The basketball gods figured out they had already helped the Dallas Mavericks enough in last year's NBA Draft lottery. This time, the Mavs fell to the No. 9 spot, and while they can still get a star at that spot, they won't be able to pair Cooper Flagg with one of the four potential franchise guys.
Even so, there are more than enough reasons to feel excited about the 2027 NBA Draft. This class is pretty stacked with talent, and most of the lottery-caliber prospects look like guys who can make an immediate impact.
Considering that, it's worth paying close attention to Sam Vecenie's first post-lottery mock draft. In his most recent column for The Athletic, the renowned analyst had the Mavs kicking off the Masai Ujiri era by taking Arizona PG Brayden Burries.
Brayden Burries might be a solid pick for the Dallas Mavericks
Burries is an enticing, high-volume scorer combo guard. He's coming off averaging 16.1 points, 4.9 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.5 steals per game on 49.1/39.1/80.5 shooting splits for the Wildcats. He was an Honorable Mention All-American, earned First Team All-Big 12 honors, and made the Big 12 All-Freshman team.
He's an instant-offense type guy and an efficient three-level scorer who knows how to get to his spots. While not the most athletic player out there, and that might lead to some trouble creating separation against NBA defenders, he's a savvy guy and an aggressive driver with a strong feel for the game and an ability to fill up the stat sheet.
The Mavs will have Kyrie Irving running the show for Jason Kidd's team next season. That said, Burries can definitely play by his side as a shooting guard, given that he might be better suited to play off the ball. If not, he can come off the bench and provide an offensive spark for the second unit.
Burries is a solid off-ball defender with active hands. He can get caught in screens at times, and he has to do a better job of anticipating action rather than just ball-chasing. That said, the instincts are most definitely there.
On the downside, Burries might not be elite at anything, though he's pretty good at a lot of things. He looks like an NBA-ready guy for a new-look Mavs team that lacks some depth at both guard spots, and that should help him get on the court early and often. It's a bit of a shame to be left out of the top five in such a rich class, but Burries would've probably cracked the top five in another class.
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