Mavericks Get Exactly What They Want Out of Draft Day

Details

Created on Saturday, 30 June 2012 21:38

Last Updated on Thursday, 16 May 2013 07:51

Written by Travis Pulver

Thursday night’s draft was a good one to be involved in. There were some tremendous talents to be had in the first few picks and a number of really good ones to be had after they were gone. It was probably one of the deepest drafts in recent years.

With an aging roster it would have made sense for the Dallas Mavericks to try to pick up a solid young player with the No 17 pick. Dallas could have had one in North Carolina center Tyler Zeller, the player who they took with that pick, but the front office had something else in mind.

It is no secret. The Mavericks want Deron Williams. He’s a local product having played his high school ball in near-by The Colony, Texas. It doesn’t hurt that he is one of the best young point guards in the game either.  

“…We’d love to get D-Will (Deron Williams) in here. That’s no secret…He’s a good dude. He’s a competitor. He’s one of the one of the best point guards in this league. He’s athletic. He can shoot. He can get to the basket. He can pass. He’s a great all-around weapon. We’d love to have him run the show here…” said Dallas forward Dirk Nowitzki.

To help facilitate that move Dallas wanted to gain cap space Thursday, not draft someone that was going to take some of it up. While Zeller could have given the team a much needed presence in the paint, something lost when Tyson Chandler was allowed to leave, the cap space to make a good enough offer to Deron Williams was seen as more important.

That’s not to say that Dallas did not want to get anything out of the draft. The Mavericks traded Zeller for a late first round pick (No 24) and two early second round picks (No 33 and 34). With them they took Oregon State guard Jared Cunningham (No 24), Florida State center Bernard James (No 33), and Marquette forward Jae Crowder.

The hunt for cap space was aided earlier in the day when the team was finally able to jettison Lamar Odom. Darius Johnson-Odom, a teammate of Crowder’s at Marquette, was taken with the team’s second round pick (No 55), but was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers for cash considerations.

In the end some cap space was created, some dead weight dropped, and the team picked up three talented young players that they will not have to pay a lot should they make the team.

Mission accomplished.