2025 draft thread: THE MAVS SELECT COOPER FLAGG

[F Gump]

Personally, I am not too keen on trading for a late first or early second. Unless the asking price is really low.  I don't think Gafford or PJ is good value to get a late first. Guys like Hardy, Omax, and others probably don't have much value. Unless you are buying a pick in the second round, I would just be fine not making a move. There are a few teams with multiple picks and they may or may not take those picks.  It appears there are a lot of options for them if they decide not making those picks.

Yeah, I really agree with that. I'm not even sure I'd want to have a pick in the 20-45 range (because of the salary you pay, for a player who is unlikely to be much help), but as you outline, it's even more of a MASSIVE NO to the idea they should give up good talent for such iffiness (and "iffiness" is being kind imo).

As is always the case, almost every last one of those guys won't help anytime soon - they are developmental prospects, almost entirely across the board. If you have extra roster room and money, then yeah grab some. But for the Mavs in their situation, with no roster room and money so tight, there's no good reason to pay someone like that to eat up a roster slot (that you don't have idle anyhow) and have them get paid money to just be a body for a few years.

When I look at past drafts, and how such guys in the 20-45 range work out, it's amazing how few there actually have been in any draft who turned out to be worth much of ANYTHING at the NBA level. 

So IMO the place to look for some back-of-the-roster guy to maybe help NOW at the NBA level is the player who has been in GL or two-way or Euro experience for a few years and is starting to figure it out. THAT is the guy you really want to discover. And you use a two-way slot on him, ideally, while you see if he might be the next B Williams.

Back to the draft, I'm mildly interested in Clayton, maybe, perhaps, kinda, but even he has so many question marks (limits due to lack of size and length and athleticism) that I am very leery. Dropping down to an even lower level of player and readiness? Yikes, no thanks. For example, that fancy color chart posted above with someone's OPINION on draft players' value etc -- it's informative that the best ranked ones are found in most mocks in the mid 2nd round. That's partly an indicator of how crappy this draft probably is (where it's hard to tell the best from the worst, except for CF), and also speaks as to how iffy these expert opinions are as to who is better to pick and who should be bypassed. To be real, there surely must be a few out of the top 45 that will eventually be of value, but it's a wild bet on which of them will be able to fix their flaws and enhance their skills the best, vs which will just take the money and never figure anything out, and you really can't tell in advance with any certainty who will be who among those who haven't been doing it already. (The fact that CF has already been on an impressive path of learning and developing and working successfully to get rid of weaknesses since he was about 15, even though he was already way ahead of everyone else, is one more thing that sets him far apart from the rest.)

And even with Clayton, there's another very real issue. Where do you stash him while you try to get him developed further? Right now they only have one unaccounted-for roster slot [assumes Kyrie is re-signed], but in that 1 slot they still to need to add AT LEAST a couple of guards to help this year, and imo they would also want to re-sign Kai Jones as an up-and-coming big, and from past experience they will also want a veteran tone-setter for the locker room and trips (aka a cheerleader) which in the past has been Boban or Markieff. Not sure how you navigate all of that while also having Clayton playing very sparsely, riding your bench, hoping that he will turn into something down the road in another year or three.