Pros and cons of each top prospect for the Mavericks

The Mavericks will have plenty of options available to them at No. 5 in the draft, but which one is the best fit? Here are the pros and cons of each top option for Dallas.

1. Luka Doncic

Pros

Luka Doncic is perhaps the most accomplished and hyped European prospect of all time. At 6’8″, he has the size and bruising style of play that makes him suited for NBA-level defense and rebounding. He has an excellent offensive repertoire, headlined by his elite passing ability. Rap-around passes were his biggest strength when facilitating the ball for Real Madrid, a skill that is rare for a player who hasn’t even hit his twenties yet.

As a scorer, Doncic can create his own shot with pull-up jumpers quite naturally. He has a bounce to his step that let’s him get the initial step on a defender and rise up to shoot. His shot is tough to contest, and with his ability to pass, defenders are going to be sagging back on him more than some spot-up shooters.

A great free-throw shooter, Doncic can be an efficient player on offense while also being big enough to bother opposing scorers and a beast on the boards at the guard position.

Cons

Doncic struggles to finish at the rim against defenders that are close or at his size. He lacks the athleticism to wiggle or twitch his way to the basket in order to position himself for a layup. While big enough to absorb some contact and finish through it, his ball handling is only average which makes his penetration game suffer some.

Doncic struggles against ball pressure which is something he is going to face against some of the best defensive guards in the Western Conference like Jrue Holiday, Dejounte Murray and Chris Paul.

His struggles to drive the ball could be compensated by his shooting, but Doncic was not the world’s most consistent three-point shooter in Spain. He shot 33 percent from three-point range during his time in Europe, which is a concern considering his shortcomings when attacking the basket. Defensively, he has the size to disrupt things, but he is not laterally quick enough to stay with scorers and keep his body square.

2. Jaren Jackson Jr.

Pros

Tripe J is the type of player that most teams crave. Defensively he is a monster, with a wingspan of 7’4″ and a standing reach of a whopping 9’1″. He is mobile enough to stay with shooters who have been chased off the three-point line, and still recover fast enough to meet them at the rim or make them circle under the basket.

His wingspan allows him to contest shots on the perimeter and disrupt layups. Jackson Jr. was also a good three-point shooter at Michigan State, canning just under 40 percent of his triples.

Jackson Jr. could become an Al Horford type of player in the NBA. He averaged five blocks per game at Michigan State while also being a floor spacer at the other end. Coaches typically envy players who can contribute specific things on both ends of the court, which Jackson Jr. does consistently. He has made immense strides since his early days at Michigan State, making him one of the best prospects in this draft.

Cons

Jackson Jr. is a tough player to evaluate because of his strange style. While a good outside shooter, he routinely seems to pass up wide open looks and also has an awkward, slow shooting form that will be easier to contest in the NBA.

Despite being long and skilled defensively, he is not much of a presence on the boards. He can get pushed around by more imposing big men that pursue the basketball with more tenacity.

Although he is a good outside shooter, Jackson Jr. lacks any other offensive skill. He has no post game, finishing ability or rim running in his game that could make opponents freeze for a second when he’s on the perimeter. He also battled foul trouble at Michigan State and often grew frustrated with officials early in games. This could make him an easy player to game plan for in the NBA, unless he matures on offense and becomes more physical on the glass.

3. Mohamed Bamba

Pros

The Texas Longhorn was a bit of a freak in college. A menace defensively, Bamba cemented himself as the nation’s best rim protector. At 7’0″ feet and 225 pounds, Bamba makes anyone who drives to the basket second guess themselves. Opponents playing Bamba and Texas often could be seen hesitating before they went to attack the basket and instead kicked the ball to the outside or pulled it out themselves. Bamba also gobbled up 10.5 rebounds per game. The Mavs finished 28th in rebounding a season ago.

Dallas desperately needs length on their team. Playing without a true center for the majority of the season, Harrison Barnes and Dwight Powell became the team’s only true rebounders. The Mavs desperately need a presence in the paint, and Bamba is exactly that. Dennis Smith Jr. could also be helped by someone who averaged 13 points per game, mostly on pick and rolls.

Cons

There isn’t a whole lot not to like in Bamba. There have been some questions about his slight frame. While he could fill out some, it doesn’t seem to affect his game. If anything it makes him more nimble in the pick and roll and when switching onto guards.

Bamba isn’t the most threatening offensive player in the world, but he has a good second jump back to the basket and can finish at the rim pretty consistently. Ideally he could shoot better than 68 percent from the free throw line.

Bamba has shown some inconsistencies with his motor at times. While many attribute this to his interests in other ventures, Bamba does seem to take some possessions off from time to time. Despite being so defensively gifted, there were instances where his resistance underwhelmed at times, leading to questions about his grit and passion on the court.

4. Marvin Bagley III

Pros

Marvin Bagley III was an offensive machine at Duke. He averaged 21 points per game and 11 rebounds last year. He rim-runs better than any big in this draft, shoots pretty well and is agile enough to work his way around the block into desirable match-ups. The Mavs could use a scoring big man of the future, and who better to learn how to do that from than Dirk Nowitzki.

Bagley has the best second jump in college basketball. Not only skilled as a rebounder, he can immediately go back up with the ball and hammer it down. He will make whichever offense he joins more efficient and will give them a very usable piece on the offensive end. Bagley also runs the floor well in transition which could be fun to watch with the equally electrifying Smith Jr.

Cons

As good as Bagley was scoring the ball at Duke, he was every bit as bad defensively. This is especially concerning considering that he was under the tutelage of Mike Krzyzewski and didn’t learn how to improve his defense over time.

Bagley is horribly flat-footed defensively and shows almost no ability to stay with defenders he is switched onto. In the era of small ball, Bagley will undoubtedly be forced to switch onto defenders who will be licking their chops when they see who is guarding them.

He routinely gets beaten as a post defender and doesn’t provide any resistance on the block. He is essentially a turnstile on the perimeter, and doesn’t look a whole lot better inside the arc. The Mavs will have to do a ton of work with Bagley defensively, merely to make him less of a liability. Right now, he looks like Ryan Anderson defensively, but Kevin Love offensively.

5. Michael Porter Jr.

Pros

Michael Porter Jr. is one of the most intriguing players in this draft. He is very tall at 6’10”, and possesses a Kevin Durant-type of ability to rise up over defenders and score at will. When his offense is going well he is almost impossible to guard, and will be able to get off any shot he wants. Porter Jr. will at the very least be able to transfer his ability to rise up and shoot over defenders into the NBA, and should be able to get almost any look he wants.

Porter Jr. was in all likelihood the number one overall pick in this year’s draft before his back injury that cost an entire season on the court. Porter Jr. can score with the best of them, and has drawn comparisons to Kevin Durant and Jayson Tatum because of his ability to score.

Cons

The biggest red flag with Porter Jr. is his health. The back could be a ticking time bomb, and it should make the Mavericks pause and wonder if the player they spend the fifth overall pick on will even be in the NBA in three years.

Some worry that he could be on a Brandon Roy type of trajectory health wise, or even Chandler Parsons. The comparisons to Parsons are also there because of his slow shooting stroke and sleight frame, which costs him in the paint and diminishes his durability.

Porter Jr. struggled to defend the post at Missouri despite his height. He doesn’t give a ton of resistance inside and struggles drawing charges. Durability, stamina and speed are the major question marks with Porter Jr. Given his frame it doesn’t appear as though he is going to magically improve those shortcomings anytime soon. The Mavs have the best athletic trainer in the NBA in Casey Smith, but this could be his biggest challenge yet.