Mavericks' dream draft night would involve a controversial trade

The Dallas Mavericks hold the ninth pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, but Dallas should look to get more bites at the apple by making a controversial swap of the ninth pick to acquire the Oklahoma City Thunder's 12th and 17th pick, or the Charlotte Hornets' 14th and 18th pick. This is the type of draft-night blockbuster that a rebuilding team needs, and landing two elite players later in the first round is definitely a possibility.

As loaded as this class is, there's no doubt Dallas would have a better chance at drafting a star with the ninth pick compared to if they traded for two lower first-rounders, hence why fans are split on this proposition.

However, the Mavericks don't have any control over their future first-round picks until 2031 following this draft. This is why moving back could be their best bet. Landing two first-round picks in the 12-18 range to pair with their No. 30 pick would make it a perfect draft for Dallas, as they'd have multiple shots to draft high-impact players to join their young core.

Someone like Brayden Burries, who Dallas could very well target at No. 9, has a dark-horse chance of dropping to No. 12 if Dallas were to trade with OKC, for instance. The Thunder are stacked with picks and already have an extremely stacked roster, so they are more likely than even Charlotte to want to make a move with Dallas should the Mavericks end up trading back.

Mavs could controversially trade down for two first-rounders

Another talented guard in Labaron Philon Jr. could very well be available at No. 12 or No. 14 if the Mavericks were to trade back, and then Dallas would have a solid selection of bigs and wings they could get at No. 17 or No. 18, such as Morez Johnson Jr., Hannes Steinbach, and potentially even someone like Cameron Carr.

Dallas could also draft a bigger-bodied wing to pair with Cooper Flagg at No. 12, like Yaxel Lendeborg, then select a guard with their other pick, so there are multiple avenues to getting two talented first-rounders if they choose to trade the ninth back to move back for two picks.

Dallas hired a draft expert, Mike Schmitz, as GM, so this would be where he and Masai Ujiri would need to thrive if they made a move to trade back, as there's certainly a large amount of risk they'd be assuming at that point.

Dallas can't afford to screw this decision up

As talented as this draft class is, a ton of players that were projected to go middle to late in the first round, as well as the second round, are going back to college next season, so this draft is definitely top-heavy.

It would be a hard sell to fans to pass up the opportunity to select Dallas' point guard of the future if someone like Kingston Flemings or Mikel Brown Jr. is available at No. 9, especially since both players have registered interest in Dallas in the pre-draft process. Getting two high-level role players after No. 9 instead could make Dallas better in the short-term, but in terms of their long-term ceiling next to Cooper Flagg, drafting a more star-studded prospect at nine would be an easier bet.

It's a difficult place to be if you're the Mavericks, but the elite depth at the top of the draft makes their opportunity to trade back too promising to ignore. They need to maximize their number of swings if they believe this year's draft class is as stacked as many draft experts think. This makes a trade-back scenario while acquiring multiple first-round picks a strong solution for a team searching for answers.

The Mavericks have multiple options in this draft, but as laid out, whatever avenue they take is only going to prove worthwhile with time. It's hard to decide which path they should take, and it could come down to how the picks are playing out on draft night, and if one of their primary targets is available at No. 9 or not, but this is why people like Ujiri and Schmitz are getting the big bucks to make these crucial decisions.

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