MAVS NEWS:

[Scott41theMavs]

I agree with a LOT of this. Nearly everything actually. Just one small pushback. The Mavs do have first round picks the next 4 years. In fact, they currently have 4. One in ‘28, ‘29 and two in ‘30. I know you probably meant they don’t control their own pick with 2 of those having swap rights owed to OKC and SAS and the other two being other teams’ picks in LAL and GSW. But they do have picks. They even have a possibility for a pick in ‘27 if it lands in the Top-2.

It’s not as dire as you make it seem is all. It will take a good GM like you said. One that can draft well outside of the lottery (most likely) in some of those years.

BUT isn’t that okay after all? IF we hit on this pick… Do we expect those swaps to matter all that much? Do we expect to be bottom dwellers in Year 3 and Year 5 Flagg seasons when those swap rights matter? Also Year 2 and Year 4 of this next Top-10 pick..

Of course, a lot can happen between now and then. But you said it, we HAVE Flagg. And we NEED to hit on this pick. Then, we need a good GM to continue hitting on guys in the draft, even (likely) outside the lottery.

Let's put it this way - we don't have any lottery picks, our own or otherwise, for the next four years. I was pointing out that those several other teams at the top of the standings were built on multiple lottery picks.

I was very happy and excited back in '97 when they hired Nellie, because he had the well-earned reputation of finding very solid or better players with not great draft picks. And well, well, well, he found Dirk, trading down to get him, and probably deserves credit for pegging Nash, the buried third-stringer, as a high-level starting point guard. The Mavs' first criterion for their new GM needs to be that sort of genius-level talent evaluation.