NBA Draft 2017 rumors: who will the Mavericks select at number 9?

The 2016 regular season is over, and now the 2017-18 season is officially upon us. The NBA draft is Thursday, June 22, and it’s sure to be an exciting one, with one trade between Boston and Philadelphia already having happened.

The Dallas Mavericks have the highest pick they’ve had in long time, at lucky number nine. Nine was where the one and only Dirk Nowitzki was drafted, so there’s that.

Rumors are already starting to fly about the who the Mavericks might be selecting. Will it be a point guard? Will their rumored pursuit of Jrue Holiday cause them to go in a different direction?

Bookmark this post and check back often, as we will try to continually update it with all the most relevant rumors leading into draft day.

Mavs and Wolves were talking trade. (June 21, 6:16 p.m.): Per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, Dallas and Minnesota talked swapping the 7th pick and Ricky Rubio for the 9th pick and Wesley Matthews. Sounds good to me, so I wonder if there was more to it that made it fall through. According to MacMahon, Dallas isn’t in any rush to move up in the draft.

Mavs all in on Ntilikina? (June 19, 12:00 p.m.): Per ESPN’s Chad Ford, Ntilikina’s coach will also coach on the Mavericks’ Orlando Summer League team. Not sure how this will work with the Knicks also reportedly very interested in Ntilikina, though — would Dallas actually try to trade up?

Knicks moving on from Porzingis? (June 20, 10:14 a.m.): Per Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Knicks are considering moving on from the disgruntled Kristaps Porzingis and have met with Lauri Markkanen who they are considering at 8. This is big for the Mavericks as all reports until now have penciled the Knicks as selecting a guard, potentially Ntilikina who the Mavericks have much interest in.