22 Stars the Dallas Mavericks missed drafting by a single pick

The Dallas Mavericks just wrapped up their 2023-24 season with an outstanding playoff run and an NBA Finals appearance, and now their focus has shifted to free agency, the offseason, and the draft.

Although the Mavs' only free agents this summer are Derrick Jones Jr. and Markieff Morris, this offseason will still be crucial to reloading this roster around Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

The Mavs have a couple of different spots on the roster that they should consider strengthening, and one of the best ways to do that is through the draft.

22 Stars the Dallas Mavericks missed drafting by a single pick

This year, the Mavs have the No. 58 pick in the draft, and the rumors have already been flying about who they may be interested in. Dallas has already been linked to Bronny James, and the draft can't come soon enough.

Dallas has made the most of a majority of their draft picks over the last couple of years. It's not always easy to strike gold in the draft, but the Mavs seem to do that more often than not.

With every excellent draft pick comes with a couple of misses along the way, and just like every other team in the NBA, the Mavs have had their fair share of misses. Players get snatched up right before a team's pick all the time, and Dallas has had plenty of times when a star player gets drafted right before or after their pick.

Here are 22 stars who the Dallas Mavericks missed drafting by a single pick.

22. Desmond Bane

One of the more notorious draft misses by the Dallas Mavericks over the last couple of years was when they missed out on drafting Desmond Bane in the 2020 NBA Draft. Bane fell all the way to the No. 30 pick in the draft to the Boston Celtics, and he was officially traded to the Memphis Grizzlies.

Dallas took Tyrell Terry with the No. 31 pick, and Mavs fans always think about what it would have been like if they drafted Bane. He went to college in Fort Worth at TCU, and the Mavs had every opportunity to scout him, but they seemingly weren't as interested as Bane was in coming to Dallas.

Bane wanted to be a Maverick if he wasn't a Grizzly, and now he takes every chance he can to talk about how the Mavs passed on him.

Bane has been an elite role player next to Ja Morant for his entire career, and he would have been an outstanding fit in Dallas. Over his four-year career, Bane is averaging 17.4 points, 4.2 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.0 steals per game while shooting 46.8 percent from the field and 41.5 percent from downtown.

He would have been an elite two-guard next to Luka Doncic, and now the Mavs are stuck with playing him multiple times a year as he is in Dallas' division. Bane is one of the more painful draft misses for the Mavs in recent memory, and there will be plenty of Bane vs. Mavs clashes to watch over the next couple of seasons.