5 players Mavericks could have drafted over last 10 years

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Dallas Mavericks Donovan Mitchell (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images) /

3. Donovan Mitchell- 2017 draft

The Dallas Mavericks only had one draft pick in 2017. They were fresh off their first losing season since 2000. The Mavs selected ninth overall and wanted a game-changing point guard to jump-start their rebuild.

This class had plenty of lead ball-handlers at the top. Six of the first 13 selections were guards seen as capable of being their team’s primary playmaker. The Mavericks went with Dennis Smith Jr. The Sixers, Lakers, Kings, Knicks, and Mavs all missed on the top ball-handler, though. Donovan Mitchell slipped to 13th. The All-Star has averaged over 20 points per game in each of his three NBA seasons.

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The saving grace for the Mavericks was selecting DSJ eventually lead to them getting Luka Doncic. They likely would have performed better with Mitchell and built the team around him. That may have kept them from being able to trade up to select Doncic the following summer.

The Mavericks and others certainly missed on Mitchell, though. Re-drafting that class today, he would likely be the second overall pick behind Jayson Tatum. Mitchell took a massive leap from college to the NBA, and the Utah Jazz deserve a ton of credit for helping him reach his potential.

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