NBA teams with the most to gain and lose in the 2018 Draft

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(Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /

5. Dallas Mavericks (19-45)

2018 Picks

First Round — projected No. 1 – 4 overall
Second Round — projected 31st-34th overall

Unlike the rest of the lottery teams, the Mavericks have won a championship in the last ten years. In spite of the fact that the they’re 26 games under .500, the Mavs still have elements of the championship pedigree in coach Rick Carlisle and Dirk Nowitzki. As a franchise, they feel like the most stable of any lottery team and their place among the NBA’s worst teams feels strictly temporary.

Rookie, Dennis Smith Jr., has started 56 games at point guard and averaged 15 points and five assists a night. In a loaded rookie class, Smith isn’t the bell of the ball but would definitely be a top-five Rookie of the Year candidate if the award hadn’t been narrowed down to two already. At only 20 years old, he’s looked like a rookie at times but also shown the ability to score 25-30 points and rack up double-digit assists.

Smith, Harrison Barnes and Dwight Powell, look to be the future for Dallas. Barnes, still only 25, has averaged 18.9 points and 5.6 rebounds in two seasons with the Mavericks. Powell, 26, has taken longer to develop but has come into his own this season especially down the final stretch of the season. His 13 points and 8.8 rebounds per game over the last 12 games has given the team reason to feel optimistic about the next three years of his contract in Dallas.

Dirk and J.J. Barea are both signed through 2018-19 and will likely retire as Mavericks after their current contracts expire. Aside from Dirk, Barea, and the three players mentioned above, the Mavs have a ton of expiring contracts giving the team the options between resigning or chasing free agents this summer.

Aside from the household names becoming free agents (Lebron, Durant, George, CP3, etc.) there are several players in the 2018 free agent class that Dallas could make a run at to pair with a top pick from this year’s draft, Smith, Barnes, and Powell. Aaron Gordon, as mentioned above, is one name on a list of players along with Clint Capela, Nikola Mirotic, Jabari Parker, and several others that a team like Dallas could afford to pay. /

Cuban and the Mavs have played prominently into the free agent picture in recent years but haven’t had the kind of success they’d hoped for, missing out famously on DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Howard among others. They will likely continue to pursue major free agents and will always have the advantage of no state income tax, a championship coach, and an engaged owner with deep pockets. But to contend for the upper echelon of free agents, especially those driven by winning championships, Dallas needs a 2018 selection on par with Dennis Smith, Jr. to continue building.

If they can add a solid 2018 rookie and a top-10 free agent addition to their current roster, they’ll be back in the playoff picture sooner than later. A young roster loaded with potential paired with their cap space the next 2-4 years will have them much better equipped to go after the kind of franchise free agent that can elevate a playoff team to become a championship contender.

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