2026 NBA draft thread

[cow]

Oh, I definitely think there's a way. But, yes, it would require unloading a lot (a trade gauntlet has been thrown, lol):

Trade 1
Mavs get #6, #8 Josh Green and Grant Williams 
Hornets get Gafford 
Nets get #18, #23 and Jabari Smith 
Hawks get #9 and Reed Sheppard 
Rockets get Kyrie 

Trade 2
Mavs get #3, #16 and #32
Grizzlies get #6, #8 and #23

Mavs draft:
#3 Cam Boozer 
#16 Ebuka Okorie 
#32 Isaiah Evans 

The Mavs would have subtracted Kyrie and Gafford .

The root trades are ones that have been discussed here before:

Mavs get Jabari Smith, Reed Sheppard and a future pick 
Rockets get Kyrie 

Mavs get #18
Hornets get Gafford 

The biggest obstacle would then be convincing the Nets that Jabari Smith + #18+#23 is better than whatever they'd pick at 6.

Also, it would be having the Grizzlies believe that a combo of (2 of) Brown, Wagler, Acuff, Burries Mara, Flemings, Ament, M. Johnson is better than Boozer.

Hell, the Mavs might decide they'd rather have two of them instead of one premium player. 

All I'm saying is I think it’s doable.

That's kind of the needle threading I was describing, though I'd assume we'd have to use future picks to get things done.

I know it depends how the board falls and you never want to show your hand, but moving back seems crazy.  We aren't likely to see a higher pick until 2031.