CHICAGO — You could have heard a pin drop.
Inside the NBA lottery drawing room, isolated from the rest of the world with no electronics or phones allowed, the locked case holding the pingpong balls that had been weighed and certified by an outside firm was opened and one by one the balls were placed into the lottery machine.
Between every ball falling into the machine, the only audible sound was breathing — the short, nervous breaths from throughout the room.
Utah Jazz general manager Justin Zanik sat next to Washington Wizards general manager Will Dawkins. Zanik knew that of the 140 number combinations assigned to the Jazz, all of them included the number 1, and the Jazz didn’t have any number combinations that included more than two double-digit numbers.
When the first three numbers were pulled from the lottery machine — 10, 14, 11 — Zanik knew it was over. He set down his pen and then the final number was drawn — 7.
Zanik and Dawkins looked at one another, stunned. There were a couple of muffled gasps.
The Dallas Mavericks had the winning numbers. The team with just a 1.8% chance at winning the No. 1 pick won, against virtually all the odds.
The team that has been turned on by its fan base and been blasted for trading away Luka Doncic will be the team that gets Cooper Flagg.
But then the first three numbers pulled to determine the No. 2 pick were also all double-digits — 12, 13, 11. This pick would also not be going to the Jazz.
Instead, it went to the San Antonio Spurs. The team that won the lottery two years ago and landed Victor Wembanyama, now has the No. 2 pick in the 2025 draft.
Zanik and Dawkins once again shared a look of disbelief.
Then the Philadelphia 76ers won the No. 3 pick and the Charlotte Hornets got the No. 4 pick, meaning the Jazz would have the fifth overall pick in the 2025 draft, the worst possible outcome for them in the lottery.
To determine the top four picks in the draft, 16 pingpong balls were drawn. Not a single one of them was the number 1, and with that, the Jazz’s hopes of capturing the Flagg were dashed.
“Shocked,” Zanik said moments after the lottery drawing concluded, referencing the jump that the Spurs and Mavs made in the lottery. “Well, we’re not shocked. Obviously, with the flattened lottery odds since 2019, there are a number of possible outcomes and this was the most expected outcome for us ... but yeah, time to get to work.”
It wasn’t just Zanik who was shocked. Byron Spruell, who hosts the lottery in the drawing room, heard the numbers called out, heard they matched the Mavericks’ number combinations and looked over to the left of the room at Jamin Dershowitz, NBA general counsel, who with a nod confirmed that the numbers matched his list as well.
Then when he looked over at Dershowitz after the Spurs’ numbers were drawn, Spruell raised his eyebrows and shook his head in disbelief.
Frankly, everyone in the room was stunned. No one expected this outcome, not the reporters, NBA staffers or the team representatives.
Matt Riccardi, Mavericks assistant general manager, quietly laughed in amazement. Later, he walked through the room holding the winning pingpong balls, unsure if he was even able to take them and keep them. He never expected to be in that position.
The general feeling in the room, after settling from the initial results, was eagerness to see the responses of everyone else in the world who didn’t know the shocking news that was about to be announced.
Later, in the ballroom where the lottery results are broadcast, Jazz owner Ryan Smith was quiet and left with a look of despondence on his face.
Jazz fans immediately sounded off on social media, accusing the lottery of being rigged, but for those in the room, there was no ill feeling toward the process.
Instead, it was a realization that even after doing the work to get into the lottery, it is ultimately about chance and luck.
“It’s definitely not rigged,” Zanik said. “The main thing is you definitely feel the 14% chance, not the 86% chance that it’s not ... The first two that were drawn were double digits — meaning 10 through 14.
“OK, our combos of four could handle those two. As soon as the third one came it was over. Then you just realize how quick this is over, because they draw No. 1 first.”
Ultimately, this means the Jazz will not be picking a prospect who is an obvious centerpiece player. That doesn’t mean a player picked fifth or even lower in the draft can’t turn into a franchise-changing star, but with Flagg, it feels obvious and inevitable.
Instead, the Jazz decision makers will huddle together and try to figure out the best path with the No. 5 pick — keep the pick and use it, or trade it — and the rebuild will carry on.
