Memphis Win, Ping Pong Balls & the Coming Draft for Dallas Mavericks

The regular season is over and the Dallas Mavericks have the 9th best odds of landing the top overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Heading into the last game of the season, the Dallas Mavericks had lost nine of their last ten games as they jockeyed for draft position. But in Memphis, Dallas pulled out a surprising victory in a game where they left the majority of their core players at home.

With Nicolas Brussino, Dwight Powell, and Dorian Finney-Smith all logging over 30 minutes each, the young Mavericks didn’t buy into the “tanking” and ended up pulling out the win. Newly signed Maverick, DeAndre Liggins, finished the night logging 25 minutes.

Most of the time, a win is something celebrated by the fan base, but the win in Memphis did eliminate the possibility of Dallas landing in the 8th spot in the draft. Personally,I believe the win was great for the young guys, but that is a whole different story.

The Mavericks finished the season with a record of 33-49 while the Sacramento Kings finished at 32-50. If Dallas had lost the game, they would have tied with Sacramento for the 8th best odds and a coin flip would determine which team would select 8th.

Enough of the dwelling on what isn’t, let’s move on to what is.

“The 2014 Cleveland Cavaliers and the 2008 Chicago Bulls both won the lottery from the exact same position.”

On May 16th, the NBA Draft Lottery takes place where all teams within the lottery enter a strategic drawing of ping pong balls to determine the draft order.

Sitting at 9th in the odds, the Dallas Mavericks will have a 1.7% chance of landing the top overall pick in the NBA Draft. Before you think it is impossible, the 2014 Cleveland Cavaliers and the 2008 Chicago Bulls both won the lottery from the exact same position.

To land in the top three, the Mavericks have a 6.1% chance.

Then there is the extreme long shot that Dallas gets jumped in the draft order and moves back to 10th. Although it is extremely unlikely, if New Orleans, Charlotte, Detroit, Denver or Miami jumps into the top three, Dallas would move back to the 10th spot.

Most likely, Dallas is looking at pick number nine in the 2017 NBA Draft and they will still land a solid talent. In fact, if there was a draft to be at nine or ten, it is this loaded draft class.

According to Draft Express, here are the top nine prospects in the 2017 class.

Markelle Fultz

Lonzo Ball

Josh Jackson

Jayson Tatum

De’Aaron Fox

Malik Monk

Lauri Markkanen

Jonathan Isaac

Dennis Smith Jr.

*This isn’t even including the French sensation in Frank Ntilikina (ranked 11th on Draft Express).

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The Dallas Mavericks are landing one of these players and fans should be ecstatic about it.

Not only are they going to get a top talent, but Dallas is getting a top ten draft pick in a point guard loaded draft class…which is the position Dallas needs the most.

The biggest question mark is if one of those point guards will be there when the Mavericks pick at ninth. Looking at the teams in front of Dallas, Ball and Fultz are locks to go in the top three no matter the teams. Philadelphia, New York and Sacramento all have glaring holes at the point guard spot.

Then there are teams like Orlando and Phoenix who have younger point guards but could still go the point guard route in the draft.

Due to the Nerlens Noel trade, Dallas does not own a second round pick, but there is always the possibility of them buying into the round to grab a player that could fall.

Next: Mark Cuban is a Genius and the Tony Romo Tribute Proves It

The season is over and the odds are set. Now, we all wait until May 16th to see the true draft order in June.

The regular season is over and the Dallas Mavericks have the 9th best odds of landing the top overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.

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