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The pencils are down, the tests are turned in, and the dust has settled on the 2020 NBA draft. The Mavericks entered the night with the 18th and 31st pick but wound up collecting the 36th pick and Josh Richardson from the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for Seth Curry.
When the night was over, the Mavericks walked away with Josh Green from Arizona (18th pick), Tyrell Terry from Stanford (31st pick) and Tyler Bey from Colorado (36th pick). Most of us at Mavs Moneyball were disappointed the Mavericks didn’t select TCU’s Desmond Bane, but most draft pundits collectively agree Dallas had a good draft. It’s hard to disagree when the Mavericks added multiple wing defenders and one of college basketball’s most prolific sharpshooters.
Josh Green - B
Green has good size at 6’6 with a 6’10 wingspan while hitting 34 percent of his three-pointers. He should be an impact player in transition who spaces the floor in the halfcourt.
Green - C+
If you value athleticism, Green is one of the best in the draft. He’s not very polished and didn’t stand out at Arizona at all. But athleticism matters, and if you can get him do to the other stuff, maybe you tap into something special.
Tyrell Terry - B
The one-and-done guard is a tad undersized at 6-2 but has skills to play on or off the ball because of his all-around offensive weaponry as a scorer, shooter and distributor.
Tyler Bey - B-
He’s a very talented rebounder for his size and position who has role-playing potential, an ideal set of skills to pair next to Luka Doncic.
USA Today: B-
Dallas had better picks it could’ve secured, but ultimately they filled roster holes with the available picks and that seems smart given where the team’s ascension is right now. That less risky approach paved way for the addition of Arizona’s Josh Green at No. 18 and Sanford’s Tyrell Terry at No. 31. Both players can score in different ways and add shooting to a roster that loves the three-ball. These players will fit in nicely.
Green - B
He’s a ready-made perimeter stopper with room to grow offensively. Green has good instincts, and he seems comfortable and competent as a spot-up shooter. His athleticism should shine even brighter at this level in a better-spaced, more up-and-down game, but he needs some work with his handle and passing. Green will add defense to the NBA’s best offensive team, and he could spawn viral fires on the receiving end of Doncic’s dimes.
Terry - A
Terry’s off-ball movement makes him seem like a long-lost member of the Curry family, and his scoring touch is elite on all types of shots. He can feast on a diet of pull-up and spot-up triples, and when defenders run him off the arc, he has the soft touch on floaters and runners to finish from close range.
Bey - B+
Bey has spring-loaded bounce and a seemingly endless supply of energy. When he channels that energy and keeps it on the right side of overaggression, he can be a defensive weapon who contributes all over. But his offense is raw, and a lot of what he did at Colorado might not have much NBA value. He was an interior player for the Buffaloes, and he’ll get pushed out to the perimeter in the pros. He needs to grow much more comfortable as a shooter. He only took 59 three-pointers in 99 games with the Buffs.
Josh Green provides immediate help on the defensive end for Dallas, but frankly, I’m more excited about the addition of Tyrell Terry. The Stanford product is perhaps the best shooter in the draft, and he should see a slew of open threes playing alongside Luka Doncic. With Seth Curry now in Philadelphia, Terry is a quality replacement. The Mavericks continue to build around Doncic in impressive fashion.
The Ringer: A
He’s an elite athlete with a good basketball IQ, and is the rare youngster with the physical tools and mind-set to play NBA-caliber defense early in his career, a must for any rookie hoping to get playing time under Rick Carlisle. Green’s ceiling at the next level will depend on his jumper, but he has a strong foundation to build on and already showed the ability to play off-ball in college. This is exactly the type of player the Mavs needed to put around Luka Doncic.
It’s clear the Mavericks drafted for need first and foremost but might have drafted the best player available in Terry. Nonetheless, the Mavericks selected three players in one draft which hasn’t happened for as long as I can remember. It was an active and successful night for a team looking to take a step into “contender” status.
Here’s the post-draft podcast, Mavs Moneyball After Dark. If you can’t see the embed below “More from Mavs Moneyball”, click here. And if you haven’t yet, subscribe by searching “Mavs Moneyball podcast” into your favorite podcast app.