Mavericks have two draft picks to ignite off-season makeover

As far as winning another championship before Dirk Nowitzki retires is concerned, the Dallas Mavericks are dancing very near the crossroads.

Nowitzki is 37 years old and has admitted that at his age the Mavericks shouldn’t count on him to be their primary go-to player. On Wednesday, the Mavericks’ primary go-to player last season, shooting guard Monte Ellis, decided to opt out of the final year of his contract and become an unrestricted free agent.

Ellis’ decision — although it was expected — added another wrinkle into the Mavericks’ off-season plans. The uncertainly surrounding next season’s roster is why the NBA Draft is so important to owner Mark Cuban’s club.

The NBA Draft begins at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y.

The Mavericks own the 21st pick of the first round, and also have a second-round pick — No. 52 — as they attempt to add players who could be part of coach Rick Carlisle’s rotation next season.

With free agents Rajon Rondo and Ellis playing elsewhere next season, the Mavericks need a new backcourt. They also need a power forward if they go through with end-of-the-season discussions about bringing Nowitzki off the bench next season.

“Really, if you look at our roster, we only have a few guys on the team,” Nowitzki said. “So we’ve got a lot of work to do, we’ve got a lot of filling out to do.

“I think we need a little bit of everything.”

Duke’s Tyus Jones, Notre Dame’s Jerian Grant and Utah’s Delon Wright are among the point guards super scout Ryan Blake acknowledged might be available for the Mavericks with the 21st pick. There’s a strong chance, however, that Jones could go to the Houston Rockets as the 18th selection.

“This always is going to be that beauty-in-the-eye-of-the-holder thing,’’ said Blake, the NBA’s senior director of scouting operations. “But if Jerian Grant is there at 21, boom, good gracious!

“Tyus Jones is a very good player, and the Delon Wright kid is really, really good. He’s not that great of an outside shooter, but he plays both ends of the floor and you can’t overlook that.”

Thus, the quest for the Mavericks to get younger at point guard is imperative.

“I think probably our best crack at getting on one of those really good guys is the chance that it may be in a point guard body,” said Donnie Nelson, the Mavericks’ president of basketball operations. “But that being said, we’re not going to get locked in.

“If there is a good player that slides [to the Mavericks at No. 21], or we feel we could help develop something else, we’ll jump at it.”

Nowitzki is approaching the second of a three-year, $25 million free agent contract he signed last summer.

“The draft is coming up. ... we’ll see if we can get some help there,” Nowitzki said. “Maybe an athlete, maybe a defender on the wing that’s long.

“We’ll just see, and then go into free agency [July 1] with an open mind — and with an open checkbook in Mark’s case — and hopefully get better.”

Another player whom the Mavs brought in for a pre-draft workout was Louisville’s Montrezl Harrell, who is 6-foot-8 and a rock-solid 255 pounds. Harrell averaged 15.7 points and 9.2 rebounds last season for the Cardinals, including 3.2 offensive boards per game.

A quick leaper with a 7-foot, 3-inch wingspan, Harrell likes to crash the boards. And if he’s available, the Mavericks might have the luxury of choosing between him and one of those aforementioned coveted point guards.

“I think the Mavs are probably looking at a point guard or maybe a center,” Blake said. “But Harrell’s a power forward with a lot of energy.

“I think he could be around there [at No. 21].”

Blake was glad to see that the Mavericks brought in center Greg Oden for a workout. Oden has played only 105 of a possible 656 regular-season games because of multiple knee injuries since being drafted No. 1 overall in 2007.

“I definitely feel bad for him,” Blake said of Oden. “The guy has loads of talent, and he’s always had loads of talent.

“When you have size and talent, as Greg Oden did, don’t ignore him. Give him a workout and see how he is and what’s going on with him right now. You wouldn’t be doing your job if you didn’t bring him in.”

And the draft hasn’t been productive for the Mavericks, who had no picks last year. There’s no guarantee they’ll keep the two picks they have this year; their recent history shows that they don’t mind trading up or down.

“If we get lucky, there will be a couple of slide guys that make it into our region,” Nelson said. “But as usual with every draft, we’ll be active.”

This story was originally published June 24, 2015 at 4:53 PM with the headline "Mavericks have two draft picks to ignite off-season makeover."