Chicago Bulls lose 2025 NBA draft coin flip to Mavericks, get 12th pick with slim chance for Cooper Flagg
The Chicago Bulls ended up with the no. 12 overall NBA draft pick after an unlucky tiebreaker coin flip.
The Dallas Mavericks walked away with the first pick in June's 2025 draft, and the first chance to take Cooper Flagg, the freshman ho led Duke to the Final Four in his lone college season and the consensus player of the year.
Dallas bucked huge odds to get it done, with only a 1.8% chance to win the lottery coming into Monday. A Mavs team that went to the NBA Finals last season, then scorned its fans by trading away Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, left the lottery with the biggest prize.
But last year's lottery pick, Bulls forward Matas Buzelis, thinks the Bulls can still draft a quality player, even at 12th.
There were 13 teams with a chance to win the No. 1 pick. Utah, Washington and Charlotte had the best odds at 14% each. The Jazz and Wizards got jumped, with San Antonio and Philadelphia moving into the top four.
The teams with the three worst records all have the same chance — 14% — of winning the No. 1 pick, and odds for the remaining lottery teams are gradually reduced from there.
Meanwhile, two of the Fighting Illini's standouts could be picked to play in their home state this year. The dynamic freshman duo of Kasparas Jakucionis and Will Riley both officially declared for the NBA draft in April.
Jakucionis, the Lithuanian import who averaged 15 points and nearly five assists in his lone season in Champaign, is projected as a top 10 draft pick.
Riley, a five-star recruit from Canada, was the Big Ten sixth man of the year. He vaulted himself in into the first round of the draft with a dominant NCAA Tournament against Xavier.
The Illini were eliminated from the NCAA tournament by Kentucky in the second round this year.
contributed to this report.
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