Mavericks NBA Draft: Dwight Powell jumps to pick 14 in 2014 re-draft

The Dallas Mavericks haven’t had the best drafting success over the past decade, but they haven’t had the worst, either.

They’ve hit on some important selections. Picking up Luka Doncic with the third pick in the 2018 NBA Draft will go down as one of the most important moments in franchise history.

In that same draft, they also managed to pick Jalen Brunson with the third pick in the second round. And while he’s no longer in Dallas, that was an amazing selection.

At the same time, the Mavericks have missed on some pretty high-profile picks. Justin Anderson at pick 21 in 2015 was rough, as was Dennis Smith Jr. at pick nine in 2017.

In the 2014 NBA Draft, Dallas didn’t actually have a pick, but a couple of the players who came out of the draft ended up being crucial pieces of the puzzle for the Mavericks.

Mavericks NBA Draft: Dwight Powell jumps to pick 14 in 2014 re-draft

One of those guys was Dwight Powell, who, in a 2014 NBA Re-Draft penned by Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey, jumped up to the 14th overall pick after originally being selected at pick 45. 

He was one of the biggest jumps in the re-draft, with Denver Nuggets superstar and NBA champion Nikola Jokic, who went from 41st to first, being another massive one.

Powell has been in Dallas for nearly his entire career, as the Boston Celtics traded him to the Mavericks just five games into his rookie season in the trade that also saw them land Rajon Rondo.

Since joining the team, Powell has been the peak of consistency, and while some fans are fed up with seeing him in the starting lineup, there’s no denying his reliability.

In the eight seasons since his rookie year, Powell has played in at least 70 games in five of them, reaching the 69-game mark in one of the others. 

Outside of that, the only other two years he failed to reach the mark were the 2019-20 Bubble season (Powell played in 40 games) and the shortened, 72-game 2020-21 season (Powell played in 58 games).

Seeing him jump into the lottery may come as a shock, but his reliability is huge in a league where some players consistently play fewer than 60 games every year.

Some of the players Powell was selected over in the re-draft include fellow Maverick Maxi Kleber, Brooklyn Nets wing Joe Harris, and Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson.

Powell isn’t the flashiest player, and he may be better suited as a backup, but Powell is one of the most serviceable centers in the NBA.