Dallas Mavericks: Are trade rumors a sign of the talent level in the draft?

The Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, Atlanta Hawks, and Sacramento Kings have all been rumored to be willing to trade their pick to move down in the draft. Do they know something that we don’t?

Either there’s something in the water or the teams at the top of the draft have come to a conclusion that no one expected them to. That conclusion is that the players at the top may not be worth what they could bring back to the team in return.

Since the NBA playoffs started (and even before that for a lot of us), we have heard nothing but hype for the top prospects in the 2018 NBA Draft. Between Deandre Ayton, Luka Doncic, Marvin Bagley III, Jaren Jackson Jr., Mohamed Bamba, Michael Porter Jr. and Trae Young, there is a lot of hype to go around through the top 5-7 picks.

However, now that the rumors are here for four of the top five teams in the draft, people have to start wondering. So I ask the question, are these players being hyped higher than they should be or are the top teams just creating a smokescreen to see if they can get something better in return?

Let’s look at the case for both.

Draft Talent

If you look at just the last few months, it would be shocking to believe that this draft class is without top tier talent. With the Dallas Mavericks at the fifth pick, everyone has wanted to believe for some time that they would be getting someone to build around for the future, but that has not been the story all along.

During last year’s draft, people believed that this year’s class was nowhere near as talented as last. However, that seems to have changed now that we are so close to the big day this year. That makes me wonder if the players in this year are really as good as people want to believe, or if there are only a handful of players worth drafting this year and they could fall anywhere in the first round.

Teams Creating a Smokescreen

I think this possibility is very likely. There is definitely a history of teams hiding their true intentions leading up to the draft and maybe people are just really interested in how highly these guys are valued from other teams. Some of these teams have young assets that are more proven and that would make talking to them at least of value.

This does not mean there is an issue with talent at the top of the class though. The potential star power of Ayton, Doncic, Jackson, Bagley, and Bamba is noticeable and people should be paying attention to all of them. The middle of the draft class is also very strong but I don’t see a Donovan Mitchell dropping too far this year.

In my opinion, both of these options are probably at least partially true. I don’t think this draft is full of the Ben Simmons or Jayson Tatum’s that we have seen in previous drafts, but I do believe there is talent to be had. I also believe that the teams at the top are willing to move these picks for young talent and are putting up the smokescreen to cover up their plan.

Next: Chances of Luka Doncic falling to number 5 for the Mavericks

Either way, this draft will be interesting and it remains to be seen if any of the teams at the top will be willing to make a move on draft night.