Mavericks' dream 2026 NBA Draft is staring Masai Ujiri in the face

The Dallas Mavericks will kick off their first round of the 2026 NBA Draft tonight with picks No. 9 and 30, and there has not been a clear indication of what type of player the Mavericks will be looking to draft at nine, but there's no doubt Dallas would best be served by adding a talented guard with that pick. Masai Ujiri needs to have a successful first NBA Draft with Dallas beginning tonight, and this all starts with the second-to-last pick in the top 10.

The perfect draft plan is staring Ujiri in the face, and Dallas would be walking away with an incredible draft if they make each of these picks.

Dallas should draft Brayden Burries at No. 9

Players like Mikel Brown Jr., Kingston Flemings, and Brayden Burries have all been projected to go to Dallas in that range, but arguably, none of those players would fit with the current infrastructure of the Mavericks as well as Burries would. He's a 3-and-D two guard with on-ball skills, and Dallas may even be able to trade back for him. To make this less complicated, though, we'll just say Dallas picks him at nine in this dream draft initiative.

There's been a lot of smoke that Dallas will be going after a bigger wing, especially with Yaxel Lendeborg being a Michigan product of Dallas' new coach, Dusty May, and Ujiri historically loving wings in the draft, but Dallas must take fit into consideration if they stay at nine. If they were to trade back to 12 and 17, or 14 and 18, drafting a wing with one of those picks would be far more justifiable.

The Mavs should trade back to get Emanuel Sharp later in the 30s

Dallas' next best bet will be to trade the 30th pick back into the second round for a pick in the mid-to-late thirties, as they wouldn't have to sign this player to a guaranteed contract at that point. If they are able to accomplish this, they should target University of Houston product Emanuel Sharp, as Sharp is one of the best defensive prospects at the point of attack in the country and a solid spot-up shooter.

At this point, Dallas would have selected two 3-and-D shooting guards, essentially, which is arguably their most deficient position on the roster, but they'll definitely need to go in a different direction with their 48th pick.

Trevon Brazile falling to Dallas at No. 48 would be a massive steal

One player that would be excellent in this range is University of Arkansas wing Trevon Brazile.

Brazile is a freak athlete at 6-foot-10 and 225 pounds, possibly even more of a vertical threat than Cooper Flagg is. He's a gaudy defensive prospect that can cover for multiple positions, and profiles as the type of player Ujiri has loved in past drafts. Brazile still needs to polish his offensive game further, but he'd be a great project to take on at No. 48, and he has more immediate upside compared to a lot of the other players in this range.

In this scenario, Dallas addresses their most deficient areas of the roster by adding point-of-attack defense and spot-up shooting, and also adds an athletic freak later in the draft that could one day form a nasty wing duo with Flagg if he were to develop his offensive game further. Only time will tell what the perfect draft would be for the Mavericks, and trade scenarios could certainly alter that, but this is about as good as it gets from the outside looking in before the draft.

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