Tonight at 7:00 pm in New York, the NBA Draft will take place. This year the Dallas Mavericks have the #5 pick in the NBA Draft, with this pick Dallas will hopefully be adding an all-star to the team.

 At the 5th pick, Dallas could land a very talented young player.

Mohamed Bamba

The player that is most linked with Dallas is Mohamed Bamba, I already wrote an article on Bamba here. I think Mo Bamba is exactly what Dallas needs as a team. His height on the defensive end helps him with shot-blocking and defending, Mo's offense is alright for a 7,0-foot tall player, but us Mavs fans are used to seeing great things out of a 7'0-foot player! There have been videos of Mo Bamba draining threes in the gym during his draft combine, but we will see how that conveys in his game in the NBA. 

Mo Bamba vs Rudy Gobert

Mohamed Bamba stands at an extraordinary 7’0 tall and has a 7′ 10 wingspan. Mo Bamba averaged 3.7 blocks per game in college for the Texas Longhorns, which is the type of shot-blocking and defense that Dallas needs in their frontcourt.

In college, Mo Bamba’s wingspan and defensive plays got him very popular with NBA scouts and NBA fans alike.  Bamba did average 12.9 points in college but I think Bamba needs to work on his offense to really make it in this modern NBA. If Mo worked on a hook shot or a skyhook I think this would really be useful to him offensively.

Mo did shoot 27% from three in college so he can stretch the floor, however, I think Dallas could use Mo as an ‘old fashioned’ big to get players open on the perimeter.  Tracy McGrady said to Mo Bamba on “The Jump” that many bigs in this NBA “don’t take advantage of being down in the post”. I totally agree with T-Mac because I think that if Mo gets really good in the post, Dallas could slow down games and kick it to Bamba on most plays. Mo Bamba has been compared to Rudy Gobert on many occasions.

Rudy Gobert has just been named in the NBA All-Defensive first team. Gobert has a 9’7 wingspan which is 3 inches shorter than Mo’s. In the NBA, Gobert has proved himself to be a terrific shot blocker. In his career, he has averaged 2.2 blocks a night.

If Mo can work on his defense over the summer and maybe work on his offense more, I think he will be a really good pick for the Mavs. I think Mo could follow Gobert’s footsteps in making the NBA All-Defensive team in the future and I think Mo could be one of the best shot blockers in the current NBA.

Trading for the #4 pick in the NBA Draft

At this moment in time, the Memphis Grizzlies hold the #4 pick in the NBA Draft. Sources say Memphis has been trying to see what they can get for a package of Chandler Parsons and the No. 4 pick. Some Mavs fans are suggesting that Dallas should send Harrison Barnes and Wesley Matthews to Memphis for the #4 pick. However, I don't see Dallas trading away Barnes as he is arguably their best player at this point in time. I do see Dallas trading for this pick using Matthews and maybe their #33 pick in the draft. At the #4 pick, Dallas could draft Luka Doncic and then at the #5 pick they could draft Mo Bamba. This could make Dallas a serious contender in the near future.