How Each of the NBA Draft’s Top Three Players Fit the Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks stand in interesting position in the NBA, fully positioning themselves for the NBA Draft, likely for the last time given a lack of owned future draft picks.

Additionally, they have No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg, a potential Rookie of the Year winner, as well as a host of other win-now players to offer clear direction for the future.

For now, Dallas holds the seventh-best odds at the ’26 draft, but having lost 13 of their last 15 games, they’ll try to continue climbing the reverse standings. Crazier things have happened, a la cashing in on a 1.8% chance at Flagg, meaning Dallas could absolutely come away with one of the top three players this year.

Should that be the case, we’ll evaluate each of their first in Dallas below:

Cameron Boozer, Duke

Of the three, Boozer likely has the most kinship with Flagg. He’s a 6-foot-9 forward stuffing the stat sheet for Duke en route to a National Player of the Year win. Sound familiar?

So far, he’s averaging 22.6 points, 10.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game, shooting 58% overall and 40% from three. There’s questions about his stiffer athleticism, but he’s clearly a proven player with winning impact that’s sure to carry over to the pros.

Pick a play type, any play type, and chances are Cameron Boozer is just about the best in the country at it. This kind of initiation utility at his size is next level given all the other ways he impacts the game pic.twitter.com/s0lPC8tkWY
— Ricky O'Donnell (@SBN_Ricky) February 22, 2026

There’s some small overlap between Flagg and Boozer, almost all of which is good in terms of roster-building. They would immediately be the best young forward duo in the league, with Boozer shying more toward traditional four, and Flagg able to play more on the wing.

Regardless, this would be an exceptionally good problem for Dallas to have.

Darryn Peterson, Kansas

Darryn Peterson’s been under the microscope lately due to injuries, but has still displayed immense potential when on-court, averaging 19.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game while shooting 47% overall and 40% from three on high-volume. He’s a clearly talented shot-taker and shot-maker, thriving off-ball with Kansas for now.

Peterson is perhaps the cleanest fit in Dallas due to current roster construction, able to score off of players like Flagg, Kyrie Irving and more without detracting from their talent. Additionally, he’d have the necessary runway to develop as an on-ball player under Irving.

Peterson could very well still be the No. 1 pick even accounting for his up-and-down season with the Jayhawks, speaking to his talent-level and clean fit in a variety of systems.

AJ Dybantsa, BYU

BYU wing AJ Dybantsa has potentially the highest upside in the class, standing as a 6-foot-9 wing with premier athleticism and fluidity.

He has the best claim to in-season development, having seen a fine start to the year, but elevating his stats to 24.9 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.8 assists while shooting 53% overall. His 3-point numbers have seen a rise through the year, now sitting at 36% on nearly four attempts per game.

Much like Boozer, there’s some general overlap between Flagg and Dybantsa, none of which matters in the sense Dallas could figure fit out between two scoring wings.