Dallas landing Cooper Flagg is the ultimate NBA Draft lottery nightmare for the Charlotte Hornets

There were tons of permutations for how the NBA Draft order could have shaken out following the annual lottery drawing. Among those permutations were ones that Charlotte Hornets fans have been dreaming of since Cooper Flagg descended into their state as one of the highest touted high school prospects in recent memory. Ones in which they landed the number one overall selection, and with it, the right to select Flagg.

However, those dreams were dashed when Mark Tatum flipped over the card with the Hornets' logo as he revealed the fourth overall pick.

Mere seconds later, those dreams turned to nightmares when Tatum revealed to the world that the Dallas Mavericks would be picking at number one.

Dallas' future pick coming to Charlotte looks much worse

Duke Blue Devils forward Cooper Flagg (2) dribbles the ball against the Houston Cougars — Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Charlotte acquired a first-round pick from the Dallas Mavericks at the 2024 NBA trade deadline in exchange for veteran power forward PJ Washington. Since then, Dallas radically altered their future in the wrong way by trading Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers in a deal that was widely criticized by anyone and everyone with a pulse.

When Nico Harrison pulled the trigger on the Doncic trade, Dallas' future got murky at best. They lost the face of their franchise, they were nearing the salary cap's most stringent limits, they owned limited avenues to adding young talent, and their top-end contributors were aging, injury prone stars. Compound that with Kyrie Irving's ACL tear, and the 2027 top-two protected first-round pick that Dallas owed Charlotte looked pretty tasty.

However, with Flagg in their lap, Dallas' present and future look as good as ever. The Mavericks are a point guard away from deploying some of the most gigantic and talented five-man lineups the league has seen in recent memory. Flagg is set to join a front court that already boasts Washington, Anthony Davis, Daniel Gafford, and Derrick Lively Jr.: a fearsome foursome that just got all that much scarier.

Slipping one spot in the draft order is a gut punch, but seeing one of the most talented prospects in decades land with a franchise you're actively rooting against is a knockout blow for a franchise that has become all too familiar with them on lottery night. Flagg's name will now be uttered with Dwight Howard, Anthony Davis, and Victor Wembanyama's in terms of what could have been for Charlotte.

Always the bridesmaid but never the bride, but in this specific scenario, Charlotte was the bridesmaid that passed out after locking their knees for too long.

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