Wed Jun 24, 2009 10:55 am EDT
BDL 2009 NBA Mock Draft: Pick No. 22, Mavericks
With the NBA Draft just a day away, Ball Don't Lie has decided to
weigh in with its own 2009 Mock Draft. But since we know so little
about college basketball, we called in SB Nation's team experts (and a few others) to throw their darts at the board. Let's see what sticks ...
With the 22nd pick in the 2009 Ball Don't Lie NBA Mock Draft, the Dallas Mavericks select ...
Darren Collison: PG, UCLA, Senior
"The Mavs are stuck. With Dirk still in his prime they are still very much in a 'win now' mindset but are also painfully aware that teams like the Lakers, Cavs, and perhaps now the division rival Spurs are leaving their aging squad in the dust.
So the team with only one player, Josh Howard(notes), on their roster whom they drafted this decade need to approach this draft with one goal — get an NBA player for this year and the future. That means no projects, no international stowaways and no busts. They simply need to play it safe and find a player of known quality and who ideally fits a need.
Darren Collison may not be the sexiest pick, but for a team in the Mavericks' position it is a smart one. The biggest knock on Collison is his low ceiling. Although some of that perception is simply because he actually stayed in college four years, it is difficult to imagine him developing into anything near an All-Star point guard. But he can play, and that means he can help.
He is small, though not J.J. Barea small, and as one of the quickest players in the Draft he is considered to be a good man-on-man defender. That idea is fantastic news for Dallas, who struggled against teams like Chris Paul's(notes) Hornets and often resorted to playing zone defense in response. He is smart and composed at the point, which is why he ended up in front of lottery pick Jrue Holiday on UCLA's depth chart this past season. He can shoot, pass, lead, finish, defend and run.
The only thing he can't do, according to most prognosticators, is get much better. If Dallas can find a solid back up point guard who can start when needed without hurting the team, then they should be happy with that. For an over the cap team that has such a dire recent draft history, getting someone who can just stay in a Mavericks uniform for more than a year would be a huge success."
For more NBA Draft coverage, visit Yahoo! Sports NBA Draft HQ and Ridiculous Upside.
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J.E. Skeets
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8 Comments
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The bigger upside to this pick is that hopefully Jason Terry will never be put in as a PG again, let him shoot jumpers and 3s, but DO NOT let him run the point.
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It is clear that you have a little agenda against Collison. You are entitled to your opinions, unfounded and idiotic though they may be, but to spread lies about him is just plain vulgar. Short-sighted people like you are the reason college basketball rarely sees 4-year players anymore. Perhaps if you went to UCLA you'd understand why someone would want to stay there for 4 years. Your statement about Westbrook is completely ludicrous...I can't even begin to comment on it. So my bet is, you are either a fan of a team that lost to UCLA in the tournament, or you are one of Jrue Holiday's entourage buddies/advisors that have gone all over the web disparaging Collison and even Ben Howland. Darren Collison is the prototype of what a college basketball player should be, and any NBA team would be lucky to have him. He will make his mark, while you will linger in obscurity, forever spewing lies because of your misguided anger. Buh-bye now.
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