Dallas Basketball

NBA Mock Draft: Mavs Improve Big-Man Depth with In-State Pick

Houston Cougars one-and-done forward Jarace Walker could be just what the Dallas Mavericks are looking for in a modern day NBA big man in this year's draft.
Dalton Trigg|
NBA Mock Draft: Mavs Improve Big-Man Depth with In-State Pick
NBA Mock Draft: Mavs Improve Big-Man Depth with In-State Pick

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Dallas Mavericks

With the NBA Draft Lottery just four days away, the Dallas Mavericks will soon know where they'll be slotted in the draft order ... or if they'll be drafting at all. Until then, mock drafts far and wide are operating under the assumption that Dallas will end up with the No. 10 pick.

In a recent mock draft, NBC Sports has the Mavs selecting Houston Cougars forward Jarace Walker with their lottery pick. The 19-year-old freshman prospect could be just what Dallas is looking for in a modern day NBA big man to pair with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving.

"In a draft that is void of big men aside from Wembayama, Jarace Walker has the opportunity to be selected in the top half of the lottery. His per-40 rebounding numbers (9.8) given his utilization at Houston are impressive," Tyler Byrum wrote. "Already, he has the power and body to match up against current NBA stars. [His playmaking] is a look into what he could develop into [going forward]. Look for a team that needs help in their interior defense to snag him."

The Mavs are definitely one of those teams that need interior defense and rebounding help. Although Walker stands 6-foot-8 tall, he has a 7-foot-2 wingspan that helps him protect the rim and grab boards. And although outside shooting isn't really Walker's specialty, he shot a respectable 34.7 percent from 3-point range for the Cougars on 101 attempts.

Several other mock drafts have Walker being selected before the No. 10 pick, so the Mavs might not ever have the chance to really consider taking him unless they move up on lottery night. But given their big-man struggles over the last few years, the Mavs should definitely be doing their homework on Walker now just in case the opportunity to add him into the mix presents itself.

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Dalton Trigg
DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.

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