Connect with us

Unfamiliar Territory: Watching The Balls Drop

The 2013 NBA Draft lineup will be determined tonight in New York City, and for the first time since 2000, your  Dallas Mavericks will be participants. In an off-season full of potential, this marks the first step in that process.

Donnie Nelson and Keith Grant will be in New York to represent the Mavericks, and all of Mavs Nation have their fingers, toes, and anything else you can imagine crossed. After all, it’s really a game of luck.

“As much as we want to say it’s all science, there’s a big part of it that’s luck.’’ – Mark Cuban

The Mavericks have a 0.6% chance of winning the lottery. Yes, I’m saying there is a chance. If you didn’t win the powerball last weekend, here’s your chance Mavs Nation.

 

If the Mavericks can land a high pick in the draft, they could then find a promising talent that can contribute immediately. Why is this important? Anything that the Mavericks can use to entice players like Chris Paul, Dwight Howard, and others to come to Dallas is crucial.

 

“It depends on who it is,” owner Mark Cuban said. “We’ll find out. It’s going to be an interesting draft and we’re working hard right now to evaluate all the talent.”

 

Can the Mavericks find a player who can contribute before Dirk Nowitkzi rides off into the sunset? That remains unknown. One thing is for sure, come Tuesday night, for the first time in 13 years, all Mavericks fans everywhere will be glued to that television. Fingers crossed Mavs fans.
Eddie Sefko, writer for The Dallas Morning News, provided how the Mavericks have done in previous lotteries. Since it’s been so long, we thought we would refresh your memory.

 

What are the odds?

A look at the Mavericks’ chances of winning the lottery during their lean years in the ‘90s:

Year, Finish, lottery, result 

1991, 28-54 (6th), 9.1, 6th

1992, 22-60 (3rd), 13.6, 4th

1993, 11-71 (1st) , 25.0, 4th

1994, 13-69 (1st), 25.0, 2nd

1995  36-46 (10th), 0.8, 10th

1996, No pick, traded to Boston

1997, No pick, traded to Boston

*1998, 20-62 (6th), 9.2, 6th

*1999, 19-31 (8th), 3.6, 8th

2000, 40-42 (12th), 0.6, 12th

*Pick was previously traded to Phoenix, who selected Shawn Marion.

*Pick was traded to Milwaukee for the rights to Dirk Nowitzki, who was selected 9th.

It’s important to note that in all these years, the Mavericks have never traded up in the draft. That may not be the case this season. If the Mavericks find themselves at #13 or #14, they could very well package that pick along with a player to move into the top 3 slots. This is a make or break off-season for the Mavericks. Time to figure out which direction it’s going to go. It all begins tonight.

As always, Go Mavs!

Ryan Wilson founded Mavs Fanatic (Now Dallas Sports Fanatic) in January of 2012. He had a vision of starting something new and different. A place where fans of the Dallas Mavericks and fans of writing could come and be heard. A blog "Run By Fans For Fans". He is also a fan of the Dallas Cowboys and the Chicago WhiteSox (His hometown team). Mavs Fanatic is now known as Dallas Sports Fanatic, a blog that covers all of the major Dallas pro sports teams.    

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Recent Posts