Dallas found a promising prospect at No. 56, but its crowded roster could force the Mavericks to wait before bringing him to the NBA.
Vsevolod Ishchenko did everything you could ask of a second-round pick in Las Vegas. It still may not be enough to get him on the Mavericks' roster this season.
Dallas signed Jett Howard to a two-way contract Monday after waiving Tyler Smith, filling the third and final two-way slot alongside John Poulakidas and Tobi Lawal. That was the most realistic path for Ishchenko to stay stateside and it is now gone.
That is a shame because he earned the conversation. Ishchenko was among the Mavericks' most productive players in Las Vegas and his final two outings made the case. Against Oklahoma City, he posted 12 points on 3-of-4 shooting with seven rebounds, two steals and two 3-pointers. He followed that with 15 points on 5-of-8 shooting, seven assists, three rebounds, two steals and a block against the Knicks.
That is a 6-foot-10 big man distributing at a high level, defending in space and stretching the floor in the same week.
The defensive tools are what make him intriguing. With real length, Ishchenko showed he could hold up against smaller players on switches, using his size to contest at the point of attack without fouling. He created steals by playing passing lanes and reading actions rather than gambling. That kind of positional versatility is exactly what Masai Ujiri and Mike Schmitz have prioritized this offseason as they build a longer, more switchable roster around Cooper Flagg.
But Ishchenko is also 21 and raw and that is the tension here. The flashes are real. The consistency is not there yet and dominating Summer League possessions is different from holding up over 82 NBA games. He needs reps and Dallas does not have an obvious place to give them to him.
So what happens now?
The most likely outcome is a "secret-weapon'' stash. Ishchenko returns overseas for another season, continues to develop against professional competition and allows the Mavericks to retain his rights without using a roster spot. For a second-round pick with his profile, that is standard practice and likely the smartest path. He gets meaningful minutes somewhere and Dallas gets a free look at his development. Nobody's progress gets stunted by a season of DNPs on an NBA bench.
The alternative path runs through Poulakidas. If Dallas decides his summer, capped by a stretch in which he shot 10-of-19 from 3-point range over his final two games, earned him a promotion to a standard contract, that would open a two-way spot. Ishchenko would be a logical candidate to fill it. But that chain of events requires the Mavericks to commit a standard roster spot to a shooter on a team already tight on roster space and there is no indication that move is imminent.
The reality is that Dallas is already loaded on the wing. Between Cooper Flagg, recently acquired Zaccharie Risacher, P.J. Washington and Naji Marshall, there is no natural opening for a 56th pick who needs time to develop.
None of this diminishes what Ishchenko showed. If anything, it validates the pick. Dallas found a legitimate prospect at the very back end of the draft and the front office now has the luxury of letting him develop rather than rushing him into a role he is not ready for.
Mavericks fans likely will not see him in a Dallas uniform until 2027 at the earliest.
