The 2019 BIG3 Draft took place last night on CBS Sports. The league now has 12 teams overall and had a three round draft to fill out all the rosters. A handful of former Dallas Mavericks players will be on rosters this year.
The 3rd season of BIG3 basketball is on its way and fans should be very eager to see the new rosters that Ice Cube and company are putting on the court. In the past, the BIG3 has had only 8 teams, but the league expanded to 12 in preparation for this season, adding the teams Triplets, Aliens, Bivouac and Enemies.
For those who have not seen the BIG3 up to this point, it is a three-on-three, half court based basketball game where the teams are made up of former professional basketball players, both from the NBA and overseas. There are currently nine former Dallas Mavericks in the league. The league also changed one major rule this year, lowering the eligible age to 27.
Despite the fact that there are nine total former Mavs players in the league, only three of them were selected in the draft, which means that six of them are either captain or co-captain for their respective team. Let’s go through all nine players, ranked based on their time in Dallas.
1. Jason Terry – Captain, Team Trilogy
The former Sixth Man of the Year with Dallas and Dirk’s right-hand man for much of his career, Jason Terry is a legend in Dallas and helped lead the team to its only NBA Championship. Terry may never have his number retired in Dallas, but I think he has as good a case as any player not named Dirk Nowitzki.
2. DeShawn Stevenson – Co-Captain, Team Ball Hogs
Stevenson acted essentially as the intimidator for the Dallas Mavericks in the 2010-11 season. The edge he gave to the Mavs cannot be overstated and he was a big part of the success the team had throughout the playoffs. Thanks to his performance in that season and in those playoffs, he will always be beloved here in Dallas.
3. Amar’e Stoudemire – Co-Captain, Team Tri-State
Stoudemire was not in Dallas long, but he was a former All-Star the joined the team, so he is still remembered for his brief time here. He came in after the Knicks bought him out and he ended up playing 23 games for the team in 2015. Stoudemire played well and averaged almost 11 points per game during his time here, but it was short lived.
4. Drew Gooden – Co-Captain, Team 3’s Company
Gooden played for the Mavs in the 2009-10 season, the year before the Mavs title run. Gooden was a serviceable player for the Mavs, averaging 9 points and 7 boards during his time here. He was traded away to the Washington Wizards along with Josh Howard in exchange for DeShawn Stevenson, Caron Butler and Brendan Haywood, all members of the 2011 Championship team.
5. Josh Powell – 4th pick in 1st round, Team Killer 3’s
Powell is probably someone you do not remember with the Dallas Mavericks and that is completely reasonable. Powell played 37 games with the Mavs in his rookie season in 2005-06. He even got in the game in six different playoff games during the Mavs first run to the NBA Finals, but he did not score a point in any of those six games.
6. Anthony Morrow – Co-Captain, Team Bivouac
Morrow was with the Mavs also for a short time in 2013 when the Mavs acquired him in a trade where they sent Dahntay Jones to Atlanta. Morrow played in only 17 games for the Mavs, averaging 2.3 points per game.
7. Shawne Williams – 9th pick in 1st round, Team Bivouac
Shawne Williams played for Dallas in the 2008-09 season. He appeared in only 15 games, averaging 2.8 points, 3.1 rebounds and 11.3 minutes per game. His time in Dallas was pretty quickly forgotten. He played in 7 seasons and 314 total NBA games in his career.
8. C.J. Leslie – 1st pick in 2nd round, Team Bivouac
If you don’t remember C.J. Leslie as a Mavericks player, that is probably because he wasn’t one. However, Leslie did play for the Dallas Mavericks G-League affiliate, the Texas Legends, just this past year. Leslie played in 10 games for the Legends and averaged 7 points and 4.5 rebounds in that time.
9. Lamar Odom – Co-Captain, Team Enemies
Some parts of Mavs history would be better left forgotten, but there is no way for us to erase them. Lamar Odom joined the Mavericks the year after winning Sixth Man of the Year for the league and Mavs fans were excited to see the 6’10” forward who had been so good for the Lakers for so many years. Odom was completely disinterested and went from averaging 14.4 points to 6.6 the next year.
The BIG3 has brought back some memories for us Mavs fans, some good and some bad, but either way, this league is a lot of fun and it will be great seeing most of these former Mavericks players back on the court once again.