Mavericks' new front office seems destined to hit fans with draft 180

As much as Dallas Mavericks fans want the organization to select a point or shooting guard with the No. 9 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft, recent history gives reason to believe that Masai Ujiri and Mike Schmitz will hit Mavericks fans with a 180 by drafting a wing or big.

Ujiri and Schmitz are inheriting a new situation without any inside bias, and both of them have a track record for taking long and athletic wings or big men within recent history. Of his last eight first-round picks since 2016, Ujiri has selected a wing or big man with six of those picks. Of the seven picks Schmitz helped assist with during his time with the Portland Trail Blazers, every one of those picks was a wing or big besides Scoot Henderson.

Mavs' front office could pull a draft-night 180 by selecting a wing or big

This data obviously proves the type of prototypes they like most in the draft, regardless of whether Dallas could use a guard like Brayden Burries, Keaton Wagler, Mikel Brown Jr., or Kingston Flemings. The lottery is fairly guard-heavy in terms of talent compared to most years in this draft, but Mavericks fans can't be alarmed if the front office disregards this talent instead of selecting a player like Nate Ament or Yaxel Lendeborg.

On the flip side, though, this front office is not naive whatsoever, and Schmitz is notorious for being a draft guru, so it's not set in stone that they are going to make a pick based on history. Nonetheless, the possibility of them hurting Dallas' roster-building process by making a selection that positionally overlaps has to be taken into consideration.

They could always draft a wing or big then go on to trade one of Dallas' veteran wings or big men for a guard, but it's going to be bad news for Mavericks fans if they just completely disregard the guard position this summer.

Mavs need a guard, but other positions can't be ruled out

The possibility has also been tossed around that Dallas could trade up or down in this draft, so perhaps they could select a guard and a wing/big if Ujiri were to accrue multiple first-round picks in this draft.

Regardless of what direction Dallas' new front office chooses to go in, this draft is very crucial for the Mavericks, considering they don't have any control over their future first-round draft capital until 2031 following this draft. They could always trade someone like superstar Kyrie Irving to get back some future first-rounders, but this is a risky stance, and Ujiri has shied away from acknowledging this notion publicly thus far.

From an outside perspective, it would seem the Mavericks need a guard more than any other position in this upcoming draft, but if Ujiri and Schmitz know something fans and media don't, perhaps they'll go for a 180 and simply select the best talent available at pick No. 9, even if it's a wing or big. It's only a little over a week till all of this will unfold, but this is something Mavericks fans will need to keep their eyes peeled over in terms of being completely shocked on draft night.

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