With the NBA Draft Lottery just 11 days away, the Brooklyn Nets and their fans are preparing for what could be a monumental moment in their franchise’s history. After a 26-56 season, the Nets find themselves in the early stages of a rebuild, with the sixth-best odds at the No. 1 overall pick.
Brooklyn has a 9% chance at the top pick, behind the Philadelphia 76ers and New Orleans Pelicans at No. 5 and 4. Three teams share a 14% chance at No. 1: the Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards, and Charlotte Hornets.
While it seems like the Nets have a bleak shot at landing the top pick, Kevin O’Connor, an NBA analyst for Yahoo Sports, predicts that Brooklyn actually wins the lottery in his latest mock draft.
“On three occasions — in 2019, 2023, and 2024 — two of the three teams with 14% odds ended up falling out of the top three entirely,” O’Connor wrote. “While it’s a deflating moment for fans and front offices, it’s a possibility worth preparing for: Mathematically, that’s actually the most likely outcome on lottery night with a 50.9% probability of happening.”
We’ve seen incredible occurrences since the league changed the lottery rules. Just last year, the Atlanta Hawks, who had a 3% chance at the No. 1 pick with a 36-46 record in 2024, won the lottery and drafted Zaccharie Risacher with the top pick. Coincidentally, the Nets rose to the No. 3 pick in that draft, but their selection belonged to the Houston Rockets.
O’Connor predicts the Nets to take Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick, as any human being would. Flagg, the Naismith National Player of the Year, just finished an incredible freshman season at Duke, averaging 19.2 points, 7.5 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.4 steals, and 1.4 blocks per game. He led the Blue Devils to the Final Four, where they lost the Houston Cougars.
Brooklyn would have its ultimate franchise star if it were to land Flagg at No. 1. The 18-year-old can do it all, displaying incredible athleticism as well as great skill. He ranks up there on the list of greatest American draft prospects in league history.
