was going to be coined the American Flagg. That's right. Cooper Flagg is supposed to be on the American flag. That's right. Cooper flag is supposed to be on the Washington Wizards, ladies and gentlemen, because they deservedly, or they deserved, the right to acquire him, to draft him. They have sucked for so long Like that is trash.

Speaker 1: 5:03

The 76ers they could have gotten in the mix a little bit for the one spot. I would have heard that Because you know what they were at the bottom of the barrel the Hornets, although I wouldn't have wanted it to happen because I wish better for Coop, because the Hornets organization is just a piss boy, but they could have gotten them. Again they've been at the bottom of the barrel. The Jazz not getting them is tough. They're the worst team. And the Wizards is worse because you know what? They were number two, second from the bottom for back-to-back years. They saw 14% and the NBA said uh-uh, like we got to start looking at the NBA. We got to look at the NBA and honestly, we may even have to question EY a little bit. Like isn't Ernst Young, the auditors, somebody over there cheating bro?

Speaker 1: 5:54

I'm telling you right now the Dallas Mavericks cannot have acquired Cooper Flagg because Kyrie Irving, cooper Flagg, anthony Davis, even if we got AD and Kyrie injured, you still sell the fan base on Cooper Flagg, which he'll get a bucket. He'll dominate right. But now you have a solid trio which can work for the present and the future. So I think the Dallas Mavericks are doing some things. But also, keep in mind too, this storyline automatically puts Cooper Flag in comparison to Luka Doncic. So I'm excited because you also got Kyrie, who has now played with both players and he's also part of the brotherhood. Both of them are Koop and Kyrie. So you know you got some Duke fans out there who are going to be following the Dallas Mavericks Also. Keep in mind too, the jerseys are blue, so you know what I'm saying.

Speaker 1: 6:45

It might be odd Like we got some wonderful things to follow, but it's just giving me rigged vibes that the Dallas Mavericks won. It really truly does. It really does Terrible optics. Again, this does affect the future of the NBA, but how about from an NBA product standpoint? Because now we got enough data out here to suggest that you know what y'all are rigging. These lotteries and this auditor that y'all have ain't really worth a damn. If's what, that's what.

Speaker 1: 7:14

If somebody said that I can't be mad at that statement. Right, like the wizards should have drafted cooper flag, would have had jordan pool, get a shooting guard. Block cool bali, cooper flag, alexar, you can. You can package that for the future, because block cool bali, alexar are part of the french, are part of the french team. So when they go to the olympics, it's going to A and they have to go up against their teammate in Cooper Flagg, where he can be coined. The American Flagg, like I said, would have been solid, but again though, he's on the Mavericks apparently. So kudos.

Speaker 1: 7:51

But yeah, it's just wild. I wouldn't have assumed, I wouldn't have guessed he would have gotten the number one pick, like not him, the Mavericks Like I would. I knew Cooper. I knew Cooper was going number one. That was easy. Anybody with a brain knew he was going number one.

Speaker 1: 8:06

But yeah, this right here I'm baffled, but I am definitely curious what y'all thought about this trade. What y'all thought about this trade? I'm sorry about this acquisition Because for a second too, I was thinking the Mavericks might be able to sell and trade Cooper Flagg and get a Giannis Antetokounmpo. Now you got Giannis and AD Ooh. But again, I think you do want to keep Cooper Flagg and I think the Mavericks are doing right by keeping Cooper Flagg. So we have to pay attention to Cooper Flagg for a multitude of reasons One, because of the team. Two, because of who the Mavericks just traded. And three, because he's the number one pick. Four, because he went to Duke. There's so many reasons to follow Cooper Flagg, so I'm going to be looking and paying attention to this.

Speaker 1: 8:49

But yeah, this lottery was wild. It provided a lot of storylines. I give y'all credit, nba, y'all did y'all things in terms of entertainment value. But yeah, this was crazy. But, ladies and gentlemen, I want to know what y'all all thought about this lottery, because a couple of other teams should have won the lottery, if we're being honest, but the Mavericks did get it, so that is what it is. So, like I said, comment below. Let me know what y'all thought I want to know. So that's the end of the episode. So please make sure to like, subscribe, comment, tell anyone who's anyone about the show. My name is Trey. I'm the host of Get a Bucket. Hope you all are having a good one. Take care.