Team 1: Marquis Daniels, J.J. Barea, Nick Fazekas, Ahmad Nivins, Jae Crowder

Team 2: Manu Ginobili, Luis Scola, Dejaun Blair, Danny Green, Gary Neal

Even my undeniable love for Jose Juan Barea can’t look past the tragedy that was Nick Fazekas. Undrafted out of Auburn, Marquis ‘Quisy’ Daniels became a fan favorite but his end value can be summed up by who the Mavs acquired for him ;a very veteran Austin Croshere. (If you can’t remember, imagine Keith Van Horn at his worst on a bad day…then also totally recall Matt Carroll)

Not Contending (Left) Contending (Right)

Jae Crowder is brand new and coming off a strong rookie season with the Mavs, a phrase not used much in recent memory. In fact, Crowder became the first Mavs 2nd round pick to start a game his rookie season since Greg Buckner (1999-2000).

 Ahmad Nivins was the 56th pick in 2009 and you’ve never heard of him but he fits this segway too darn well as we  introduce the starting lineup for team two.

Ten years before Nivins was made the 56th overall selection, the Spurs made the first member of this team the 57th selection. Nivins and Ginobili were both no namers but the story doesn’t need re-telling on how good Manu has become.

(Gut Punch: the Mavs had picks in 1999 and chose Leon Smith (29 via SA surely enough), Wang Zhizhi (36) and Gordan Giricek (40); last draft under Ross Perot’s turrible, turrible ownership) If you wanted a happy article, pick a playoff team

Luis Scola would have been a Spur if not for the financials of signing players from their foreign contracts. David Stern wouldn’t allow the BFF(‘s with Manu) discount and the Spurs had to deal their most recent late-draft discovery.

Dejaun Blair and his ACL-less knees fell right into the lap of GM R.C. Buford and San Antone at pick 37 in 2009. (Yes, the Roddy B draft…see italicized statement above)ng

Then there’s Gary Neal. Undrafted in 2007 and not signed until 2010 surely he can’t be anything special. But then you see it was the Spurs that signed him and then you see his jump shot and then you aren’t surprised at all when he joins names like Blake Griffin and John Wall on the first All-NBA Rookie Team.

Impressively a list the Spurs frequent when each year they’re supposed to be “getting older and slower.”

The last time the Mavericks had a player on an all-rookie squad, it was 2003 when Josh Howard and Quisy Daniels made the second squad. But Jarvis Hayes also made that squad so how can you possibly feel good about that?

Howard, 2003, also represents the last Dallas first rounder to become a key member of the team. But i’m purposely focusing on the 2nd round of the draft only because while I’ve acknowledged a somber tone , it would be much more frustrating to show how the Mavs have messed up their annual back-of-the-round selections in the first round, more so the second…

….where it’s much more forgivable to see a player fall flat or not even make the roster.

The NFL has 7 rounds, the MLB has a minimum of 40, and the league with ice also rounds out at about 7. But simple logic reveals the importance of an MLB round 29 pick stacked up against an NBA 2nd rounder.

NBA – 15 roster spots + a few D-Leaguers

NFL – 22, 11 on both sides of the ball + practice squad members

MLB – 25 (40 in September) + hundreds of Minor League prospects.

NHL – boring and needs a new Commissioner.

Balance it out and really the NBA could last with only one round, but that’s 30 potential careers lost for an aspiring pro baller among many reasons. However, for the reasoning that teams could survive year-to-year with one successful selection, it appears the later picks are treated not as draft picks but draft rights. Meaning teams go with a cheap young player filled with promise (aren’t they all?) instead of looking down the draft board at a currently superior talent but with perhaps a lower ceiling.

2007 is a grrrrrreat example:

Yep, 2007 was THAT draft

Via trade, the Mavericks had four 2nd round picks. Their own was traded but via ATL they took the awful Nick Fazekas at 34 – Glenn “Big Baby” Davis goes 35th. They trade for Magic draftee and former Tarheel Reyshawn Terry 44th – Marc Gasol goes 48th. Lastly they couldn’t resist an international project/prospect Renaldas Seibutis, at pick 50. Pick 56 would be Ramon Sessions, who didn’t project anywhere near the upside of a Seibutis or a Milovan Rakovic (the Mavs drafted and traded his rights) but a steady NBA point guard with a skill set much more polished than filled with potential.

Six years later…

Sessions averaged 14 points a game this season for Charlotte in the first of two cozy years where he will earn $5 million each.

Seibutis still playing over in Lithuania but hey, look at the very dimly lit side, we have his rights!

After missing the playoffs for the first time in 12 seasons and several roster spots open for the 2013-14 campaign, every draft pick Dallas has this June, no matter where it resides (as of now 13th and 44th- 13th could be higher [lottery]) will play as big a part of the Mavericks’ future as any picks they’ve had in the Cuban-era.

Dec. 25, 2012; Miami, FL, USA; Miami Heat small forward LeBron James (6) and Oklahoma City Thunder small forward Kevin Durant (35) look up for a rebound during the first half at American Airlines Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports

Durant, Durant.

Since the Dallas Mavericks defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals two years ago the teams have headed in opposite directions. This year, to the surprise of many, OKC has improved despite trading Sixth Man of the Year James Harden and they’re doing it on many levels.

Kevin Martin, who came in for Harden has played better than expected and everyone from Kevin Durant to Russell Westbrook to the many role players on the team have stepped up their game, truly demonstrating a young team growing into a possible dynasty and indicating Scott Brooks is going to be one of the better coaches in the NBA.

Kevin Durant’s statistics are up almost across the board, Russell Westbrook’s assists are at a career high and Serge Ibaka is having a career year in scoring and that’s just for starters. The Thunder are an imposing opponent inside and out on both ends of the floor. Although they lost to the Heat again on Christmas day, the Thunder have a solid chance of getting back to the NBA Finals for a possible rematch.

The Thunder are third in the league in scoring (3rd) and solid defensively (11th) while middle of the pack on the boards (14th) which are sadly all ahead of the Mavericks, making for a potentially long night. Kevin Durant is scoring at a 28 ppg clip, good for third in the league and hits over 52% of his shots. Westbrook is less efficient at 40% but still manages to rack up over 21 ppg while dishing out over 8 ½ assists. Serge Ibaka is scoring a career-high 14 ppg while still blocking 3 shots per game.

While Dirk Nowitzki will be brought along slowly and continue to come off the bench for the time being, the Mavericks will start to reform their offense around him and Coach Rick Carlisle had extra practices over the Christmas holidays to try to do some damage control after multiple blowout losses including the worst yet in the last game against the San Antonio Spurs.

To compete with the Thunder will be a real challenge, especially in view of Dallas’ poor interior defense this year. It is more feasible that they might be successful on the offensive end if Dirk can get going and get some help from the supporting cast, especially a mix of inside/outside game which stretches the floor and is supplemented by Chris Kaman and Elton Brand connecting on short midrange jumpers and slipping Brandan Wright in for easy baskets around the rim.

This is even more critically important in view of how other teams’ attention to O. J. Mayo has affected his game.  Thabo Sefalosha is one of the best defensive guards in the league so chances are Mayo will not have an easy path to a great game and since Rick Carlisle knows this, he might want to spread the wealth or should I say, opportunity.

If the Mavericks pick one or more of the usual maladies that has plagued them, poor shooting, poor rebounding, poor defense or turnovers, it will be another long night in OKC.