Is There Anything at Stake in Mavericks' Regular-Season Finale Against Chicago Bulls?

The Dallas Mavericks will play their final game of the 2025-26 season on Sunday night against the lowly Chicago Bulls. Both teams are eliminated from postseason contention, and there is definitely more incentive to lose this game than to win. So, what is actually at stake?

Here are two things we'll be keeping an eye on for this tankfest matchup.

Cooper Flagg's Rookie of the Year Campaign

Kon Knueppel had taken over as the favorite to win Rookie of the Year when Cooper Flagg was out with a foot injury around the All-Star Break. Flagg has been on a charge over the last few weeks as he tries to retake his claim for the award. Over the last two and a half weeks, he's had performances of 32-9-4 against the Golden State Warriors, 51-6-3-3 against the Orlando Magic, 45-9-8 against the Los Angeles Lakers, and 33-6-5 against the San Antonio Spurs on Friday.

Flagg is the favorite once again, but the margin between him and Knueppel is slim. Knueppel and the Charlotte Hornets will be playing the New York Knicks today, who are resting all of their starters, as they're locked into the third seed in the Eastern Conference. The Hornets are looking to get the 9th seed for the Play-In Tournament, but they could drop down to the 10th with a loss.

The Hornets clearly have more to play for as far as winning the game, but the Mavericks could also use a loss to help their lottery odds. Speaking of which...

Apr 8, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) against the Phoenix Suns at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Mavericks' Lottery Odds Still Up in the Air

The Dallas Mavericks are currently tied with the Memphis Grizzlies for the 6th-worst record in the NBA. Although the Grizzlies won more head-to-head matchups against the Mavs, any tiebreaker with the lottery comes down to a coin flip. If the Mavericks can lose this game and the Grizzlies can somehow beat the Houston Rockets (extremely unlikely), that would lock them into the 6th-best odds.

However, there is still the possibility of a three-way tie if the Mavs and Grizzlies win and the Pelicans lose. That would create an interesting dynamic, but it's hard to imagine both the Grizzlies and Mavericks winning today.

This is the last year the Mavericks own their first-round pick until 2031, so they'd like it to be as good as possible. This would just determine the lottery odds, though. As we saw last year, when the Mavs jumped from 11th to 1st, anything is possible to get the first pick.

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