The Mavs aren’t in the playoffs (again) but there is cause for celebrating the future
The safe money is to just assume that the Mavs will not have a first round pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, that it will be shipped to Atlanta to complete the trade for Luka Doncic. Best to not raise your hopes that the Mavs will actually land a top five pick, let alone the chance to select Zion Natural Park.
The Mavs only want the pick if they can draft Zion.
Other than offer the prayer of singing a real free agent this summer, something this team has never excelled, there is this: The team already has a 2019 first round pick. He’s on their roster, which completes either the second or third best draft in franchise history.
Jalen Brunson is your 2019 Mavs’ lottery pick.
BAGGING BRUNSON
The Dallas Mavericks thought so highly of Brunson they did not have him on their draft board.In the Mavs’ draft room on draft night 2018, they had already acquired The Luka, and as the first round continued they tried to determine who might be available with their second pick, selection No. 33.
They wanted a guard, and thought maybe Duke’s Gary Trent would be it; they were convinced there was no way Brunson would be available when it was their turn to make a selection. Brunson was not on their list.
For a variety of reasons, Brunson played the 12th most minutes of any NBA rookie. His 73 games ranked 11th among draft picks.
Based on virtually every metric, Jalen Brunson was either the 10th or 11th most productive rookie selected.
He’s a good passer with a point guard’s command of an offense; at a minimum, he could be a plausible replacement for J.J. Barea.
“Where I am right now in my career, I really don’t have time to reflect on what I’ve done,” Brunson said in an interview the day after the season ended. “With the season I’ve had, I can’t relax. I’m going to remember the season. It was memorable, because of Dirk and everything.
“I really just have to have short term memory. Positive or negative, it has to be a short term memory.”
A HISTORY OF HORRIBLE DRAFT CLASSES
In 1981, the team’s second year of existence, the team selected Mark Aguirre, Rolando Blackman and Jay Vincent in the first round.
And in 2019, the Mavs will not have a first round pick.
Instead, they will have Luka and Jalen.
At this juncture, that is a positive.
This story was originally published April 18, 2019 at 11:53 AM.