Tre Johnson & Cooper Flagg: The Texas-Sized Fallout from a Wild NBA Draft Lottery

I’m still sweating. Let’s see how Longhorn fans who like professional roundball should be feeling after last night’s events.

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Dallas Mavericks

Dallas Mavericks fans have a sliver of light peeking through after the four months in the deep darkness following the Luka Doncic trade. God reminded the MFFL that He hasn’t forgotten them when He bounced the lottery balls in the Mavs’ favor for the first time ever. My friends who love the Mavericks often remind me of the fact their team has never outperformed their lottery odds. But they can no longer bang that drum. Because a 1.8% chance to get the number one pick was enough in last night’s lottery. Now Duke’s Cooper Flagg is (likely) heading to the Metroplex.

Unless Nico Harrison decides to do something resembling full-on anarchy. Don’t count him out. What if he trades the pick or selects someone else other than Flagg?

Though the lack of upcoming picks and the age fit with Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving is a little weird, make no mistake that the addition of Flagg in Dallas is a direct flight back to relevance for the next 15 years. Or until he’s traded to the Lakers. I think of Flagg as an enjoyable-to-watch version of Jayson Tatum who doesn’t feel the need to do a Kobe impersonation. I wrote that comparison before I knew of Tatum’s devastating injury, FWIW.

But Harrison will love the comparisons folks make to Scottie Pippen, Kawhi Leonard, and Jayson Tatum. All three amazing scorers with playmaking chops and great defenders. Defense wins championships after all, a famous phrase coined by Nico himself.

San Antonio Spurs

God might have thrown Dallas a giant juicy bone, but make no mistake, He is a Spurs fan.

For the third year in a row and as they’re prone to do, the Spurs have outperformed their lottery odds and snagged the number two pick despite just 25% odds to get into the top four. Consensus says it’s a two-player draft and Rutgers guard Dylan Harper is a ball-handling phenom who has ridiculous length and upside. He’ll draw comparisons to a jumbo Jalen Brunson and a sped-up version of James Harden with his craftiness and footwork. I saw a little bit of Manu Ginobili with that absurd Eurostep too.

But the Spurs gaining the number two pick immediately makes them the most asset-rich team in the league. They also have the number 14 pick in this year’s draft, plus two more years of capital from the Atlanta Hawks and a whole bunch of swaps from other teams in future years which should stretch well into Victor Wembanyama’s prime. The option of adding Harper to a fun young core of Wemby, De’Aaron Fox, and Stephon Castle is the most likely outcome, as the Spurs always play the long game.

However, the Spurs getting the second overall pick on the same day ESPN reported Giannis Antetokounmpo might be jumping on Redfin to look at houses outside of Milwaukee should be watched closely. Has he jumped on Zillow to look at Terrell Hills or Alamo Heights yet? The Spurs first dynasty was built on the backs of Twin Towers and they’re a franchise big on lineage.

Houston Rockets

The Rockets owned the Phoenix Suns’ lottery pick and grabbed the 10th spot in June’s draft. If you watched Houston’s playoff run though, you know their roster is getting crowded. How does another rookie fit in with a core of Amen Thompson, Alperen Sengun, and Jalen Green? Add the fact that recent first-rounders Cam Whitmore and Reed Sheppard can’t find the court in Ime Udoka’s rotation.

I can’t see Houston making this pick. It will be included in some sort of trade to land a star to build around Thompson and whoever else isn’t shipped out.

Tre Johnson

Three outside teams jumping into the top four in the form of Dallas, San Antonio, and Philadelphia certainly shakes up the snow globe of mock drafts. It will take a bit to see how everything settles down and what the effect will be on Longhorn Tre Johnson.

Now, teams like Charlotte, Utah, and Washington are picking fourth through sixth who thought they’d be picking in the top three. It will be interesting to see how those teams value Johnson. Charlotte has a primary ball handler in LaMelo Ball, so I don’t think he’d go earlier than fifth. But it gets interesting starting at five. Utah is a completely blank slate and a team which needs literally everything. Though I’m not sure the best fit for Johnson is an environment where he is expected to put up huge stats on a team that is awful. Those are the breaks of being a lottery pick, however.

If I’m picking the best spot for Johnson, I will be rooting for number six in the Washington Wizards. You hear that and think dumpster fire, but they’ve actually been building a nice young core with lots of length and athleticism. Their young players lack pure bucket-getting ability and Johnson would add that in droves. Only in the Gilbert Arenas era did I ever want to watch Wizards games, but that could change if they nab the best Longhorn scorer since Kevin Durant.