Roundtable: The top five draft picks for the Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks didn’t get the NBA Draft Lottery results we all hoped for, but they did stay in the top five, receiving the No. 5 overall pick in the NBA Draft. Although it’s widely assumed that DeAndre Ayton and Luka Doncic will definitely go with the first few picks, anything can happen as players attend the NBA Combine and do individual workouts for multiple teams. This week our staff discussed their Mavericks Top-Five Big Boards, and here were the results:

Kirk (@KirkSeriousFace):

1. Luka Doncic

2. Jaren Jackson Jr.

3. DeAndre Ayton

4. Marvin Bagley III

5. Mikal Bridges

6. Mohamed Bamba

I’ve been on Doncic heading back to last season. He’s a solid player who is so young it’s hard to chart his growth potetial. And if he stops developing right now, he’s got the basketball IQ to be a 10-year player. Jackson is the youngest player in the draft who can shoot the ball and seems like a top flight rim protector. I know there’s some concern about foul rate, but give me a guy who is too aggressive over one who doesn’t know how to defend. Ayton’s third for me, which is probably outrageous compared to the mass of people, but I’m worried about how his game translates to how basketball is played now. How many top-flight centers are left in the playoffs? Bagley would be a ridiculous consolation prize due to his sheer athleticism. I have Mikal Bridges higher than most because I think a 6’7 guy with a 7’2 wingspan who can hit threes sounds like a monster. If I hear at any point during the season that Bridges is a “steal,” assuming he goes 8-12, I will SCREAM. Oh, and Bamba. I love the guy but I’m just not that into centers.

Sam (@SamGuertler):

1. Luka Doncic

2. Jaren Jackson Jr.

3. DeAndre Ayton

4. Marvin Bagley III

5. Mo Bamba

Doncic is number one on my board because he might be the most heralded foreign prospect ever. He’s crushing the second-best league in the world at only 19 years of age and provides the Mavericks with something they are sorely lacking: a playmaking wing. I have JJJ second because of his versatility and upside. He’s mobile, blocked shots at an incredible level in college and can stretch the floor on offense. He’s the youngest player in the draft and has a game that fits today’s NBA.

I would be thrilled with Ayton at three, but the lack of a defensive impact gives me enough anxiety that I’m not placing him in my top two. He very well could be a double-double machine, but if he caps out as a one-dimensional monster on offense, teams will expose him. Finally, Bagley and Bamba round out my top five. I lean more toward Bagley because he’s so explosive and could be such a threat offensively. Bamba’s defensive potential puts him neck-and-neck with Bagley, but I view him needing a bit longer to develop into something that makes him worth a top-five pick.

Ian (@SmitheeMMB):

TIER ONE

1. Doncic

TIER TWO

2. Ayton

3. Jackson Jr.

TIER THREE

4. Bagley III

5. Bamba

6. Mikal Bridges

7.Porter Jr.

8.Carter Jr.

How exactly the players rank is pretty fluid within those tiers, but this is my best attempt right now. Doncic stands alone as one guy who has a really high floor and room to grow. Ayton and Jackson are really difficult to separate, not because they’re similar but rather because they’re so different. The third tier is mostly a mix of high-risk, high-reward types and quality role players who may not have true star upside. Bagley could be a 20-10 guy in the NBA for a decade, but should I be convinced he’s going to be a better, more well-rounded player than Wendell Carter Jr. or Mikal Bridges, given how bad Bagley looked as a defender in college?

Any of these eight will help Dallas and give a much needed boost to their talent pool. I will be upfront in my view that adding a high-level wing would be really nice, considering where the league is going and how overmatched Dallas was when their three main perimeter guys played together. That being said, it’s worth noting that this is an exceptional class in terms of the depth and quality of available bigs, and the 2019 draft—while still a long ways away—projects to be much, much lighter in centers (and probably weaker overall).

Dalton (@dalton_trigg):

1. Doncic

2. Ayton

3. Bagley

4. Jackson

5. Bamba

I’ve thought for a while now that Ayton and Doncic have separated themselves from the rest of the pack when it comes to overall talent and also potentially having the biggest impact for a team early on.

I have extremely high hopes for Marvin Bagley, too, as you all probably know by now, but as good as he was at Duke this past season, I just couldn’t justify putting him any higher than No. 3. Jackson Jr. isn’t far behind Bagley on my board, and he’s definitely the better defender right now, but I don’t think his ceiling is as high as Bagley’s. Jackson has a higher floor and less bust potential, but to me, he’s going to be a 5 for his career, occasionally knocking down some threes too. I can see Bagley ending up being the more versatile when it’s all said and done, as far as being able to play multiple positions and having better handles goes, so that’s why I’ve got him at No. 3. That said, I would still be happy with either one of those guys.

I have Bamba at No. 5 right now, but that could change as we get closer to the draft, depending on his team workouts and workouts from other players, like Michael Porter Jr., a prospect I’ve always thought has the highest ceiling of anyone, if he’s 100 percent healthy.