Is There A Draft In Here?

The NBA, which should be known as the IBA since most of the top players now come from foreign countries, will conduct its annual draft this evening. Thirty basketball players will become instant multimillionaires. Some will move on to stardom; others will blow their money and be out of the league in a few years. It’s a bit of a crap shoot. You might be drafting the next Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or the next Markelle Fultz. Seems like a good time to see what’s been happening with the Dallas Mavericks.

Since we last checked in, the team has hired a new team president, a new GM, and fired Jason Kidd. They have announced their intention to leave the American Airlines Center and relocate in North Dallas to the site of the old Valley View Mall and finally hired a new head coach yesterday. Ch-ch-ch changes….

New president Masai Ujiri has enjoyed success in his previous jobs, with a championship ring to show for his efforts in Toronto. He has his work cut out for him in Texas. All he has to do is put together a roster to build around Cooper Flagg. After this year, they have very limited draft picks, as most of them have been dealt away by the previous regime. They also have little to offer in trade assets, and salary cap issues will hinder signing attractive free agents. Piece of cake, right ?

The rebuilding starts tonight. It will be interesting to see what direction the Mavs take with their picks. Their first will be at #9. It previous years they’ve done pretty well in this slot. In 1981 they picked up Rolando Blackman, who went on to become one of the all time great Mavericks. In 1983 they got Dale Ellis who later became one of the league’s best shooters. (Unfortunately after Dallas traded him to Seattle)

In 1998, the team drafted Robert “Tractor” Traylor out of Michigan with the #6 pick, but turned around and traded him to Milwaukee for that year’s #9 pick, a young German named Dirk Nowitzki. That turned out pretty well.

The coaching hire was something of a surprise. Dusty May comes in fresh from celebrating an NCAA championship at Michigan, but has no previous experience in professional basketball. You could argue that college basketball is at least semi-pro with all the money being tossed around now, but there’s a world of difference in that level and the NBA. There have been college coaches who were successful in making this move. Brad Stevens comes to mind. But a long list of coaches didn’t make the transition and either quit or went back to college. Rick Pitino and John Calapari come to mind. Dusty May be successful…or he May not.

There is some thought that the new coach may influence the team to draft one of the three Michigan players who are expected to be picked tonight. Dallas could do worse, but if they stay I at #9, I would like to see them pick Brayden Burries from Arizona. I watched him play in person, and came away thinking he has an all around game that will translate to the next level. But what do I know? I wanted the Mavericks to extend Jalen Brunson’s contract. He is obviously too short to be a star in the NBA.

We’ll see what happens tonight and in the next few days. The clock is ticking.

That’s one man’s opinion- What’s yours?