Dallas Mavericks Schedule Pre-Draft Visits With 2 Elite ACC Guards

The Dallas Mavericks are certainly looking to upgrade their backcourt.

Feb 17, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Mikel Brown Jr. (0) looks on during the second half against the SMU Mustangs at Moody Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Dallas Mavericks are in the process of finalizing their draft board as we sit just over two weeks away from the 2026 NBA Draft. They hold the 9th, 30th, and 48th overall picks in a loaded draft class and hope they can use those to build a quality young team around Cooper Flagg.

More than anything, the Mavericks need to upgrade their backcourt. Kyrie Irving is 34 years old and hasn't played since March of 2025 due to a torn ACL. The only backup point guard on the roster is Ryan Nembhard, who was an undrafted free agent last year. At shooting guard, they have Max Christie, Klay Thompson, and AJ Johnson, but Christie is the only one who projects to be in the rotation for the next few years.

It's no surprise that a lot of the prospects that the Mavericks have been connected with are guards. There are a lot of guards projected to go in the 5-10 range, and all it takes is for one to fall in love with Aday Mara or Nate Ament for one of the better guards to fall to the Mavs.

According to a few different reports, the Mavericks have scheduled pre-draft meetings with two ACC guards: Louisville's Mikel Brown Jr. and Stanford's Ebuka Okorie.

Feb 23, 2026; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Mikel Brown Jr. (0) on the court in the second half at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Mikel Brown Jr.

James Barlowe has reported that Mikel Brown Jr. is scheduled to meet with the Mavericks as part of this pre-draft process. He is also supposed to meet with the Atlanta Hawks, Brooklyn Nets, and the LA Clippers, while having already visited with the Nets and Milwaukee Bucks in Orlando recently.

After the NBA Draft lottery, Mikel Brown Jr. said that Dallas is his favorite city, and he probably has the highest upside of the guards in the draft. He measured in at 6'3.5" barefoot, which gives him the size to play either backcourt position. He could share a lot of lineups with Kyrie Irving, then eventually take over as the lead guard.

Brown dealt with back injuries last year, which will concern some teams, though.

Ebuka Okorie

According to Cody Taylor of USA Today, the Mavericks also have a scheduled workout with Stanford guard Ebuka Okorie.

Ebuka Okorie was electric in his freshman season, averaging a blistering 23.2 PPG. That was good enough to be First Team All-ACC. He's projected to go in the mid-to-late first round, which could put him in range for the Mavs at the 30th pick.

At this point, it would be surprising if he fell to the 30th pick, but the Mavs could always target him in a trade if they think he's good enough.

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