Dallas Mavericks: Revisiting the 2010 NBA Draft

Headlined by the University of Kentucky, the 2010 NBA Draft gave the league plenty of solid players, but what did the Dallas Mavericks do?

Over the past couple of weeks we here at The Smoking Cuban have decided to go back a revisit each draft in the post-Dirk draft era. With the 2009 NBA Draft already in the books, we now turn our attention to the 2010 NBA Draft.

John Calipari and the University of Kentucky put their own personal stamp on this draft as he brought out FIVE first round picks in the draft. With John Wall leading the way with the first pick in the draft, 2010 gave fans some star talent that is still in the league today.

Notable Players Drafted in 2010

Top Five Picks (John Wall, Evan Turner, Derrick Favors, Wesley Johnson, DeMarcus Cousins)

Gordon Hayward– Rd.1- Pick 9 (UTA)

Paul George– Rd. 1- Pick 10 (IND)

Eric Bledsoe– Rd. 1- Pick 18 (OKC)

Avery Bradley– Rd. 1- Pick 19 (BOS)

Hassan Whiteside– Rd. 2- Pick 33 (SAC)

Lance Stephenson– Rd. 2- Pick 40 (IND)

State of the Mavs

Dallas went into the postseason with high hopes and was once again put out in the first round by the San Antonio Spurs.

Looking to make a move to strengthen their postseason chances, Dallas once again made a trade deadline move a few months before the draft that sent Josh Howard to Washington and Caron Butler to Dallas. The complete trade looked like this:

Dallas sends Josh Howard, Drew Gooden, Quinton Ross, and James Singleton to Washington for Caron Butler, Brendan Haywood, and DeShawn Stevenson.

Obviously the trade didn’t work out as expected for the Mavericks that year, but would pay dividends in the year to come.

Dallas entered the 2010 NBA Draft without a first round pick (traded two years prior) and a second round pick that was slated as the 50th pick in the draft where they selected Solomon Alabi and traded him to the Toronto Raptors for a future second round pick.

What the Mavs Should’ve Done

Two years prior to that, the Dallas Mavericks made a blockbuster trade with the New Jersey Nets that brought in Jason Kidd. The full trade looked like this:

New Jersey sends Jason Kidd, Malik Allen, and Antoine Wright in exchange for Devin Harris, Maurice Ager, Trenton Hassell, DeSagana Diop, Keith Van Horn, 2008 first round pick, and 2010 first round pick.

Dallas did give up two first round picks and a young Devin Harris, but they got one of the best point guards to ever play the game in Jason Kidd. Kidd went on to play five seasons for the Mavs after the trade and helped bring the first and only championship to Dallas.

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The first round pick in 2010 turned out to be the 27th pick in the draft where New Jersey selected Jordan Crawford. Notable players drafted after that was Greivis Vasquez, Hassan Whiteside, and Lance Stephenson.

For those wondering about Whiteside, he was no where near the prospect or player he is now back then. He spent his first two years in the D-League only to find himself waived by the Kings a couple of years later. He was signed and waived twice by the Memphis Grizzlies before signing with the Heat in 2014.

What the Mavs should’ve done is exactly what they did, even though it is easy to say this in hindsight. Bringing in Kidd helped propel the Mavs to the next step as a franchise and his leadership at the point guard spot was irreplaceable come the playoffs.

Stay tuned as we look forward to the draft following the 2011 title run.