Dallas Mavericks: Donnie Nelson Attends Euroleague Finals

The Euroleague Finals took place on Sunday and Dallas Mavericks’ GM Donnie Nelson was in attendance in Berlin, Germany.

With the Euroleague Finals coming to a dramatic ending, Fenerbahce Istanbul fell in overtime to CSKA Moscow in a thriller. With the Euroleague being known as the second most talented league in the world behind the NBA, front offices are always scoping out potential talent that could make an impact on their team.

Leading the way for CSKA Moscow was former Spur (whose rights are now owned by Toronto) Nando De Colo, who had 22 points and 7 assists after finishing the season as the MVP of the whole league.

Some other notable ex-NBA players that played in the game were Jan Vesely, Ekpe Udoh, and Pero Antic.

With a little over 12,000 in attendance, one of those people catching the game in Berlin was Dallas Mavericks General Manager, Donnie Nelson.

David Pick is a well-known professional basketball reporter overseas who is respected by many, but it is unclear what he means when he says that the Mavericks are looking for a European boost. But with the history that has surrounded Dallas, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Dallas dab into the market across the pond at some point this summer.

Then look at what the Mavericks did with Salah Mejri this past season. Last summer, Dallas decided to sign the European, Tunisian veteran to a three-year, partial guaranteed contract to come over from Real Madrid and compete in training camp.

Mejri  displayed both athleticism and a shot blocking presence that enabled him to beat out long time veteran Samuel Dalembert for one of the final roster spots. Long story short, Dallas found their European big man starting in the playoffs at the end of the year.

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So what does Nelson attending the finale in Berlin mean?

Most likely, it means absolutely nothing as Nelson is a fan of the European game and could have been just enjoying the Finals of a very good professional league. He could have made it a full trip and visited with Dirk Nowitzki (if Nowitzki was even in Germany at the time).

But Nelson could have been scoping out a potential summer target. A target similar to Mejri in which they could bring in to compete in training camp or someone they could target with their second round pick.