This is emphatically not the situation Cooper Flagg is about to walk into. If everything goes right, the Mavericks -- who improbably won the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft on Monday night -- could genuinely contend for the 2026 championship.

The forward led Duke to an 89-62 win over SMU in an ACC matchup at Moody Coliseum. Flagg scored 24 points on 7-of-12 shooting, coming down with a team-high 11 rebounds. His highlights included a poster dunk on 7-2 SMU center Samet Yigitoglu.

It was the San Antonio Spurs, the Dallas Mavericks and Philadelphia 76ers who grabbed three of the top four spots in the lottery, with only the Hornets expected to be there –– as they fell one spot from the pre-lottery standings.