What are the Mavericks going to do with their 10th pick on Thursday night? Keep it and get stronger with the selection of a rookie ? Offer him to the Pistons to recover Bojan Bogdanovic in exchange? Use it to improve their leeway in negotiations with franchises that would like to get into the Draft?
Difficult to predict, but one scenario becomes certain: Dereck Lively II will certainly be linked to this choice, and to these options. Author of a correct “freshman” campaign with Duke (5.2 points and 5.4 rebounds), during which he displayed his great defensive qualities (2.4 blocks), the pivot then took care of his rating in May at the Draft Combine then at the Klutch Sports “Pro Day”, during which he also showed that he could shoot from afar.
As the Draft approaches, the former Duke intrigues, so much so that the always very well informed in terms of pre-Draft projections, Jonathan Givony, in his last Mock Draft, positions him in 10th place. Rightly pointing out that his circle protector profile would provide the substantial defensive support the Dallas club needs, in addition to being a long-term solution in the racket.
Our colleague also specifies that Orlando (#11) and the Thunder (#12) would also have expressed interest, and that it therefore seems very unlikely today, three days before the Draft, that Derek Lively is still available once the selections of the “lottery” passed… An observation ultimately not so surprising as the potential of the young player is important, what is more in a relatively lean vintage in pivots, in the first round in particular.
Moreover, formations would be ready to select higher to recover it, t precisely, Matt Moore reports on this that the Hawks (#15) and the Warriors (#19) would particularly think of going up in the Draft, with Derek Lively in the sights. A rumor which would indeed coincide with the desire of the leaders of the 2022 champions to select higher in the Draft, possibly at the cost of a “sacrifice” from Jonathan Kuminga.
