The San Antonio Spurs will be Victor Wembenyama’s team based on the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery’s results. Greg Popovich will get Victor Wembenyama, a so-called generational talent.
The Dallas Mavericks narrowly kept their top-10 pick, with the No. 10 pick. Otherwise, it would have gone to the New York Knicks. While this is a very deep draft, the Mavericks have a decision to make; do they trade the 10th pick to provide depth to combine alongside Luke Doncic and Kyrie Irving? That’s if Irving even resigns with the Mavs in the off-season.
Teams must be more frugal with their spending because of the implementation of a more restrictive Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). It could be possible to offset that spending by signing contributing individuals to rookie contracts, AKA through the draft.
If Dallas does trade the No. 10 pick, they will fail to develop through the draft again. The last time they had a draft pick participate in an All-Star Game was 2003 first-round pick Josh Howard did so as an alternate in 2007. The one exception is star point guard Luka Doncic, acquired in a draft-day trade with the Atlanta Hawks in 2018, but still, technically, wasn’t one of Dallas’s picks.
However, it seems sensible that Dallas would prefer to acquire a player with immediate winning potential over a developing prospect. The Mavs must exert every effort to regain title contention following a disappointing 2022–23 season in which they finished with a 38–44 record.
They always have a window of title contention with Doncic there, but they must start planning for the future. Dallas has to make the right choice to restore the team’s standing as a title contender and, better yet, take that next step.
