2026 NBA draft thread

[Smitty]

I've been trying to follow comments/stats/rumors/etc. and my brain is spinning.

Is it just me, or are some bigs, like Lendenborg and Mara, pushing their way into the top 10 draft discussion?

If so, doesn't that slide more of these PG-types into range for the DAL pick?

Is it possible they slide enough that DAL can trade back and still get a contributor?

I know we need backcourt help, but does that need outweigh the strategy of BPA? In other words, would you take a highly rated big at the expense of one of the fab five guards?

I think all options are on the table. In the end, it doesn’t matter what we would do. I’ve been in the minority on a lot of my takes. Mostly unpopular at the time, and now are becoming the consensus. But if you ask 10 people who the BPA is at #9, you’ll probably get 10 different answers.

Yes, I continue to believe it’s extremely unlikely that 5-9 will all be Guards. I also think there’s a decent chance that the Mavs will be one of the teams that don’t pick one when they’re on the clock…

Trading back has to be on the table. Same for trading up. Mavs are in a position to do several things on draft night. Including taking on bad salary for a pick via TPE, or trading one of their positive value guys for an additional pick or a combination of those things.