Mavericks Rumors

2019 NBA Draft Picks By Team

While the Sixers and Celtics suffered disappointing losses in the Eastern Conference Semifinals and face uncertain futures, both teams can at least fall back on the fact that they’re still loaded with draft assets. Philadelphia and Boston are two of only three NBA teams – the Hawks are the other – that possess at least four picks in the 2019 NBA draft.

As our full 2019 draft order shows, there are five other teams that more than two selections in this year’s draft. On the other end of the spectrum, nine teams own just one pick in 2018, while two teams – the Nuggets and Rockets – don’t have any selections.

To present a clearer picture of which teams are most – and least – stocked with picks for the 2019 NBA draft, we’ve rounded up all 60 picks by team in the space below. Let’s dive in…

Teams with more than two picks:

  • Atlanta Hawks (5): 8, 10, 35, 41, 44
  • Philadelphia 76ers (5): 24, 33, 34, 42, 54
  • Boston Celtics (4): 14, 20, 22, 51
  • New Orleans Pelicans (3): 1, 39, 57
  • Charlotte Hornets (3): 12, 36, 52
  • Brooklyn Nets (3): 17, 27, 31
  • San Antonio Spurs (3): 19, 29, 49
  • Sacramento Kings (3): 40, 47, 60

Teams with two picks:

  • New York Knicks: 3, 55
  • Cleveland Cavaliers: 5, 26
  • Phoenix Suns: 6, 32
  • Chicago Bulls: 7, 38
  • Minnesota Timberwolves: 11, 43
  • Detroit Pistons: 15, 45
  • Orlando Magic: 16, 46
  • Indiana Pacers: 18, 50
  • Utah Jazz: 23, 53
  • Golden State Warriors: 28, 58
  • Los Angeles Clippers: 48, 56

Teams with one pick:

  • Memphis Grizzlies: 2
  • Los Angeles Lakers: 4
  • Washington Wizards: 9
  • Miami Heat: 13
  • Oklahoma City Thunder: 21
  • Portland Trail Blazers: 25
  • Milwaukee Bucks: 30
  • Dallas Mavericks: 37
  • Toronto Raptors: 59

Teams with no picks:

  • Denver Nuggets
  • Houston Rockets

Draft Notes: Hawks, Culver, Morant, Knicks

The Pelicans and Grizzlies made meteoric rises in tonight’s draft lottery, landing the first and second picks respectively. It’s widely assumed that Zion Williamson and Ja Morant will be the selections, however, much can happen before the draft next month.

Let’s take a look at some notes from teams that didn’t move up in the lottery:

  • The Hawks are fond of Texas Tech’s Jarrett Culver, Sean Deveney of Sporting News writes. The franchise believes Culver’s “blend of athleticism and defensive prowess” will allow him to make the leap from the college ranks to the professional level.  Atlanta owns the Nos. 8 and 10 picks in the draft.
  • Had the Hawks landed the No. 2 pick, they likely would have drafted Culver or made a trade, according to Deveney, who suggests Atlanta was never going to draft Morant. Atlanta is fully committed to Trae Young as its point guard of the future and Young’s game next to Morant would be an awkward fit, writes Deveney.
  • The Cavaliers and the Mavericks are other teams that would have explored options outside of Morant had they landed No. 2, Deveney adds. Cleveland drafted Collin Sexton last June while Dallas invested in Luka Doncic.
  • The Knicks would not have traded Williamson if they landed the No. 1 pick, Adrian Wojnarowski said during ESPN’s Draft Lottery coverage. New York will have no such opportunity, as the team ended up with the No. 3 selection.
  • New York didn’t land the No. 1 pick as the franchise had hoped, but the Suns should be more disappointed than the Knicks in their result, Katherine Fitzgerald of the Arizona Republic writes. Phoenix landed the No. 6 overall pick in the draft.

Pelicans Win 2019 NBA Draft Lottery; Grizzlies, Knicks In Top 3

With Tuesday night’s lottery results now official, the top 14 picks in the 2019 NBA draft have been set. The lottery order is as follows:

  1. New Orleans Pelicans
  2. Memphis Grizzlies
  3. New York Knicks
  4. Los Angeles Lakers
  5. Cleveland Cavaliers
  6. Phoenix Suns
  7. Chicago Bulls
  8. Atlanta Hawks
  9. Washington Wizards
  10. Atlanta Hawks (from Mavericks)
  11. Minnesota Timberwolves
  12. Charlotte Hornets
  13. Miami Heat
  14. Boston Celtics (from Kings)

It’s a huge development for the Pelicans, who were facing the potential loss of franchise player Anthony Davis this offseason and only had a 6.0% chance of moving up in the draft. New head of basketball operations David Griffin will now have the opportunity to either sell Davis on staying in New Orleans by adding Duke forward Zion Williamson to play alongside him, or will be able to build around Williamson after trading AD.

The Grizzlies, meanwhile, moved up to No. 2 (6.3% chance), putting them in position to potentially select Murray State point guard Ja Morant. Mike Conley, of course, has been the longtime point guard in Memphis, but he has been the subject of trade rumors for the last several months — drafting Morant would be a terrific way to replace Conley if the Grizzlies decide to move the veteran this summer.

Because they jumped up to No. 2, the Grizzlies will keep their pick (top-eight protected) rather than sending it to Boston. Memphis will now owe the Celtics their top-six protected first-round pick in 2020.

Knicks fans will be disappointed not to land a top-two pick, but considering they only had a 40.1% chance to land a top-three selection, things could have been worse. Another Duke prospect, R.J. Barrett, is widely considered the favorite to be the third player off the board, but New York could dangle that pick in trade talks if the team wants to shift into contention mode immediately.

Another big-market team, the Lakers, jumped up to No. 4 despite only having a 9.4% chance at a top-four pick (2.8% for No. 4). The Lakers could shop that pick for immediate help this spring, since they’re in win-now mode during LeBron James‘ tenure.

The Cavaliers, Suns, Bulls, and Wizards are among the losers of the night, having each slid down three spots in the draft order. The Hawks also moved down three spots, but they’ll still pick twice in the top 10, at Nos. 8 and 10.

Atlanta will receive the Mavericks‘ selection at No. 10 as a result of last year’s Luka Doncic/Trae Young swap. The pick was top-five protected, so Dallas would have retained it if it had moved up in the lottery. The Mavs will now own their 2020 and 2022 first-round selections — they’ll owe the Knicks their 2021 first-rounder (unprotected) and their 2023 first-rounder (top-10 protected) due to the Kristaps Porzingis deal.

The Celtics, rather than the Sixers, will receive the Kings‘ pick at No. 14. The 76ers would have swapped first-rounders if that pick had moved up to No. 1, but they’ll keep their own selection instead. Sacramento now has all its first-rounders moving forward.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Pacific Notes: Beverley, Kerr, LeBron, Vogel

Clippers guard Patrick Beverley is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, a process the 30-year-old is looking forward to after his seventh NBA season.

Beverley, who averaged 7.6 points, 3.8 assists, 0.9 steals and 27.4 minutes in 78 games with Los Angeles this year, discussed a variety of subjects with Khari Arnold in a story posted to NBA.com this week — including where his mind stands ahead of the free agency period.

“I feel like I can play with any team,” Beverley said. “Whatever team that is, I feel like I can make an instant impact. It’s all about doing the right things. Building a new culture. Whether it’s a young team that I’m with and I have to build a new culture, or if it’s a team that’s already established and I have to figure out how can I fit in and make this team better, I’m selfless when it comes to that.”

Beverley sent a cryptic tweet to Mavericks star Luka Doncic last week, which prompted Arnold to ask him a question about potentially joining the Mavs and how he would see himself fitting in.

“Of course [I can fit in]. He’s ball dominant, makes the right plays,” Beverley said of Doncic. “If that does come, it would be me, Luka, Tim Hardaway Jr., (Kristaps) Porzingis, Courtney Lee. It’s tough when you actually think about it. But I’m going to have fun with free agency man. I work hard. I’m gonna enjoy this process.”

The Mavericks are said to be pursuing a point guard this summer and have also been linked to Hornets star Kemba Walker.

There’s more out of the Pacific Division tonight:

  • Warriors coach Steve Kerr regrets not playing his bench more in the team’s series against Houston, Mark Medina of The Mercury News writes. “I probably should’ve used them earlier,” Kerr said. Regardless, the Warriors wound up winning the series, with Kevon Looney (14 points) and Shaun Livingston (11 points) giving key performances off the bench.
  • Lakers star LeBron James is many things, but a victim isn’t one of those things, Ira Winderman of the Sun Sentinel writes. James has had a sensational career filled with good luck, despite being shocked about Magic Johnson’s recent exit, Tyronn Lue’s contract-negotiation breakdown and an underwhelming regular season from his team.
  • Kevin Pelton of ESPN examines whether Frank Vogel will be able to turn around the Lakers in his first season as head coach. Vogel was hired by the organization this past week, with former NBA head coach Jason Kidd set to join his staff in an assistant coaching role.

Kristaps Porzingis Allegedly Involved In Latvian Brawl

2:21pm: Per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, the Mavericks are aware of the situation and are investigating the altercation.

2:18pm: As relayed by Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-TelegramMavericks’ big man Kristaps Porzingis was apparently involved in some sort of physical altercation in his home country of Latvia recently, which came to light upon the release of a video showing Porzingis with blood on his face.

While details have not yet been confirmed, there are reports from TMZ Sports that Porzingis was in his hometown of Liepaja this weekend celebrating some occasion when a “handful of Russians confronted Kristaps, supposedly upset with the fact that he’d (left the Knicks for the Mavericks) and an all-out tussle broke out.”

This incident continues an already tumultuous offseason for the 23-year-old, who is also under investigation for an alleged sexual assault in New York against a former neighbor of his in a high rise apartment complex.

When the assault allegations against Porzingis were made in late March, Mavs’ owner Mark Cuban declined to comment, but did say that “some people” (presumably Porzingis) need to do their homework and use some common sense. The Mavericks have yet to comment, but it will be interesting to see what they have to say after this latest incident.

Draft Notes: Zion, Norvell, Ponds, Tinkle

There’s a ton at stake this offseason for many of the teams involved in next week’s draft lottery, but there’s plenty at stake for consensus top prospect Zion Williamson as well. As ESPN’s Jonathan Givony, Mike Schmitz, Kevin Pelton, and Bobby Marks outline in an Insider-only article, not every team that has a shot at Williamson would be an ideal fit for him.

In the view of ESPN’s insiders, the Hawks, Mavericks, and Pelicans would be the most preferable landing spots for Williamson. The opportunity to play with up-and-coming play-makers – Trae Young in Atlanta, or Luka Doncic in Dallas – would help unlock Williamson’s potential.

On the other hand, ESPN’s panel doesn’t consider the Lakers, Bulls, and Sixers great fits for Williamson. Spacing is the primary concern for the Lakers and Sixers, and it’s unclear how a pairing with Joel Embiid would work. For the Bulls, Zach LaVine‘s ball dominance and Jim Boylen‘s “outdated” offense are viewed as red flags.

Here are several more draft-related notes:

  • Gonzaga sophomore guard Zach Norvell Jr. told reporters today that he intends to keep his name in the 2019 NBA draft, tweets Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports. Norvell was one of 66 prospects announced on Wednesday as a 2019 draft combine participant.
  • St. John’s guard Shamorie Ponds, another one of those 66, has workouts lined up with the Warriors, Bulls, Kings, Jazz, Celtics, and Mavericks, tweets Michael Scotto of The Athletic. Ponds is ranked as the No. 51 prospect on ESPN’s big board.
  • After working out for Utah and Philadelphia, Oregon State forward Tres Tinkle has auditions this week with the Raptors, Celtics, and Hornets, and will work out for the Hawks next week, writes Nick Daschel of The Oregonian.
  • After turning in an impressive performance at the Portsmouth Invitational, forward Jarrell Brantley (Charleston) has workouts lined up with 10 teams, including the Celtics, Nets, Timberwolves, Hornets, and Clippers, tweets Adam Zagoria of SNY.tv.

NBA Announces 2019 Draft Lottery Representatives

With the NBA’s 2019 draft lottery set to take place next Tuesday night, the league has now officially confirmed who will represent each team on stage and in the lottery room on May 14.

While there are only 14 picks in the lottery – including four determined by the drawings of ping pong balls – there will be 15 team representatives in attendance due to various trades. The full breakdown of each club’s odds in this year’s lottery can be found right here.

[RELATED: Four More-Likely-Than-Not Draft Lottery Outcomes]

Here’s the full list of 2019 lottery representatives, with each team sending two reps — one will be in the lottery room during the actual draw, while the other will be on stage for the broadcast portion of the event.

  1. New York Knicks
    • On stage: Patrick Ewing (former player)
    • Lottery room: Allan Houston (special assistant to the GM)
    • Top-four odds: 52.1%
  2. Cleveland Cavaliers
    • On stage: Nick Gilbert (son of team owner)
    • Lottery room: Brock Aller (senior director of basketball operations)
    • Top-four odds: 52.1%
  3. Phoenix Suns
    • On stage: Deandre Ayton
    • Lottery room: Jim Pitman (CFO)
    • Top-four odds: 52.1%
  4. Chicago Bulls
    • On stage: Horace Grant (special advisor to president/COO)
    • Lottery room: Joey Reinsdorf (son of president/COO)
    • Top-four odds: 48.0%
  5. Atlanta Hawks
    • On stage: Jami Gertz (co-owner)
    • Lottery room: Michelle Leftwich (VP, salary cap administration)
    • Top-four odds: 42.1%
      • Note: The Hawks will also land a second lottery pick if the Mavericks’ pick doesn’t move into the top four.
  6. Washington Wizards
    • On stage: Raul Fernandez (vice chairman)
    • Lottery room: Tommy Sheppard (senior VP of basketball operations)
    • Top-four odds: 37.2%
  7. New Orleans Pelicans
    • On stage: Alvin Gentry (head coach)
    • Lottery room: David Griffin (executive VP of basketball operations)
    • Top-four odds: 26.3%
  8. Memphis Grizzlies
    • On stage: Elliot Perry (minority owner / director of player support)
    • Lottery room: Zach Kleiman (executive VP of basketball operations)
    • Top-four odds: 26.3%
      • Note: The Grizzlies will lose their pick if it falls outside of the top eight (42.6% chance).
  9. Dallas Mavericks
    • On stage: Cynthia Marshall (CEO)
    • Lottery room: Keith Grant (assistant GM)
    • Top-four odds: 26.3%
      • Note: The Mavericks will lose their pick if it doesn’t move into the top four.
  10. Minnesota Timberwolves
    • On stage: Gersson Rosas (president of basketball operations)
    • Lottery room: Brad Ruiter (VP of communications)
    • Top-four odds: 13.9%
  11. Los Angeles Lakers
    • On stage: Kyle Kuzma
    • Lottery room: Rob Pelinka (GM)
    • Top-four odds: 9.4%
  12. Charlotte Hornets
    • On stage: James Borrego (head coach)
    • Lottery room: Buzz Peterson (assistant GM)
    • Top-four odds: 4.8%
  13. Miami Heat
    • On stage: Alonzo Mourning (VP, player programs)
    • Lottery room: Andy Elisburg (senior VP of basketball operations / GM)
    • Top-four odds: 4.8%
  14. Boston Celtics
    • On stage: Rich Gotham (president)
    • Lottery room: Mike Zarren (assistant GM)
    • Top-four odds: 3.8%
      • Note: The Celtics will receive the Grizzlies’ pick if it falls outside of the top eight and the Kings’ pick if it falls between 2-14.
  15. Philadelphia 76ers
    • On stage: Chris Heck (president)
    • Lottery room: Ian Hillman (VP, strategy & analytics)
    • Top-four odds: 1.0%
      • Note: The Sixers will only receive a pick if the Kings’ first-rounder jumps up to No. 1.

Five Key Offseason Questions: Dallas Mavericks

After making the playoffs 15 of 16 times from 2001-16, the Mavericks have now missed out on the postseason for three straight years, failing to surpass 33 wins in a single season during that stretch.

Having tried in vain to build one more contending team during Dirk Nowitzki‘s twilight years, the Mavs switched gears in 2018/19 and began looking ahead to the future. That meant moving up in the draft to nab potential franchise player Luka Doncic and then surrendering a few more assets – and taking on some unwanted contracts – to acquire a potential long-term running mate for Doncic (Kristaps Porzingis) at the trade deadline.

The Mavs still have plenty of work to do on the rest of their roster, but with a pair of potential stars in the mix, the organization no longer feels like it’s treading water in the same way it did during many of Nowitzki’s final few seasons.

Here are five key questions facing the franchise this summer:

1. What will Kristaps Porzingis’ new contract look like?

A healthy, scandal-free version of Porzingis would likely receive a maximum salary contract from just about any team capable of offering him one as a restricted free agent. That isn’t the version the Mavericks have though.

A torn ACL has sidelined Porzingis for nearly a season and a half. He hasn’t appeared in an NBA game since February 6, 2018, and it’s not as if he was a paragon of health before that injury — he missed 10 games in his rookie year and 16 more in his sophomore season. There’s no indication that he won’t be back to 100% for the start of the 2019/20 campaign, but that injury history is still concerning for a 7’3″ big man.

On top of that, Porzingis is facing a rape accusation related to an encounter that allegedly occurred during his time with the Knicks. The timeline for that case remains unclear, and the Mavs will have to be extra cautious as they navigate the situation after dealing with allegations of sexual misconduct within their workplace a year ago.

While it’s hard to predict how those allegations will impact contract negotiations this summer, Joel Embiid‘s deal with the Sixers could at least provide a framework for how to handle Porzingis’ injury history.

Embiid’s five-year, maximum salary extension with Philadelphia was worth the 25% max, and could have increased to the 30% max if he had earned First Team All-NBA honors in 2018. However, the deal also contained language that would have made future salaries non-guaranteed if Embiid suffered another major injury related to one of his previous health problems. So far, that deal has worked out for both sides, so perhaps the Mavs and Porzingis will explore a similar arrangement.

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Mavericks Expected To Have A Shot At Kemba Walker

  • Kemba Walker appears to be the Mavericks‘ most realistic option in free agency, Marc Stein of the New York Times said in a recent radio interview in Dallas. Stein said the Mavs are “legitimately intrigued” by Walker, and he believes they will get a meeting with him when free agency begins in July.

Five 2019/20 Player Option Decisions To Watch

As ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported this morning, Nets guard Allen Crabbe became the latest veteran to exercise a player option for the 2019/20 season. Crabbe is one of six players who has opted into the final year of his contract since the regular season ended, joining Jeff Teague, Dwight Howard, Kent Bazemore, C.J. Miles, and Bismack Biyombo.

[RELATED: Player Option Decisions For 2019/20]

That group of players picking up their options figures to grow in the coming weeks. Marvin Williams has already indicated he’ll opt in, and guys like Hassan Whiteside ($27.1MM), Tyler Johnson ($19.2MM), and Patrick Patterson ($5.7MM), among others, figure to do so too.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are a handful of star players who are locks to opt out. All year, we’ve talked about Kevin Durant ($31.5MM), Kawhi Leonard ($21.3MM), Kyrie Irving ($21.3MM), Jimmy Butler ($19.8MM), and Khris Middleton ($13MM) as if they’re free-agents-to-be, since it wouldn’t make sense for them to pick up their player options instead of securing more lucrative, longer-term deals in free agency.

Not all of the players with 2019/20 options are facing easy decisions though. In some cases, it’s not entirely clear yet whether or not those options will be exercised.

Let’s take a closer look at several of the player option decisions that will be worth monitoring before free agency officially gets underway:

  1. Al Horford, Celtics ($30,123,015): Only a handful of NBA players earn salaries in excess of $30MM, and on the surface, it doesn’t seem like Horford necessarily belongs in that group — he’ll turn 33 in June, battled nagging injuries this season, and put up relatively modest numbers for a starting center (13.6 PPG, 6.7 RPG, 4.2 APG). However, his performance in the postseason has shown once again why Horford is so valuable to the Celtics. His versatility and high basketball IQ makes him one of the few players capable of slowing down Giannis Antetokounmpo. And besides being a linchpin on defense, he’s a tremendous weapon in the pick-and-pop game on offense. If he were to opt out, he wouldn’t get $30MM per year on a long-term deal, but it wouldn’t be at all shocking to see him get, say, $20MM annually on a three-year contract. That could be a win for both him and the cap-strapped Celtics.
  2. Jonas Valanciunas, Grizzlies ($17,617,976): Valanciunas doesn’t have the same sort of hidden value as Horford – or as pricey an option – but he’ll face a similar dilemma. Does it make more sense to pick up a player option that locks in a favorable one-year salary or to opt out to secure a longer-term deal with a higher total value? Valanciunas was probably the most important asset the Grizzlies acquired in their trade of longtime franchise center Marc Gasol, so I think they’d be willing to invest long term in the former lottery pick.
  3. Marc Gasol, Raptors ($25,595,700): Like Horford, Gasol’s value on the court extends beyond his numbers — particularly the ones he has put up since his trade to Toronto. Plus, if he believes Kawhi Leonard will leave the Raptors in free agency, it might make sense for Gasol to look for the exit ramp as well by declining this option and trying to secure one last multiyear deal. On the other hand, at age 34, Gasol might have trouble exceeding his option salary even over the span of a new two-year contract. I’d be surprised if he doesn’t opt in and force the Raptors to make the decision on what to do with his expiring deal.
  4. James Ennis, Sixers ($1,845,301): Ennis signed a minimum salary contract with the Rockets last summer, then was traded to Philadelphia in a salary-dump deal at the deadline. Despite that unflattering series of events, he’s now playing a key rotation role for the Sixers in the postseason and has made 57.1% of his shots in seven playoff games, including a staggering 82.6% of his two-pointers. Ostensibly a three-and-D wing, Ennis should have no problem securing offers on the open market this summer, so it would probably be in his best interest to opt out to see if he can do better than the minimum. The same thinking applies to Thunder center Nerlens Noel, another veteran who has a minimum salary player option for 2019/20.
  5. Dwight Powell, Mavericks ($10,259,375): Powell enjoyed his best season in 2018/19, recording 10.6 PPG, 5.3 RPG, and a .597 FG% in a part-time role for the Mavericks. His $10MM+ option looks fairly player-friendly for someone who has never averaged more than 21.6 MPG, but team owner Mark Cuban suggested in a radio appearance last month that Dallas plans to extend Powell for multiple seasons. If he knows that sort of Mavs offer will await him in free agency, Powell could have reason to opt out (opting in and signing an extension would also be a possibility).

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.