While the 2025-26 season hasn’t been a great one for the Dallas Mavericks, the team has a good chance of landing a premium pick in the 2026 NBA draft.
Luckily for Dallas, the team has run into some recent good luck in the draft lottery. The Mavericks won last year’s lottery despite having just a 1.8% chance of drawing the No. 1 pick. That put them in a prime position to select Cooper Flagg.
Will the Mavericks’ lottery luck carry into 2026? Below, we’ll take a look at Dallas’ chances at landing the No. 1 pick and where the squad is currently projected among lottery teams:
Fourteen ping-pong balls, numbered 1-14, are placed in a hopper, with the potential for 1,001 different four-ball draws. Each team is assigned a certain number of combinations based on their final record.
At least three four-number combinations will be drawn, slotting teams with picks Nos. 1-3 in this year’s draft.
In the event that a team has one of its combinations drawn more than once, the balls are drawn again until three different teams have been determined.
Before 2025, the Mavericks didn’t have the best luck in the NBA draft lottery. Last year marked the first time in 17 lottery appearances that Dallas drew a pick better than its odds dictated.