Since the NBA flattened the draft lottery odds in 2019, the three teams with the worst records all have a 14% chance of landing the first pick. 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.

The Mayo comparison may not seem favorable given the way his NBA career stalled out, but he was the third pick of the 2008 draft and went on to finish second in Rookie of the Year voting—ahead of the likes of Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love and Marc Gasol.

With the early entry deadline behind us and the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery around the corner, our final NBA mock draft sends Cooper Flagg to a winning situation.