By Jamal Baker
NDG Sportswriter
The basketball gods gave the Dallas Mavericks a gift in the 2025 NBA Draft Lottery by winning the No. 1 overall pick with just a 1.8 percent chance. One year later, reality set back in as the Mavericks fell from No. 8 to No. 9 in the 2026 NBA Draft Lottery in Chicago.
In a draft loaded with talent, Dallas will still have a chance to add a high-quality prospect to build around with 2025 NBA Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg.
Rolando Blackman, a Dallas Mavericks legend and the franchise’s former No. 9 overall pick in 1981, served as Dallas’ lottery representative and shared his thoughts on the selection slot.
“We wanted No. 1, of course,” said Blackman. “We wanted to have the same situation (as last year) again.
“But when you talk about a deep draft the way it is right now—and also the No. 9 pick—I was No. 9, so I can’t drag down the No. 9 pick.”
The Mavericks have also owned the No. 9 overall pick three other times in franchise history, selecting Dale Ellis in 1983, Samaki Walker in 1996 and Dennis Smith Jr. in 2017.
New general manager Mike Schmitz, who was hired last Friday, feels good about Dallas’ chances to get an impact player at their current draft spot.
“I’m just excited for the opportunity,” Schmitz said. “You look every year at pre-drafts and there’s always the thinking of consensus, but the reality is there’s players who end up being All-Star caliber guys or even better that don’t go in the top two, three, four, five.
“I feel really confident that we’re going to be able to get a high-level player at nine, and I’m excited to get the process going.”
Two prospects in particular the Mavericks should hope fall in their lap at No. 9 are freshman point guards Kingston Flemings from the University of Houston and Mikel Brown Jr. out of the University of Louisville.
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Flemings is an explosive guard with elite basketball IQ and thrives as an offensive initiator. He averaged 16.1 points and 5.2 assists while shooting 47.6 percent from the field and 38.7 percent from beyond the arc.
Brown Jr. has the potential to be the purest point guard in this class while also being one of the most dynamic scorers. In pick and roll situations he displays a maestro-like ability as a playmaker and bucket-getter. Brown Jr. averaged 18.2 points, 3.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists last season for the Cardinals.
Both Flemings and Brown Jr. would serve as ideal building blocks to pair alongside Flagg and push the organization closer to returning back to contender status.
“He’s so versatile,” Schmitz said. “I think that’s the beauty of Cooper. He can play with the ball, he can play without the ball, he’s got such a high IQ, and he defends multiple positions at a high level.
“I think there are a multitude of different players that can fit with that style, and I think that allows us to be really creative with different lineups we can put around him and different targets that we can look to add in the draft, in free agency and in trades.”
The 2026 NBA Draft is set for June 23-24 in Brooklyn, N.Y., where Dallas will look to add key pieces for the franchise’s future.
