The Dallas Mavericks enter Sunday's 2026 NBA Draft Lottery with the eighth-best odds. Everything to know about the prospects, format, and stakes.
The Dallas Mavericks enter the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery on Sunday with the eighth-best odds at the No. 1 overall pick. It will be the first lottery for new president Masai Ujiri and new general manager Mike Schmitz, who was hired Friday from the Portland Trail Blazers.
Dallas won last year's lottery and took Cooper Flagg with the top pick. He went on to win Rookie of the Year.
The Mavericks have a 6.7% chance of the top selection and a 31.9% chance of moving into the top four. Dallas finished the 2025-26 regular season 26-56, tied with the New Orleans Pelicans for the NBA's seventh-worst record. The Pelicans won the random tiebreaker, which dropped the Mavericks to the eighth slot.
“We have the draft, we have free agency, we have so many things,” Ujiri said. “We have young players on our team. We have to now start focusing on this. We can’t cry forever. I know there has to be a healing process here. We’ve gone through that a little bit, but we have something shiny here (in Flagg) and we’re going to win, and we’re going to win here in Dallas.”
The lottery will be held on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT in Chicago. Mavericks legend Rolando Blackman will represent the franchise on stage along with Matt Riccardi. The two were on stage together last year, when Dallas had 1.8% odds and jumped from No. 11 to win the lottery.
BYU forward AJ Dybantsa, Kansas guard Darryn Peterson, and Duke forward Cameron Boozer are the three names most often projected at the top of the class. North Carolina forward Caleb Wilson is also expected to go early in the lottery. ESPN's most recent big board has Dybantsa at No. 1.
The Washington Wizards, Indiana Pacers, and Brooklyn Nets each have a 14% chance at the top pick. That is the highest in the lottery. The Utah Jazz and Sacramento Kings are next at 11.5%, then the Atlanta Hawks at 9.8%, the Memphis Grizzlies at 9.0%, and the Mavericks at 6.7%.
Dallas took Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. He scored a career-high 51 points against the Orlando Magic on April 3.
Sunday's lottery is expected to be the last held under the current format. The league is expected to change the system before next year. The first round of the 2026 NBA Draft is set for Tuesday, June 23, with the second round on Wednesday, June 24.