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

[Scott41theMavs]

I think some us are really overrating the impact of a rookie in his 1st season. How many are good enough to make the rotation of a playoff team? How many get a starting spot?
Just take a look at the top 3&D prospects from last years draft. Hunter and Reddish played starter minutes on a terrible Hawks team. They replaced vets like Bazemore and Carter and Hawks fans expected the defense to improve. Now we know that the Hawks had one of the worst defensive teams in NBA history. The drafted wing defenders were big negatives in their first season.
Jarrett Culver played 24 minutes for the Timberwolves. A team that is nearly as bad as the Hawks on defense. He was a liability on offense. Only shooting 30% from 3.

Obviously we also have some positive examples. After a mediocre first half of the season Cam Johnson was great in the bubble games and earned starter minutes. Compared to the regular season Tyler Herro isn´t getting as many minutes but he has proven himself as a reliable shooter.

I think in general my point still stands. If the Mavs want to be a playoff team next season they cannot rely on a rookie to play big minutes or even start.

Well, Mavs timeline for contention is 2-3 years from now. So a rookie now, who can be legit starter in his 2nd or 3rd year is exactly what the Mavs need.

I don't expect the Mavs to contend (like the Lakers, Clippers and Heat are contending this year) next year, but I believe they have to be a step closer to it (legit 3rd or 4th western seed) in order to be on the right timeline. That means two new starters, when we have few trade assets, no cap room, and just the MLE and vet min contracts available. The draft pick, their best trade asset, needs to be a starter (and one who helps rather than hurts), or be traded for a starter.

If Donnie pulls Luka and Carlisle into his office this month and tells them to keep working on improving internally this year and that 2021 is the big leap (whether with Giannis or other possibilities) and Luka buys in 100%, then maybe you can think about drafting a guy who will need a year or two to really contribute.

BTW, I like the other Bey (Tyler) too, but he's probably a reach at 18.

Luka doesn't have a say in this, not now, not next year. May be after his rookie deal is over.
As Cuban loves to say, players are lousy GM. Luka will look under his feet and would say I am aiming for championship, which is normal from a guy spend good portion of his upbringing in Real Madrid.But this isn't Europe, and next year we will be step closer just by growing internally. We are one of the most inexperienced teams in the NBA, even older players like Maxi/Seth have played less than 5 years in the league.
Defense is an area that automatically improves with experience, same with closing games. Those 2 alone could make us top 3 in the West.
I don't see anyway we "upgrade 2 starters" here next season. I think this is more wishful thinking than anything.
THJ is better 3rd option than most contenders have, DFS and Maxi are legit 3&D players.
Never mind, we have no real assets to make such deals that people wants. People are over rating the worth of 18/31 picks in bad draft.
Mavs need to think long term, because now Luka has no say at anything and can only be accept what the team tells him, 3-4 years from now it is the opposite and he will hold all the power.
Now, you get a legit starter who is even younger than Luka, it is a great move for the future of the franchise. We need a Josh Howard/Devin Harris type of pick, at worst a Jae Crowder one. Those are kind of players that can help us a lot more than a short sighted deal.

Two things - 1) I completely disagree with your take on Luka. You don't play games with the player who is the future of the entire league, and your approach is absolutely "playing games." 2) I would love a Howard/Harris pick. Those guys contributed tremendously in year one.

Watched Tyler Bey's scouting video again. I'm all in. He's essentially a more talented version of DFS. I shall henceforth refer to him as "Tiger Bay." I think the Mavs could perhaps buy a low 20s pick, use that pick and 31 to trade into the high 20s, and then trade 18.