2026 NBA draft thread

[dirkfansince1998]

The problem is they barely ever tried. There is Bernard James, Satnam Singh, the Giannis brother, and they allegedly took Larkin, cause Dirk liked him*. They took Tyrell Terry, cause Bill Simmons and KOCrap hyped him up as the next Trae Young, without apparently ever speaking to a kid with anxiety issues. Another 1st round pick they traded for a suicidal guy with a substance abuse problem.

I don´t even think in many cases it was that difficult to find more suitable options just using common sense. 90% of the board wanted Saddiq Bey in the Josh Green spot. 100% wanted to trade up for Bane in the Terry spot. A large number wanted Maxey, too. 



I think the ratio between effort to picks to results is actually pretty good, considering that Cuban hated the draft.
 
*To be fair to Dirk there is a small chance Shane Larkin will make the HOF one day for his international career.

Mavs also have/had zero patience when it comes to rookies. One would hope that post Cuban the never ending win now cycle is over but I don't think that's the case. Considering that Presti seems to be the fan favorite as far as GM goes we should remember how he build the Thunder. Sell vets. Stockpile picks. Absorb bad vet salary. Recover their value. Sell vets and rookies dad didn't pan out. Stockpile more picks.
That's exactly what the Mavs need to do as long as Flagg is on his rookie deal. Cannot fall for the sunk cost fallacy of having to win as soon as possible because they don't have first round picks in the coming years.

Meaning that everyone not named Flagg is available (maybe not Lively). Especially vets with positive trade value. At least two out of Gafford, Marshall, PJ should be actively shopped. Klay's expiring is an asset that can be turned into picks.
There is no need for multiple vet leaders on a rebuilding team. If Kyrie stays for 1-2 more seasons that's enough. And if you can find someone that offers a lottery pick for him just resign Powell on a one year minimum (he can be the Mavs Haslem/Taj Gibson).