2026 NBA draft thread

[mvossman]

is it bad that I don't really trust Masai on this and that he may mess up this draft?

Masai is a great GM, especially at making trades. But his drafting history to me leaves a lot to be desired. With the Nuggets he was in control of the 2011-2014 NBA drafts. The picks he made:

Overall, he's made some pretty poor drafting choices. But when he hits, he hits big. I suppose such is the way of the NBA draft, not sure why I have this pessimism. Its also easy to look back with hindsight and pick apart moves, but the Mavs are at an important juncture and they can't mess this up. Maybe it's just because I've become accustomed to the Mavs FO being incompetent over the years so I expect the worst. Plus, for whatever reason, the last 4 years of drafts by the Mavs were all run pretty damn well with solid scouting and picks. Lively trade, Hardy trade, Omax+Holmes trade for free, and of course Cooper Flagg sheer luck.

His trades are legendary. Draft not so much.

All of this ramble to say, I hope Masai is as good as advertised.

I think this is kind of a crazy take regarding his drafting.  If you take the expected return for where he drafted (many times in the 20s) vs the actual return, I would bet his ratio is probably top 5 GMs in the business.  You also didn't mention Fred VanVleet who was technically undrafted free agent, but I would consider him part of the draft process and that decision jacks up his numbers even higher.