The Mavericks ' stunning jump to win the NBA Draft Lottery despite entering with only a 1.8% chance to do so was the story of the night, but the Jazz, Wizards and Hornets falling proved to be a major subplot in arguably the most dramatic lottery ever.

The NBA draft lottery once again produced straight-up drama and intrigue this week, with the Dallas Mavericks defying astronomical odds to land the No. 1 overall pick. That got us thinking about the NFL’s draft system that simply rewards the league’s worst teams without any wrinkles.

There's no sugarcoating this. This was a disastrous night for the Wizards, in an epoch of seemingly never-ending disasters.

NBA Draft Lottery is Monday with the Jazz, Wizards and Hornets all having a 14% chance of landing the No. 1 pick. Thunder could land Philadelphia's pick.

A: Or is it insanity to suddenly veer from a coalition of leadership that has produced visits to the conference finals in three of the past six seasons? The Heat’s approach has been that the light at the end of the tunnel is not as distant as it appears. The record over the past six years stands as evidence. These are not stumblebums.

The Kings entered the draft lottery with just a 3.8 percent chance of their pick landing in the top four and thus conveying. Otherwise, they would owe it to the Atlanta Hawks as a result of the 2022 trade that landed them Kevin Huerter.

Paige Bueckers, the top pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft, believes "God makes no mistakes" after both Dallas basketball franchises secured No. 1 draft picks.

In the latest 2025 NBA mock draft, the Philadelphia 76ers are selecting Rutgers star Ace Bailey with the No. 3 overall pick.