Dallas Mavericks

I've read time and again that the 2013 is going to be a weak draft, many point to it as justification for the Mavericks trading potentially trading their lottery pick this year. I think that is a horrible idea, and by the end of this article I hope you'll agree with me. First off, let's discuss what the very definition of a weak draft is. Often the term weak draft is misinterpreted to mean there are no good players in the draft. What it really refers to is the number of protected stars which will come out of the Top 10, or the reverse perspective would be how many Top 10 picks see little to no NBA minutes. The success of picks is extremely hard to determine in the first year as many rookies simply will not see solid minutes their first year. So while the 2011 draft at the moment does appear to have a great many more misses than hits across the board, it's nearly impossible to predict which players may blossom with another year or two under their belt. So let's look at the 2006 draft which is often referred to as the weakest draft in modern history. Looking at the how few of the Top 10 players have risen to any level of stardom with five players never really playing any significant minutes, it's hard to argue the draft was largely a bust. However, let's set a bar of averaging 18 minutes a game as being considering contributing to an NBA team. Looking at that very simplified metric, there are 12 players out of 60 who meet the criteria six of which were picked at 13 or later. Here are players who went at 13 or later in 2006: PHI Thabo Sefolosha 13th pickUTA Ronnie Brewer14th pickPHO Rajon Rondo 21st pickMEM Kyle Lowry 24th pickCLE Daniel Gibson 42nd pickUTA Paul Millsap 47th pick Nearly half the "impact" players from the 2006 draft came after the 13th pick. Hard to imagine a few of those players went so late, isn't it? Let's also remember that Jose Barea was picked up un-drafted by the Dallas Mavericks that year. Now, scouting isn't an exact science. Trying to judge a young player's upside is a huge gamble. However, some teams seems to have the magic touch. It can't just be dumb luck, teams who value the draft focus more on scouting and do better overall. So, let's look at the Dallas Maverick's biggest division rival, the San Antonio Spurs, and compare draft outcomes. Let's first just compare how each team values picks. The easiest way to compare this is perhaps to look at how many times each team gave away their first round picks. Dallas has gone seven years since 1999 without a first round pick versus San Antonio's four. Dallas did get some value out of those trades, most notably Jason Kidd, but when we start looking at each teams draft performance over that period. While San Antontio didn't ultimately retain all these players take a look at their best picks since 1999: Manu Ginobili 1999 57th pickTony Parker 2001 28th pickLouis Scola 2002 55th pickLeandro Barbosa 2003 28th pickTiago Splitter 2007 28th pickGoran Dragic 2008 45th pickGeorge Hill 2008 26th pickDeJuan Blair 2009 37th pick And how Dallas has done: Wang Zhizhi 1999 36th pickPicks traded in 2000, 2001Mladen Sekularac in 2002 54th, never played in the NBAJosh Howard 2003 29thDevin Harris 2004 5th pick via tradeJJ Barea 2006 (undrafted)Roddy B 2009 24th via tradeDominique Jones 2010 25th (via trade)Pick traded 2011Crowder/Sarge/Cunningham 2012 17th (traded down) Framed this way you can really see the differences between a franchise who has a front office philosophy of valuing the draft versus one which sees picks more as trade assets. Many have argued that Dallas' late draft position over in recent years made their pick worthless. But digging even a bit deeper, we can see in recent years, high impact players have been drafted fairly late by teams. Knicks David Lee at 30th in 2005Lakers Marc Gasol (then traded him) at 48th in 2007Celtics Tony Allen 25th in 2004Chicago via Portland Omer Asik 36th in 2008 (traded) and Jimmy Butler 30th in 2011GS Monte Ellis 40

In the least shocking news of the week, Dallas is now officially locked in to pick 13th in this year's NBA Draft in June. Of course some of us weren't sure what happened... Am I the only one that doesn't understand what just happened? #draftlottery — Dirk Nowitzki (@swish41) May 22, 2013 Which is understandable, I suppose, particularly when you spend well over a decade rocking playoff runs. Almost immediately after the draft lottery, ESPN's draft guru Chad Ford had this to say about the Mavericks Hearing from multiple sources that Mavs likely to trade the No. 13 pick. Want to save cap space for Dwight Howard run ... — Chad Ford (@chadfordinsider) May 22, 2013 No. 13 draft pick slotted to make $1,655,300 in year one.Mavs need all the cap room they can get to make room for Howard. — Chad Ford (@chadfordinsider) May 22, 2013 Of course, the general reaction from twitter was a resounding "OH GREAT". I'm less concerned that Dallas might move the pick and more concerned that Ford thinks their main target is Howard. Literally everything I have read and heard up until this point indicates Dallas is more interested in Paul than Howard. I also don't really understand why folks would be irritated that Dallas might move the pick. This was always going to be an option and I said so way back in January 4th. That a 13th pick is less valuable than any of the picks before it is really a fairly basic idea, and Dallas essentially sits in no-man's land because this is generally considered a weak draft. I'm sure other folks here at MMB will have smarter or more measured takes at the moment, but right now I'm apprehensive bordering on angry. Between the draft and free agency, things don't really have a positive feel at the moment. Dirk has been and always will be a happy warrior, but circumstances beyond everyone's control (with the exception of closing out the season the way they did) have left the Mavericks at the mercy of everyone else's decisions.

The Dallas Mavericks might not actually use the first lottery pick they've owned in a dozen years. Multiple sources told ESPN.com's Chad Ford that the Mavs are likely to trade the pick to help create the cap space necessary to make a run at Dwight Howard in free agency. The 13th overall pick has a cap hold of $1,655,300. One of the Mavs' future first-round picks is already in the possession of the Oklahoma City Thunder. That pick, which is top-20 protected through 2017, was originally given up in the deal that brought Lamar Odom to Dallas.

The ping pong balls didn't bounce the Mavericks' way. The Mavs didn't move up in the NBA draft lottery, so they own the 13th overall pick. The Mavs had only a 2.2 percent chance of moving into the top three picks, including an 0.6 percent chance of getting the No. 1 pick. While this was the first time Dallas has been in the lottery in a dozen year, it continues a trend for the Mavs. Dallas has never moved up in 12 lottery appearances.

Mr. Seriousface challenged the MMB staff to come up with the worst possible representatives for the Mavericks at the NBA draft and once I started, I couldn't stop. So, here's my top ten: 10. H. Ross Perot, Jr. and Don Nelson: "Hi, Mark asked everybody who has pending litigation against him to come announce the pick today..." 9. RC Buford: "Thanks for inviting me. 'Round the Spurs compound we used to joke that late June was the only time of year we WEREN'T worried about what the Mavericks were doing, haha. I mean, that was a tough team to get past! Imagine if they'd ever drafted anybody after Dirk. Actually, these four rings make it hard for me to open envelopes, so I'm going to hand this over to Kawhi Leonard, Tiago Splitter, DeJuan Blair, Cory Joseph, Goran Dragic, even though we traded his rights, George Hill...." 8. Erick Dampier: "Hi guys, Steve Nash couldn't be here tonight, so the Mavericks got me instead..." 7. Mike James: "Hi guys, Deron Williams couldn't be here tonight, so..." 6. A smiling Rodrigue Beaubois from 2010, presenting with a weeping Rodrigue Beaubois from 2013 (ht Marktobo) 5. Bennett Salvatore: "Ahahahahahah. AHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHA. I PEED ON YOUR FRANCHISE. I WILL DO IT AGAIN. I WILL PEE ON THIS DRAFT PICK RIGHT HERE IN FRONT OF ALL OF YOU, THEN GIVE DWYANE WADE FREE THROWS. I'M BENNETT SALVATORE, I SLEEP SOUNDLY EVERY NIGHT." 4. Avery Johnson: "Ohhhh, we're going to draft whoever the Golden State Warriors draft" 3. Shan Foster, who crumples up the pick and tries to shoot it long range to Maurice Ager, missing wildly, then Ager picks it up and shoots it towards Nick Fazekas, bouncing it off an audience member's face, after which Jared Cunningham fails to lay it up back on stage in the direction of three guys, who turn out to be Nick Calathes, Renaldas Seibutis and Mladen Secularic, while Jordan Hamilton and Corey Brewer look on, amused. 2. Dom Jones, just like, screaming and flexing. 1. Josh Howard: "I'm about to open this envelope, but before I do, I just wanted to remind all of you that I, Josh Howard, am the best draft pick the Mavericks have made in a decade by a factor of like 50. I mean, by a LOT, so....you know, what could go wrong"

The NBA Draft lottery is tonight. The Mavs are certainly in a position of relatively unfamiliarity as they will be a participant in the lottery. The ping pong balls could alter the path the Mavs take this offseason in a dramatic way. Though it’s unlikely that they’ll find their name being announced last, giving them the No. 1 overall pick, the lottery represents the official start of the offseason. Dallas will have more information than they had the previous day and be able to really chart a path to their offseason, starting with a draft pick. On top of that, it’s commission David Stern’s last lottery. Insert your emotional response here. For those who don’t know, Donnie Nelson will represent the team at the drawing. Assistant general manager Keith Grant will be with Nelson in New York. With all of this in mind, a very knowledgeable man has stepped up to the plate and delivered a very thorough recap of the Mavs’ lottery past, giving you a look back as you prepare for the next chapter. That man is Mark Followill. If you have no clue who he is, what’s wrong with you? Followill is the television play-by-play voice of your Mavs. He’s been chopping it up, talking about the Mavs and other sports in the metroplex since the mid-90′s, so he’s more than just another guy when it comes to this bit of information. With that in mind, enjoy the trip down memory lane. Enjoy reading this while listening to Followill’s golden tones in your ear, or your own. The last time we watched a draft lottery because it determined where the Dallas Mavericks would be drafting, Bill Clinton was in the White House. I know the decade plus of success and a championship have brought a lot of new fans to the Mavs. Those new fans may not know and even the longtime MFFL’s may not remember from back in the day the Mavs have never improved their potential draft position in the lottery. With the Mavs hours away from hoping their combination of ping-pong balls comes up for the first time since 2000, let’s look back and see why history says it won’t happen or why perhaps they are finally due! 1986: Before the Draft Lottery there was a coin flip between last place teams in each conference for the top pick. Dallas even won one of those in 1981 and drafted Mark Aguirre. Accusations that teams were losing deliberately to have a chance at the No. 1 pick led to the creation of the lottery. Starting in 1985, envelopes with the logo of the seven non-playoff teams were placed in a hopper and drawn at random to determine the order of the top seven picks. In 1986 the Mavs were a participant because it was the last of four straight years of first round picks they had pilfered in trades from then Cleveland owner Ted Stepien. The Cavs had the 3rd worst record but there still wasn’t the weighted system that exists today to favor the worst of the lottery teams. It was just a 1-in-7 chance for anyone to get the top pick. In a closed door dress rehearsal two hours before the Mavericks  actually won the No. 1 pick. GM Norm Sonju would say after he knew that meant they would end up 7th when the real one took place and sure enough they did. Dallas took Roy Tarpley, whose immensely promising career was derailed by substance abuse. 1989: After taking the Lakers to seven games in 1988 Conference Finals, the Mavs plummeted out of the playoffs, ending up with the 8th worst record in the NBA. The lottery was still envelopes drawn out of a hopper, but by then the lottery was only for the top three picks. After those picks were selected the remaining non-playoff teams drafted in inverse order of record. With expansion franchises Charlotte and Miami added in 1988 the lottery included nine teams now. As we know, the Mavs did not jump into the top 3 and with the 8th pick set out to right the wrong of passing on a certain power forward out of Louisiana Tech four years earlier. That night I listened to Norm Hitzges (who I have the pleasu

The Mavericks will need a lot of luck to avoid owning the 13th pick of the NBA draft. There is about a two percent chance that a Mavs ping pong ball will pop up in the top three picks during Tuesday night’s lottery. Dallas has a 0.6 percent chance to get the No. 1 pick. President of basketball operations Donnie Nelson, who will represent the Mavs at the drawing along with assistant general manager Keith Grant, plans to do everything in his power to improve those odds.

ESPNDallas.com will compare the Mavericks and Clippers in five facets -- other than money -- that could play a role in Chris Paul's free agency decision in a one-per-day series: owners/front office, coaches, co-stars, supporting casts and franchise tradition. We'll focus on Dwight Howard next week. Is Donald Sterling seriously considering giving Vinny Del Negro a new contract? If that’s the case, Mark Cuban ought to offer to pay half of Del Negro’s salary.

Last week we reported that Mark Cuban was asking Mavericks fans for new uniform ideas. Now we have an exclusive first look at the designs that have been submitted so far, some of which are pretty good and some of which are, well, interesting. Click here for a look at some of the more notable ones.

In September, Mavs Moneyball previewed the upcoming season for Brandan Wright, the athletic, fan-favorite who had electrified Mavs fans with spectacular plays, and helped create indelible moments during the team's lowest points(as an aside, I didn't realize how many alley oops Wright had with Jason Terry). A quick recap: In 2007, the Golden State Warriors traded Jason Richardson to the Charlotte Bobcats for the draft rights to Brandan Wright, the freshman big man from North Carolina and 8th overall pick in the draft. Wright entered the NBA with elite measurables and athletic ability for a power forward: a 6'10 frame with a 7'5 wingspan and the speed and leaping ability of a guard. Despite these tools, Wright did not quite make his mark in Golden State. His rookie season was limited to 38 games due to various injuries, and he managed only 39 games the next year(though he started more than half of them) after dislocating his shoulder midway through. His third year was completely lost, after another shoulder injury required surgery, and by the time he returned, Wright was no longer a fixture in the Warriors' future plans. That season, with his rookie contract in its final year, Wright was traded at the deadline to New Jersey, where he struggled mightily, converting just 40.7% of his shots in 16 games. Unsurprisingly, he was made an unrestricted free agent. Dallas, looking for a cheap, bargain-bin project like Brandon Bass or Desagana Diop, signed Wright to a two year deal for under $2 million. Coming off a championship season and the first phase of post-title free agent exodus, Wright was one of many new faces for the Mavs, and he quickly impressed teammates with athletic gifts not common on a veteran, aged squad. He would go on to set career highs across the board his first year in Dallas, showing off a hyper-efficient around the basket game and the ability to change shots defensively with his length and activity. The decision to pick up his second year option was an easy one. Brandan's numbers: Season Age Tm Lg Pos G GS MP FG FGA FG% 3P 3PA 3P% FT FTA FT% ORB DRB TRB AST STL BLK TOV PF PTS 2007-08 20 GSW NBA SF 38 6 9.9 1.6 2.9 .554 0.0 0.0 0.7 1.1 .675 1.0 1.6 2.6 0.2 0.2 0.6 0.3 0.9 4.0 2008-09 21 GSW NBA PF 39 23 17.6 3.3 6.3 .528 0.0 0.1 .000 1.6 2.2 .741 1.6 2.4 4.0 0.5 0.6 0.9 0.6 1.9 8.3 2010-11 23 TOT NBA PF 37 2 10.2 1.6 3.2 .513 0.0 0.0 0.6 0.8 .677 0.8 1.6 2.4 0.3 0.3 0.5 0.4 0.9 3.8 2010-11 23 GSW NBA PF 21 1 9.3 1.8 3.0 .603 0.0 0.0 0.3 0.7 .500 0.7 1.3 2.0 0.2 0.1 0.5 0.5 0.9 4.0 2010-11 23 NJN NBA PF 16 1 11.5 1.4 3.4 .407 0.0 0.0 0.9 1.1 .824 1.1 1.9 3.0 0.4 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.9 3.6 2011-12 24 DAL NBA C 49 0 16.1 2.9 4.8 .618 0.0 0.0 .000 1.1 1.7 .634 1.3 2.3 3.6 0.3 0.4 1.3 0.4 1.2 6.9 2012-13 25 DAL NBA C 64 16 18.0 3.8 6.3 .597 0.0 0.0 .000 0.9 1.5 .615 1.3 2.7 4.1 0.6 0.4 1.2 0.5 1.2 8.5 Career NBA 227 47 14.9 2.8 4.9 .573 0.0 0.0 .000 1.0 1.5 .665 1.2 2.2 3.4 0.4 0.4 0.9 0.5 1.2 6.6 Another year and a lot more of the same from Brandan, who proved his comeback year in Dallas was no fluke and, most importantly, stayed relatively healthy for the second year in a row. The major selling point on Wright is easy to find: he doesn't miss much. He narrowly missed the 60% mark on his field goals for the second year in a row, and among centers playing at least 15 minutes, the only players with better true shooting percentages were Tyson Chandler, Tiago Splitter(last year these were also the only two better), and promising rookie Jonas Valanciunas. Combine this outstanding finishing ability with an extremely low turnover rate(tied for 1st among all centers with Al Jefferson this year, an