(07-11-2026, 09:58 AM)Knutsen Wrote: On the other hand there where lots of Mara to OKC rumors leading up to the draft as their „answer to Wemby“ - could have been smokescreens, but it didn’t come out of nowhere that they draft him.
But the Mavs luckily weren’t sure enough of their Mara interest to let them trade up - maybe they were indeed aiming for Morez and then had to settle for Mara, who knows. I‘ll believe that version going forward until proven otherwise, because it feels great!
....and that´s probably the reason they took him.
I think it´s more likely Dallas wanted Johnson, felt they could get him at 12 and tried to draw OKC in for #17, but OKC felt nobody was taking Mara. If OKC really really wanted Morez, they could have given up #12 + #17 or any future unprotected 1sts and probably gotten that Hawks pick. I doubt the Hawks would have cared that much about getting Flemings with Burries, Philon, Anderson or Stirtz available.