ESPN’s latest mock draft links Dallas to Brayden Burries at No. 9, but the larger takeaway is that the Mavericks may not be locked into staying there.
The confetti has barely settled in San Antonio after the Knicks won the championship Saturday night and draft season is already in full swing. With eight days until June 23, ESPN’s Jeremy Woo dropped his most recent mock draft Monday and the Dallas Mavericks section tells an interesting story.
The Brayden Burries pick at No. 9 is the one everyone will be talking about. Woo’s notes on the Mavericks are direct. He describes Burries as someone who has drawn interest inside the top 10 but has not scheduled many workouts, appearing comfortable with his potential landing spots, including the LA Clippers, Atlanta Hawks, Mavericks and Golden State Warriors. The lack of a formal workout with Dallas is noted in the piece but framed as a sign of comfort rather than disinterest.
Woo writes that any of those teams would give Burries an opportunity to contribute in a competitive context right away. Burries averaged 16.1 points on 49.1% shooting and 39.1% from 3-point range this season while leading Arizona to the Final Four. He measured 6-foot-4 with a 6-foot-8 wingspan at the combine and projects as a starter-caliber two-way guard at the next level.
The Mavericks section of Woo’s mock also includes a notable piece of intel about the organization itself. He writes that Dallas appears open to moving back in the draft and has cast a wide net with first-round workouts, with Masai Ujiri taking over in May and the front office keeping its options open as it builds around Cooper Flagg. That framing suggests the ninth pick is not locked in and a trade down remains a live possibility.
The 30th pick is where Woo gets creative. He projects Dallas taking Sergio de Larrea, a 6-foot-6 Spanish guard who shot just under 40% from 3-point range this season for Valencia in Liga ACB and measured 6-foot-6 barefoot with a 6-foot-9 wingspan at the combine. Woo specifically notes that de Larrea is open to remaining in Spain next season in the right situation, creating a stash option that provides cap and roster relief for a first-round team.
His playmaking feel and positional size are the selling points and Woo frames the pick as Dallas addressing point guard depth for the long run given Kyrie Irving’s age and uncertain timeline.
The 48th pick, Aaron Nkrumah from Tennessee State, is a late second-round swing on an athletic guard from a smaller program. Nkrumah is unranked on most major big boards and represents the kind of developmental flier every team takes in the back half of the second round while looking for a player to stash in the G League.
Woo’s overall portrait of Dallas heading into draft night is a front office that is open to moving picks, exploring trades and not locked into any particular outcome. That flexibility is the most important detail in his entire Mavericks section. Eight days out, nothing is decided.
