Hall of Fame teammates Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce animatedly discussed what they would do with the No.1 pick if they were in charge of the Dallas Mavericks.
Garnett started the discussion by calling the Draft Lottery a bogus process because the Draft should be for bad teams that need players from college to bolster their rosters. The Mavs aren’t one of those teams because they have a lineup many believe would be a contending team when they are fully healthy.
Advertisement
However, because Dallas did not make the playoffs, they had a 1.8 percent chance of winning the lottery, and by a stroke of luck, they ended up with the top pick. However, KG says the Mavs don’t need a future star right now.
“Dallas has the now, the middle, and the later. They’re built for the now, the middle, and later…We trying to win now. I got the guns and the beam on me now. I got to win now. So the now is now,” said Garnett.
Mavs in a win-now mode
When the Mavs traded Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis, the goal was to build a win-now team with players aligning with Kyrie’s timeline. Cooper Flagg is a great talent but does not fit the bill. Giannis Antetokounmpo does, so that’s why KG said if he ran the Mavs, he would use the top pick to trade for the “Greek Freak.”
Advertisement
But Pierce questioned Garnett’s move, asking him what if adding Giannis does not work out in Dallas, and Cooper turns out to be the generational talent everyone says he is. “The Big Ticket” then threw the question back to his former Celtics teammate, asking him ‘What if it’s Flagg who does not pan out?’ At least Giannis is a proven commodity.
“Bro it’s damn if you do, damn if you don’t,” added KG. “But you got the Flagg, bro. The name of the game is capture the Flagg. Now I think you entertain the best offers. You finna have Kyrie, Anthony Davis, two real bigs with Lively and Gafford. Bro, come on, bro. You got Washington, man. Man, you got a horse of dogs over there. Man sh**, Klay? Sh**.
The key is securing the ‘Flagg”
Make no mistake—the Bucks have not said that they are willing to trade Antetokounmpo, and Giannis has not declared that he wants to leave Milwaukee. But the chatter around is getting louder. And as they say, where there is smoke, there is fire, especially when it’s coming from Shams Charania.
Advertisement
Giannis Antetokounmpo, the two-time NBA MVP, has not made any firm decisions about his future. But sources tell me for the first time in his 12-year NBA career, he is open-minded about whether his best fit is in Milwaukee or playing elsewhere—and exploring what those options outside of Milwaukee look like,” Shams announced on “Get Up.”
But whether the Bucks make Giannis available or not is the least of the Mavs’ problems. What’s important for them is that, as KG said, they have ‘secured the Flagg’. And once the free agency period opens at the end of next month, the Mavs have to be all ears and listen to every offer that comes their way.