Draft History: Donnie Nelson

The 2015 NBA draft is a less than a week away, and the speculation as to which player each franchise will pin its hopes on for the future is nearly over. Of course, having one of the top selections in any draft doesn’t guarantee that a team will snag a future All-Star. Team executives and scouts still have the difficult task of making the correct call with their picks.

With this in mind we at Hoops Rumors have been taking a look back at the draft history of the primary basketball executive for each NBA team. Their names, reputations, and possibly employment will be on the line as a result of the decisions to come on June 25th, and we’ve been examining what they’ve done in previous years in charge of a club’s front office. Note that many of them have played other sorts of roles within a team’s executive structure, but this won’t take that into account. We’ll continue onward with a look back at the calls made by Mavericks executive Donnie Nelson.

Mavericks (March 2005-Present)

2005 Draft

• No first-rounder. Pick No. 27 (Linas Kleiza) owned by Nuggets.
• No second-rounder. Pick No. 57 (Marcin Gortat) owned by Magic.

Notable players available at draft slot or passed over: David Lee (No. 30), Monta Ellis (No. 40), Lou Williams (No. 45), and Gortat (No. 57).

2006 Draft

•  No. 28 Overall — Maurice Ager: 82 games, 2.1 PPG, 0.6 RPG, and 0.2 APG. .339/.250/.566.

*Traded No. 58 overall pick (J.R. Pinnock) to Lakers in exchange for a 2007 second-rounder.

Notable players available at draft slot or passed over: Steve Novak (No. 32) and Paul Millsap (No. 47).

2007 Draft

• No first-rounder. Pick No. 30 (Petteri Koponen) owned by Trail Blazers.
• No. 34 Overall — Nick Fazekas: 26 games, 4.1 PPG, 3.4 RPG, and 0.4 APG. .561/.000/.682.
• No. 44 Overall — Reyshawn Terry*: No regular season NBA appearances.
• No. 50 Overall — Renaldas Seibutis: No regular season NBA appearances.

*Acquired from Magic in exchange for the No. 60 overall pick (Milovan Rakovic).

Notable players available at draft slot or passed over: Carl Landry (No. 31), Glen Davis (No. 35), Josh McRoberts (No. 37), Marc Gasol (No. 48), and Ramon Sessions (No. 56).

2008 Draft

•  No first round pick. Pick No. 21 (Ryan Anderson) owned by Nets.
• No. 51 Overall — Shan Foster: No regular season NBA appearances.

Notable players available at draft slot or passed over: Anderson (No. 21), Serge Ibaka (No. 24), Nicolas Batum (No. 25), DeAndre Jordan (No. 35), Omer Asik (No. 36), and Goran Dragic (No. 45).

2009 Draft

•  No. 25 Overall — Rodrigue Beaubois*: 182 games, 7.1 PPG, 1.9 RPG, and 2.1 APG. .439/.325/.810.
• No. 45 Overall — Nick Calathes**: 129 games, 4.6 PPG, 1.9 RPG, and 2.7 APG. .441/.288/.581.
• No. 56 Overall — Ahmad Nivens: No regular season NBA appearances.

*Acquired from Thunder along with a 2010 second-rounder (Solomon Alabi) in exchange for the No. 24 overall pick (Byron Mullens).

**Acquired from the Timberwolves in exchange for a 2010 second round pick.

Notable players available at draft slot or passed over: Taj Gibson (No. 26) and DeMarre Carroll (No. 27).

2010 Draft

•  No. 25 Overall — Dominique Jones*: 80 games, 3.1 PPG, 1.4 RPG, and 1.8 APG. .366/.095/.729.
• No second-rounder. Pick No. 57 (Ryan Reid) owned by Thunder.

*Acquired from the Grizzlies in exchange for cash.

**Traded the No. 50 overall pick (Alabi) to the Raptors in exchange for cash and a 2013 second-rounder.

Notable players available at draft slot or passed over: Hassan Whiteside (No. 33) and Lance Stephenson (No. 40).

2011 Draft

• Traded the No. 26 overall pick (Jordan Hamilton) and No. 57 overall pick (Tanguy Ngombo) to the Blazers in exchange for Rudy Fernandez and Petteri Koponen. The rights to Hamilton were then dealt by Portland to the Nuggets.

Notable players available at draft slot or passed over: Jimmy Butler (No. 30), Chandler Parsons (No. 38), and Isaiah Thomas (No. 60).

2012 Draft

• No. 24 Overall — Jared Cunningham*: 40 games, 1.9 PPG, 0.5 RPG, and 0.5 APG. .353/.304/.710.
• No. 33 Overall — Bernard James*: 92 games, 2.2 PPG, 2.3 RPG, and 0.7 BPG. .497/.000/.680.
• No. 34 Overall — Jae Crowder*: 238 games, 5.8 PPG, 2.8 RPG, and 1.0 APG. .414/.316/.735.

*Acquired from the Cavaliers in exchange for the No. 17 overall pick (Tyler Zeller) and Kelenna Azubuike.

**Dealt the No. 55 overall pick (Darius Johnson-Odom) to the Lakers in exchange for cash.

Notable players available at draft slot or passed over: Zeller (No. 17), Evan Fournier (No. 20), Draymond Green (No. 35), and Khris Middleton (No. 39).

2013 Draft

• No. 18 Overall — Shane Larkin*: 124 games, 4.9 PPG, 1.8 RPG, and 2.4 APG. .420/.305/.748.

*Traded the No. 13 overall pick (Kelly Olynyk) to the Celtics for the No. 16 overall pick (Lucas Nogueira) and two future second-rounders. Nelson then dealt Jared Cunningham, the rights to Nogueira, and the No. 44 overall pick (Mike Muscala) to the Hawks for the rights to Larkin and cash.

Notable players available at draft slot or passed over: Olynyk (No. 13), Giannis Antetokounmpo (No. 15), Mason Plumlee (No. 22), Tim Hardaway Jr. (No. 24), and Rudy Gobert (No. 27).

2014 Draft

• No first-rounder. Pick No. 21 overall (Mitch McGary) owned by the Thunder.

*Nelson dealt the No. 34 overall pick (Cleanthony Early), the No. 51 overall pick (Thanasis Antetokounmpo), Larkin, Wayne Ellington, Samuel Dalembert, and Jose Calderon to the Knicks in exchange for Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton.

Notable players available at draft slot or passed over: McGary (No. 21), Rodney Hood (No. 23), K.J. McDaniels (No. 32), and Jordan Clarkson (No. 46).