NBA Draft: Mavericks Seeking Shooting, Defense with Tenth Pick

With Luka Doncic at the epicenter of their timeline, the Dallas Mavericks will be setting their sights on shooting and defense with the tenth pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.

Of course, there’s always the chance they find that via trading the selection, but there’s going to be plenty of options in that range that offer those, too. And holding onto lottery picks hasn’t proven to be a bad thing just yet.

Reverse engineering the teams needs into prospects, three stand out: Taylor Hendricks, Cason Wallace and Jarace Walker.

Hendricks seems like the most seamless of the three. At 6-foot-9, his two best skills are just that: 3-point shooting and defensive versatility. For Central Florida, he knocked down 39 percent of his 4.6 attempts per game, and showcased innate defense with lightning fast foot speed that attributed to 1.7 blocks per game.

Walker is potentially the least projectable here, as he likely won’t be around at the ten spot and doesn’t offer a ton in the ways of immediate shooting. But to this point, prior to the Wembanyama surge coming in the near future, Walker is likely the best defender in the class.

Again, it isn’t likely he’ll hang around to ten, but should the cards fall Dallas’ way on draft night, paring Luka Doncic with a Draymond Green-adjacent skillset couldn’t be a bad thing.

Lastly is Cason Wallace, whose shooting numbers tapered off near the end of the season, but for all intents and purposes appears to be the best perimeter defender in the class. And his catch-and-shoot prowess only stands to get better with NBA spacing.

His fit with Dallas is a little shakier due to him being a hybrid combo guard, but defensive talent like his comes at a premium, and his offensive versatility should help to even things out.

Regardless, whatever the Mavericks do on draft night 2023 is sure to be supremely interesting.

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