DRAFT: #18 [Green] & #31 [Terry] & trade for #36 [Tyler Bey]

[ClutchDirk]

https://twitter.com/DuaneRankin/status/1...5330374658

[KillerLeft]

https://twitter.com/DuaneRankin/status/1...5330374658

Suddenly, I am less fixated on RJ Hampton, for some reason.

[ClutchDirk]

https://twitter.com/DuaneRankin/status/1...5330374658

https://twitter.com/IanBegley/status/132...3538225155

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https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2020/11/12...evski-18th

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https://twitter.com/KnickSchool/status/1...8003012613

[Kammrath]

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1326940319997456389

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So there is a discrepancy...

Vassell EITHER worked out for....

the Mavs....

OR

....the Magic. 

Someone misheard him. Frustrating not to know.


My educated guess?

The Magic love long guys like Vassell but they have lots like him....they are drafting 15....I don't remember rumors of them trying to move up.

The Mavs NEED someone like Vassell desperately....they are drafting 18....they have been linked to 10 and having a "strong desire" to move up into the lottery.

It could be either but I would guess it actually is the MAVS.

[ClutchDirk]

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1326940319997456389

---

So there is a discrepancy...

Vassell EITHER worked out for....

the Mavs....

OR

....the Magic. 

Someone misheard him. Frustrating not to know.


My educated guess?

The Magic love long guys like Vassell but they have lots like him....they are drafting 15....I don't remember rumors of them trying to move up.

The Mavs NEED someone like Vassell desperately....they are drafting 18....they have been linked to 10 and having a "strong desire" to move up into the lottery.

It could be either but I would guess it actually is the MAVS.

Newest rumor has the Sun's using #10 to get CP3...

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https://twitter.com/DuaneRankin/status/1...4525317120

[jesusshuttlesworth82]

The Magic love long guys like Vassell but they have lots like him....they are drafting 15....I don't remember rumors of them trying to move up.

There's a rumor they are trying to package Aaron Gordon and 15 to try and move up in the draft.

[ClutchDirk]

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2917...trade-buzz

One scout told Bleacher Report he did investigate, reaching out to Vassell's coaches and trainers, who assured him no mechanical changes were made, and it was just two teammates messing around to end a workout, with Vassell playfully exaggerating an already-high release point.

[Scott41theMavs]

Ugh... Whatever happens, I just desperately need this not to be a repeat of the extreme whiff of the 2019 offseason.

I've said it so many times - acquiring a guy who would be the third-best player on this team - not the third-best player on a championship team, but the third-best player on *this* team - is extremely low-hanging fruit. Can I has at-least-minimal-front-office-competence from the Mavs in 2020 offseason? Please? Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease????

[cow]

6 days until we draft Nesmth

FIFY...

Fixed the Fix.

Spending capital to trade up to 10 and drafting Nesmith - ick. He's absolutely not in that top 10 tier.

Suns aren't giving up #10.  Nesmith at #18.

[Kammrath]

Ringer mock draft:

7) Hayes
8) Haliburton
11) SBey
13) Vassell
14) Hampton
18) Green
19) Nesmith
21) Maledon
22) Achiuwa
26) Bolmaro

One thing is clear: Expect the unexpected on draft night.

[KillerLeft]

Ugh... Whatever happens, I just desperately need this not to be a repeat of the extreme whiff of the 2019 offseason.

If the Mavs are able to pick up two additional contributors who bring as much to the table as Curry and Boban do, I will be THRILLED.

[Kammrath]

Just want to highlight this quote from Kevin O'Connor:

The Suns are hoping to use this pick (#10) to trade for Oklahoma City point guard Chris Paul, according to league sources. If the Thunder end up here, it’s unclear whom they would target.

This affirms the rumor from yesterday. 

I still think the Mavs are trying to get into this deal as a 3rd/4th team and trying to come out with the #10 pick. This is also affirmed because O'Connor isn't hearing any rumors about OKC targeting someone in the draft this high. 

I am in NO WAY saying it is going to happen (no trade is "likely" to happen), but I do think there is legitimate smoke here.

[cjeter24]

https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1326940319997456389

---

So there is a discrepancy...

Vassell EITHER worked out for....

the Mavs....

OR

....the Magic. 

Someone misheard him. Frustrating not to know.


My educated guess?

The Magic love long guys like Vassell but they have lots like him....they are drafting 15....I don't remember rumors of them trying to move up.

The Mavs NEED someone like Vassell desperately....they are drafting 18....they have been linked to 10 and having a "strong desire" to move up into the lottery.

It could be either but I would guess it actually is the MAVS.

Newest rumor has the Sun's using #10 to get CP3...

---

https://twitter.com/DuaneRankin/status/1...4525317120

I really am starting to believe the DraftExpress guys take on Hayes. He's going to slip into the late lottery. Everyone has him projected to the Knicks at 8... But from that's just because of "value" and team needs. It sounds like very few lottery teams are high on Hayes due to less info then other guys. He's a big of a mystery.

[Kammrath]

I really am starting to believe the DraftExpress guys take on Hayes. He's going to slip into the late lottery.

From Kevin O'Connor:

Killian Hayes, whom some teams view as the steal of the draft.

I still think the Mavs are targeting Hayes. They will have as much intel on him as ANYONE else.

[KillerLeft]

They will have as much intel on him as ANYONE else.

Totally, but how do we know that means they like him? Has any connection been made outside of your opinion of the player (which is definitely worth something, but not the same as direct knowledge that they like him)?

[cjeter24]

Here is something nobody has talked about yet:

How much do you want to commit into this nine months season, when there is a legit possibility COVID might cancel the whole season eventually or you get un-timely positive COVID tests that derail your regular season or post season.

Is win-now even an option under these circumstances?

Do you really want to sacrifice any long-term assets on the altar of Corona with so much uncertainty?

It may have it's hiccups and maybe even missed games... But major vaccine news is encouraging. Latest reports/projections are that early spring most Americans will have access to vaccines. 

They are actually going to start rolling out one of them at the end of the month if they get FDA emergency approval. The place that I work is already making arrangements for the Health Care workers to have access to the Pfizer vaccine if it is cleared for emergency use. 

There is a very real possibility by the summer, things are mostly back to normal at least in the US. Obviously that can change at any point. I'd be very surprised to see it be a major issue come playoff time next year. Some really exciting medical/science developments to attack it.

[Kammrath]

Totally, but how do we know that means they like him? Has any connection been made outside of your opinion of the player (which is definitely worth something, but not the same as direct knowledge that they like him)?

No direct connection whatsoever....which IMO affirms my hunch. I stated that if the Mavs are trying to trade up they will not allow themselves to be publicly connected to their intended target.

[KillerLeft]

Totally, but how do we know that means they like him? Has any connection been made outside of your opinion of the player (which is definitely worth something, but not the same as direct knowledge that they like him)?

No direct connection whatsoever....which IMO affirms my hunch. I stated that if the Mavs are trying to trade up they will not allow themselves to be publicly connected to their intended target.

well, I still don’t quite agree with the takeaway from the Townsend article being “they think they can get a star by trading up” to begin with. But, if this is what happens, I’ve got a truckload of credit with your name on it.

[Scott41theMavs]

Ugh... Whatever happens, I just desperately need this not to be a repeat of the extreme whiff of the 2019 offseason.

If the Mavs are able to pick up two additional contributors who bring as much to the table as Curry and Boban do, I will be THRILLED.

I understand the Gospel of the 2019 offseason according to KL, but it's not part of my canon. The Mavs had massive cap room. With league-average-minimal recruiting skills, they could have quite easily brought in a third-best player complementary to Luka and KP in a way that didn't jeopardize future moves. Their failure in this either indicates that they are grossly incompetent recruiters or abjectly moronic team builders. I prefer to believe the former. However, even the salvage efforts after the initial humiliating whiff fell way short. They signed KP way too early, when it should have been the capstone move, tying up cap. Instead of waiting on a guy like Danny Green, who wouldn't have moved the needle much, they could have signed another bargain player or two so that the Mavs had more of a talent base for this offseason - let alone a better team on the floor than what they did.

I believe that the root of the Mavs' debacle of an offseason was one gigantic fail in their judgment - believing that healthy Dwight Powell was a good enough player to start for a contending team, when binarily he wasn't good enough to start for an NBA team with an objective other than tanking. We were waiting on Green to bring THJ off the bench - KP and DP were always the frontcourt. I know that this board is full of hood-winking apologists who are with the MBT on this (i.e. healthy Powell was really good enough), but it just factually isn't so. With that kind of foolishness as your team-building foundation, of course that erroneous premise is going to lead to further horrendous mistakes. The Powell injury and its medium-term (if not long-term) consequences have hopefully forced the MBT to go in different directions.

I do agree with you that it behooves the Mavs this offseason not to do anything which gets the team stuck on the treadmill of mediocrity (i.e. team-finishing moves that prevent future movement when they're at a position where they need to make several more moves in order to be "finished") and perhaps even to preserve '21 capspace at all costs as their best shot pre-Luka extension of finishing the team, but that's because of the horrendous errors of the 2019 offseason, not in dogmatic imitation of them.

[cjeter24]

I really am starting to believe the DraftExpress guys take on Hayes. He's going to slip into the late lottery.

From Kevin O'Connor:

Killian Hayes, whom some teams view as the steal of the draft.

I still think the Mavs are targeting Hayes. They will have as much intel on him as ANYONE else.

Who are those teams? Lottery teams? 
They said Chicago and Detroit really like him but past that....

Part of my thinking is that you could see people shy away from the unknowns or higher risk type picks due to all the circumstances surrounding the season. Your "raw" players essentially are redshirting a year. Someone like the Celtics are probably ok with that... Or perhaps Chicago and Detroit at the beginning of their rebuilds still. But if you want a PG more NBA ready? Haliburton is your guy. Perhaps you want to go Lewis instead too. He's got alot of upside with his athletic ability.