5 Late Lottery Draft Targets for Dallas Mavericks

With the Dallas Mavericks pushing for the playoffs, finishing with a top 3 pick in the draft seems unlikely, but that doesn’t mean they can’t land a really good player.

Before their game against the Heat on Thursday (January 19th) night, the Dallas Mavericks were just three games back from the eighth spot out West…which is much surprise to many.

After injuries have plagued most of the roster and Dirk Nowitzki has missed most of the first part of the season, the Mavericks sit at a 14-28 record with a decision to make on their season.

Push for the playoffs or tank for a high draft pick.

To the surprise of many around the league, including the fans, the Mavericks have made it loudly known that tanking is not in the picture…a push for the playoffs is the main goal.

So unless a quick change of heart happens or a major injury takes place, the fan pleas of creative hashtags encouraging tanking for Lonzo Ball or Markelle Fultz will be useless. In what looked like a top 3-5 pick in the first month of the season, their 2017 first round draft pick looks like it will be turning into a pick in the range of 8-16 depending on how their playoff push ends.

But that doesn’t mean Dallas can’t land a difference maker in next year’s draft.

Here are five players (in no order) that could be available for the Mavericks in the late lottery of the first round with prospect thoughts from ESPN’s Chad Ford and FanSided’s Chris Stone.

You can see Ford’s latest mock draft here and Stone’s latest mock draft here.

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