2023 DRAFT: Mavs take Lively, OMP, sign Mike Miles to 2-way, sign Jordan Walker

[haveitall]

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nNtVBldIouk

[Chicagojk]

https://twitter.com/NickVanExit/status/1...77184?s=20

[Chicagojk]

https://twitter.com/dallasmavs/status/16...92143?s=46&t=iwQP5yZoJF3Ulzfb9MH7Cg

[haveitall]

https://twitter.com/dallasmavs/status/16...92143?s=46&t=iwQP5yZoJF3Ulzfb9MH7Cg

Personality is the big plus.  Look at how DFS, Brunson, and Hardy had a positive impact because of personality.  Hardy was all smiles last season.

[Chicagojk]

https://twitter.com/NickVanExit/status/1...77184?s=20

This is great smile on your face talk on the mavs two picks.

[Chicagojk]

Athletic article with anonymous scouts:

Olivier-Maxence Prosper
Marquette junior Olivier Maxence-Prosper helped himself with a strong showing at the Chicago draft combine, eliciting rumors that he was promised a first-round ticket by an anonymous team.

College assistant coach No. 3 (his team played Marquette): I like him and he’s one of those guys who you’re going to realize four or five years from now and be like, “Oh, man, this kid can play.” He’s got a chance and has the tools to make himself into a serious player. Prosper is only going to keep getting better, too. He helped himself in Chicago. If he didn’t get a promise, he should have gone back. Hopefully, he got a promise. He’s an upside kid. I like him and he does a lot of different things.

Dereck Lively II
College Head Coach 1 (his team played Duke): If you look at where he was early in the season, to where he finished, and what he’s been doing in these workouts. … Early in the season, when the games started, maybe after the first 10, 15 games, it was ‘Is he going to be a first-round pick? And if he is, he’s going to be late.’ Now I’m seeing he’s Lottery. He was the perfect example of how they, and maybe the whole system, how they figured things out as things went along. I thought early in the season, he was more of just a defensive presence. They weren’t starting him. They were starting Ryan Young. Then finally, in the second half (of the season), they started playing him, and he’d switch the ball screens.

That’s one of the most underrated things about his game, the fact that he was doing that at 18, 19 years old. I remember telling my staff, ‘That guy’s going to be in the league.’ He reminded me of a DeAndre Jordan defensively. He could switch a ball screen, he could sit down and guard a guard. Obviously it was hard to score at the basket with him because of his athleticism, length and his shot blocking and intimidation. The thing that’s different is he can actually shoot the basketball. You saw that at the end, when he would make some 3s, pick and pop, do some things like that. He’s obviously a big lob threat, a rim runner, the dunker’s spot. As he continues to grow, he can be a little bit more of a traditional big now. The traditional big now is, you pick and pop, you shoot the 3. His upside, man, if he can continue to stay healthy, I think his upside is huge.

Western Conference Executive 1: Started the season slow, and then came on and showed why he got ranked when he was in high school. Had a very high block rate, tremendous mobility for a big guy. He can cover a lot of ground, and block shots, either straight on or as an off-the-ball shot blocker. … Rim protection is important. You can’t just be a statue that protects the rim; you’ve got to be able to stay on the court. Particularly in the playoffs, you’ve got to be able to be out on the perimeter. Over time, he has the physical capability, I think, to do that. I don’t think he makes the first eight, but nine to 13?

I think there’s a lot of similarities (with Allen). He didn’t have a great year at Texas. His shot-blocking numbers were there, but he was up and down. I believe, if I’m right, Jarrett got drafted later (22nd overall in 2017) than this kid is probably going to go. The close of (Lively’s) year was better than anything Jarrett had at any point in time in that year. But their mobility, long, shot-blocking guards with the feet to guard, not just around the basket, that’s appealing. And he was a big-timer in high school. So everything’s on the upswing with him. As a big guy now, no one cares if you can score in the post any more. If you can, great, we’ll throw it to you once a month. He’s going to be a defense-first guy.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_...team-night




Draft grades for all 30 teams.

[SleepingHero]

Alright, after taking a night of sleep and watching some defensive games, I'm willing to slightly walk back my take of "No way Lively will make it wtf were the Mavs thinking" to "Lemme wait and see how he fares till December"

In case you were curious this is the vid that changed my tune:
https://twitter.com/dallasmavs/status/16...8761392143

[Jym]

Alright, after taking a night of sleep and watching some defensive games, I'm willing to slightly walk back my take of "No way Lively will make it wtf were the Mavs thinking" to "Lemme wait and see how he fares till December"

In case you were curious this is the vid that changed my tune:
https://twitter.com/dallasmavs/status/16...8761392143

He certainly is a good interview and says the right things.
Hopefully that can translate on the court

[MFFL]

https://twitter.com/dallasmavs/status/16...92143?s=46&t=iwQP5yZoJF3Ulzfb9MH7Cg

TEAMMATES!!!

[KillerLeft]

These moves would be great, if Mavs would be building for the future. 

...which is what I, personally, think they should have been doing since the second it became clear that Porzingis didn't fit here. Every "win now" deal they've tried to make since that point has been a disaster and Luka is STILL only 24 years old. 

I honestly believe this approach has a better chance of making this an attractive place to play for Luka by the time he signs his supermax (which he will).

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

...which is what I, personally, think they should have been doing since the second it became clear that Porzingis didn't fit here. Every "win now" deal they've tried to make since that point has been a disaster and Luka is STILL only 24 years old. 

I honestly believe this approach has a better chance of making this an attractive place to play for Luka by the time he signs his supermax (which he will).

If Luka is on board 2023-2024 being a transition year, then so am I.

If he behaves like he did last year because the team has no shot to be a contender, then we're in for a long season.  Not to mention how Kyrie handles a transition year.

[KillerLeft]

If Luka is on board 2023-2024 being a transition year, then so am I.

If he behaves like he did last year because the team has no shot to be a contender, then we're in for a long season.  Not to mention how Kyrie handles a transition year.

That's a reasonable stance. I think I'm just a notch or two past you on the "depressed-o-meter" that was last season. I saw so little hope in this team's future I was considering giving up being a fan after more than 20 years. I simply didn't see a way that adding veteran players intended to win-now could work, given the absolute void of tradable assets they had to work with. 

I honestly believe this is the ONLY way they could've reasonably moved forward, even if it makes losing Luka more likely (I don't think it will, but stand by this statement). The first step to turning a horrible situation around is always to start doing the task an inch in front of your face WELL, and not trying to get your arms around the entire problem in one move. For me, last night looks like a step in the right direction.

[MFFL]

Athletic article with anonymous scouts:

Olivier-Maxence Prosper
Marquette junior Olivier Maxence-Prosper helped himself with a strong showing at the Chicago draft combine, eliciting rumors that he was promised a first-round ticket by an anonymous team.

Was that promise from Nico?

"I told you, OMax, I was going to make this happen."
https://twitter.com/CallieCaplan/status/...wsrc%5Etfw

[Mavs2021]

Was that promise from Nico?

"I told you, OMax, I was going to make this happen."
https://twitter.com/CallieCaplan/status/...wsrc%5Etfw

Kyrie: I want 250/5.
Nico: I told you, Dame, I was going to make this happen.
Kyrie: Wait what.

[SleepingHero]

If Luka is on board 2023-2024 being a transition year, then so am I.

If he behaves like he did last year because the team has no shot to be a contender, then we're in for a long season.  Not to mention how Kyrie handles a transition year.

I forgot where I heard/read it, but it really resonated with me. When it comes to Luka, ever since he's come here he's always echoed the same sort of sentiment. We gotta win and we're going to win. Even in the improbable series against the Clippers he echoed the phrase "if you don't believe you shouldn't be here"

I truly believe that Luka is cut from the cloth that he can win with literally anyone on his roster. If the team doesn't win, he first thinks its because of his own short comings vs. issues with the team. That kind of mindset properly frames all of his quotes regarding team building and why he's generally just never cared or ever seem interested in it.

There isn't a transition year for Luka. Every year is win-now because Luka believes he can win with anyone. What happened last season I think was a combination of him being frustrated that he couldn't just will a team to victory like he's been able to so many times before, and probably annoyed that his teammates couldn't produce consistently even in his absence. 

Again, I'm trying to get into the mind of another person and interpret their motivations so I may be waayyyy off. But seeing Luka thinking this way makes sense to me. I agree last season he showed his emotions way more than ever. I think a lot of that had to do with him not having a proper running mate. After the Kyrie trade, his negative body language sort of dissipated even though they were losing even more.

[Dundalis]

I actually don't think his issues were entirely to do with winning. He basically said at the end, paraphrasing, that he likes to have fun, and that the locker room was a bad, dysfunctional environment to be around and he couldn't have fun and therefore did not enjoy playing basketball. The guy literally hates every aspect of practice and training except for the part that involves playing ball, specifically because he only likes the fun part. He's even intimated retiring early if basketball stops being fun for him.

I actually think if the locker room atmosphere is good, with team guys and players that are bought in and creating a good environment to be around, that's what Luka is referring to when it comes to enjoying coming in to work and play ball every day. Obviously winning is a part of that, but the straight up fact of the matter is Luka looked miserable even when this team was the 5th/4th seed. That doesn't match with someone who's only happy if the team is winning. He's looked way happier in the past when the team hasn't been doing nearly as well.

That he straight up said he did not enjoy playing basketball and it being because of winning simply doesn't match up with the results the entire time he looked unhappy, compared to his happiness levels in the past. You might get frustrated and upset, but I don't think you stop enjoying playing basketball altogether just because you are losing, there's something else going on to cause that.

[cow]

Not to counter too much, but success leads to more expectations so while he might have been happier in the past on teams not winning as much, I'm not sure that's the best indicator. But I do agree that there is a stark contrast when he plays for his national team versus what we saw from him last year.

[mvossman]

I actually don't think his issues were entirely to do with winning. He basically said at the end, paraphrasing, that he likes to have fun, and that the locker room was a bad, dysfunctional environment to be around and he couldn't have fun and therefore did not enjoy playing basketball. The guy literally hates every aspect of practice and training except for the part that involves playing ball, specifically because he only likes the fun part. He's even intimated retiring early if basketball stops being fun for him.

I actually think if the locker room atmosphere is good, with team guys and players that are bought in and creating a good environment to be around, that's what Luka is referring to when it comes to enjoying coming in to work and play ball every day. Obviously winning is a part of that, but the straight up fact of the matter is Luka looked miserable even when this team was the 5th/4th seed. That doesn't match with someone who's only happy if the team is winning. He's looked way happier in the past when the team hasn't been doing nearly as well.

That he straight up said he did not enjoy playing basketball and it being because of winning simply doesn't match up with the results the entire time he looked unhappy, compared to his happiness levels in the past. You might get frustrated and upset, but I don't think you stop enjoying playing basketball altogether just because you are losing, there's something else going on to cause that.

This is probably the biggest reason Wood will not be on the team next season and they specifically drafted class guys.

[mvossman]

I think there’s a lot of similarities (with Allen). He didn’t have a great year at Texas. His shot-blocking numbers were there, but he was up and down. I believe, if I’m right, Jarrett got drafted later (22nd overall in 2017) than this kid is probably going to go. The close of (Lively’s) year was better than anything Jarrett had at any point in time in that year. But their mobility, long, shot-blocking guards with the feet to guard, not just around the basket, that’s appealing. And he was a big-timer in high school. So everything’s on the upswing with him. As a big guy now, no one cares if you can score in the post any more. If you can, great, we’ll throw it to you once a month. He’s going to be a defense-first guy.

This is my biggest hope regarding Lively.  I think 2021 made a reference to Allen as well.  Its a good comp and an ideal path for Lively.  Allen played 20 minutes a game his first year, started every game his second year and never looked back.  If Lively can fit this profile, there is no reason to put another nickel into the center position.