Last year’s No. 1 pick, Zaccharie Risacher, went to an Atlanta Hawks team that won 36 games the year before. In 2023, Victor Wembanyama joined a San Antonio Spurs team that won a combined 44 games over their previous two seasons. This year’s projected No. 1 pick, Cooper Flagg, will be going to a 39-win Mavericks team that was on pace to win over 50 games before the injuries to superstars Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis. The Duke phenom will join a championship-level roster, bucking a trend of top picks going to bottom-feeding teams over the last few decades. In the 21st century, no other No. 1 pick went to a winning situation. The only one who came close was Derrick Rose, whose Bulls won 45 games two years before his arrival but won 33 to win the draft lottery. Tim Duncan, in 1997, was the last No. 1 pick to join a winning club. In 1996-97, the Spurs infamously tanked after David Robinson broke his foot six games into the season. The year before, they won 59 games and finished with a 62-20 record in the 1994-
