Determining the best? Easy as a Flamingo Fadeaway.
On the list of Dallas’ best all-time draft picks there’s Dirk Nowitzki. And there’s everyone else.
Seeing that - as expected - Monta Ellis opted out of his contract Wednesday to become a free agent and they need a starting backcourt and lots of help to fill plenty of holes, the Mavs would be served by finding a starter with the 21st overall pick in Thursday night’s NBA Draft.
Drafting an All-Star would be even better, and best yet if they could land a legend who could crack this list of The 5 Best All-Time Draft Picks in Mavs’ History:
5. Jason Kidd, 2nd overall, 1994 – Won Rookie of the Year and put Mavs back on basketball map in first go-round; Helped them to only championship in the sequel.
4. Mark Aguirre, 1st overall, 1981 – Third-most points in franchise history and still the Mavs’ best all-time scorer on the low block.
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3. Derek Harper, 11th overall, 1983 – In a franchise that played home to Kidd and Steve Nash, he remains the Mavs’ all-time leader in steals and assists.
2. Rolando Blackman, 9th overall, 1981 – A true franchise ambassador, he is second in points, fourth in games played and made four All-Star teams.
1. Dirk Nowitzki, 9th overall, 1998 – I know technically the Mavs drafted Robert "Tractor" Traylor and traded him for Dirk. But you know as well as I do that the deal was done before picks were made, so essentially the Mavs drafted Nowitzki. And he went on to score more NBA points than everyone except Kareem, Mailman, Kobe, Jordan, Wilt, Dr. J., Moses and Shaq.
A native Texan who was born in Duncanville and graduated from UT-Arlington, Richie Whitt has been a mainstay in the Metroplex media since 1986. He’s held prominent roles on all media platforms including newspaper (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer), radio (105.3 The Fan) and TV (co-host on TXA 21 and numerous guest appearances, including NBC 5). He lives in McKinney with his wife, Sybil, and two very spoiled dogs.
