The Mavericks realize how fortunate they are to have won Monday’s draft lottery that all but guaranteed Cooper Flagg will land in Dallas. According to Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Subscriber link), CEO Rick Welts said the business staff received an overwhelming number of ticket and sponsor requests shortly after winning the lottery.
“In the past 24 hours alone,” Welts said. “We’ve had 28-times more inbound calls for season tickets and 35-times more daily additions to the season-ticket waitlist. Also, six-times more inbound sponsorship communications from brands and prospective clients.”
According to ESPN, Flagg also understands how great of a situation Dallas can be for him and is excited about the prospect of joining a playoff-caliber roster and getting the chance to be a significant part of the offensive scheme.
We have more from the Southwest Division:
- After the shocking Luka Doncic trade in February sent uproars throughout the Mavericks fanbase, winning the lottery gives those same fans a reason to be hopeful, Christian Clark of The Athletic writes. In a similar story, Mark Medina of Athlon Sports writes that Flagg can help the Mavericks jump back into contention in year one.
- After landing the second overall pick in the lottery, the Spurs appear primed to select Rutgers guard Dylan Harper. He spoke about the chance of playing alongside ball dominant players like De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle, according to San Antonio Express-News’ Tom Orsborn (Twitter link). “The NBA is really positionless basketball, so I mean you could play with a bunch of ball handlers and a bunch of people that could get opportunities for themselves, but let other people get opportunities for them,” Harper said.
- After finishing with the fourth-worst record in the league, the Pelicans fell three spots in the draft lottery to No. 7. Rod Walker of NOLA.com analyzes seven prospects who could make sense for New Orleans after the lottery didn’t go their way. Walker writes that Duke’s Kon Knueppel would be his favorite at No. 7 if he had to pick a favorite, given the spacing that he would add. Another intriguing pick could be South Carolina’s Collin Murray-Boyles, who new basketball operations head Joe Dumars might favor due to his toughness.
Pelicans need a point guard. Probably not available at 7. So, they will need a shooter.
Espn has them taking Maluach and I think thats stupid because you have just drafted Yves Missi.
Fears will definitely be there at 7 if they truly wanted a PG.
They’re screwed tho. 2nd team to waste assets on Dejounte and he’s got 3 years left, will be out all or most of next season.
If you were going to try and rebuild, this might be the season to do so.
If the Spurs don’t land Giannis, maybe you can deal Zion for #2, #14, Barnes, KJ and a few more picks.
Start over with Harper at 2, Maluach at 7, CMB at 14.
You’d have 62M in expiring contracts that you could use to accumulate more assets.
Even with Zion, you’ve got 31M tied to a guy that won’t play, you’re going to likely be a play in team at best.
Spurs would be banking on having two incredible frontcourt players, and a bit of faith that they’ll both stay healthy.
Spurs are not trading for either. Giannis because timing doesn’t align with Wemby’s timetable, they likely can’t play together and they can’t afford him and extend Fox and Wemby.
Zion simply because he’s fat and can’t stay on the floor. Not a spur.
I think someone could trade up for Maluach with NO. Fears is an excellent pick for them. Biggest issue for NO like every year. Is will Zion be in shape to play. I would move him first chance I get.
Pelicans should be going full reset this season.
Murray is likely out for the year, CJ is on an expiring, Bruce Browns deal is over and Kelly has a year left. So you’re going to be able to clear a lot of money for spending shortly.
Zion is holding the team back.
You’ve got Trey, Herb and Missi as your main guys moving forward. You still need that main guy you build around so maybe try trade up.
Sell Zion to the Spurs for cheap.
Zion, pick 7 and a pair of future seconds for Keldon Johnson, Harrison Barnes, pick 2 and pick 14.
Select Dylan Harper as your core guy and new point guard and on top of that that you get pick 14 and grab a guy like Liam McNeeley.
Add Barnes contract to that list of expiring money to look forward to in the future.
But moving into next season looking like this …
Harper Murphy Johnson Herb Missi
Jose CJ McNeeley Barnes Olynyk
Spurs would be happy Zion and Wemby with Fox and Castle plus they keep Vassell. Lose their picks but add the 7th overall which means they still get a guy like Kon Knueppel.
Long term wise you don’t owe anything, you’ve added a borderline all star and keep a good draft pick. Zion perfectly fits the Wemby/Fox timeline. If anything perfect fit with those two. Zion gets covered at the rim by Wemby who also helps space the floor for him on drives. But Fox is there to run the offence making Zions life easy just catch, bully and score