2018 NBA Mock Draft: What’s in store for the second round?

The junior signed with an agent at the end of April, meaning he will indeed remain in this year’s draft after an intriguing 3-year career at Marshall. Dallas should be looking closely, with the time and infrastructure to develop a 3-and-D center like Penava.

At Marshall, Penava grew into the big man role that coach Dan D’Antoni must dream about. By his junior season, Penava was blocking nearly four shots per game and chucking nearly three  3-pointers a night. He and Jaren Jackson Jr. were the only prospects to combine that level of shooting efficiency and production as rim protectors, and it’s not difficult to imagine how players like those two might translate to the modern NBA.

If Penava can continue to develop defending in space (he weighs just 200 lbs. and he’s very mobile) and add secondary offensive skills to his catch-and-shoot game, he could be an awesome modern big man. Dallas tends not to get cute with the role their big men play — rolling hard to the rim on offense to create inward gravity in the halfcourt and patrolling the paint defensively. But the Mavericks developed Dirk Nowitzki into one of the greatest stretch big men in the history of the NBA, so it’s not as if they’re uncreative with their frontcourt talent.

Perhaps theirs a more creative and experimental team who sees Penava for what D’Antoni did, that pulls the trigger earlier. But few teams this well coached have the wiggle room as far as minutes and expectations are concerned to fully develop Penava, so the Mavericks should think hard about taking him.