An ode to the Dallas Mavericks 2022 first round pick

Dear Dallas Mavericks First Round Pick In The 2022 NBA Draft,

Your number is 26, but you’re no longer ours. You’re no longer ours to dream about. Ours to write stories about. Ours to celebrate. No, now you belong to someone else. Some might say you’re in a better place. I personally don’t think so, because you’re in Houston now.

The powers that be decided they would rather have Christian Wood than you. I don’t blame them, and I hope you don’t either. You see, Christian Wood is an established NBA talent. Sure, there are question marks. But when there’s a generational talent like Luka Doncic on the team, this is a move that had to be made. The front office had to put as much established talent around Luka as possible. They didn’t have time to aid in your development. You might be a great player someday, but they need someone who can help right now.

It’s still sad, though. You have a lot of potential. You could’ve turned into Christian Braun. You could’ve turned into Trevor Keels. You could’ve turned into something I wasn’t expecting. You still can be any of those people. You just won’t be wearing a Mavericks jersey, and that saddens me deeply.

But I want to thank you, Dallas Mavericks First Round Pick In The 2022 NBA Draft. I want to thank you for all of the hope you inspired. All of the debate you sparked. You had a special gift that only 59 other entities have annually. You could’ve been the diamond in the rough. You could’ve been the next Jimmy Butler. The next Nikola Jokic. The next Draymond Green. But it’s time for us to part ways. It’s time for me Mavericks fans like myself to stop fantasizing about your potential. It’s time you go and do your job for Houston fans.

So, I’ll leave you with this, my friend. Do all of what you did for us, but do it for Houston fans. Inspire them. Consume their thoughts. Spark debate about how you should be used. And most importantly, don’t turn into anyone too good, or else I and other Mavericks fans will be terribly sad for years to come. You don’t want to do that to us, right?

Wishing you happiness,

Luke