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Tersk · 06-29-2005, 01:11 AM

By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News

The Mavericks had nine telephones scattered on a U-shaped table in their draft room. A high-tech calculator was at the ready to crunch whatever numbers were needed.

They were ready to wheel and deal, as usual. But there were no willing partners on this night.

"One of the most boring drafts in Mavericks history," president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said after emerging from the room. "We had a couple things going late in the first round. But we kind of expected this day would pass without any movement."

This is the 26th draft in Mavericks history, but the first in which they did not own a selection.

If they'd kept their first-round pick, rather than shipping it to Utah for center project Pavel Podkolzin last June, the Mavericks could have taken Kansas' Wayne Simien, who was available at the 27th pick. Portland ended up taking Limas Kleiza after trading with Utah for the Mavericks' pick.

Also on the board: Calvin Miles of Skyline High School, who went to Utah in the second round.

Things were quiet in the Mavericks' draft room. Most teams who were willing to talk trade with the Mavericks were eager to pry away Josh Howard, Devin Harris or Marquis Daniels.

"You have to give to get, and we weren't willing to put those guys out there," Nelson said. "Bottom line is there wasn't a guy outside of the lottery who would help us win a playoff game next season."

And so, the Mavs turned their attention to other ways to improve. They have three avenues:

• An assortment of players who went undrafted could be on the Mavericks' radar to sign as free agents. The Mavericks hit a jackpot with Daniels, who went undrafted two years ago.

Less than an hour after the draft, the Mavs had signed Michael Harris from Rice and Rawle Marshall from Oakland (Mich.) University to their summer league team.

"There are no Marquis Daniels promises, but we're hoping we can get a couple of guys into summer camp," Nelson said.

A few possibilities: Alabama's 6-6 Kennedy Winston, North Carolina's 6-9 Jawad Williams and Kansas' 6-4 Keith Langford, a North Crowley High alumnus.

• More likely, the Mavericks will wait until teams start waiving veterans under the one-time "amnesty" rule that is part of the new collective-bargaining agreement.

Just as the Mavs probably will waive Michael Finley to relieve luxury-tax burdens, other teams will jettison players. Among those that could be in that group: New York's Allan Houston, Portland's Reuben Patterson and Memphis' Jason Williams or James Posey.

"Absolutely," said Nelson when asked Tuesday if he expected the Mavericks to be in the mix for players who might be cut.

• The team also has a mid-level salary cap exception, likely over $5 million, to spend. And there's always the possibility of a trade.

Tersk · 06-29-2005, 01:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Draft Express

Strengths Marshall is an extremely long, lanky and athletic swingman from a small NCAA school who led his team into the NCAA tournament this year and gave his stock a tremendous boost in the process.

Physically, he has good size for the 2/3 position in the NBA at 6-7 and with a fantastic wingspan. He is a terrific athlete who possesses excellent quickness and body control and a very solid first step and vertical leap. In terms of raw tools, Marshall certainly fits the bill and has a big upside to improve.

Offensively, Marshall's team often relied almost exclusively on his ability to create his own shot from almost any situation. His ball-handling skills were good enough for the level he played at, and combined with his excellent first step he could get to the hole and finish strong simply by jumping off one foot and letting his length do the rest. He showed flashes of potential in terms of perimeter shooting as well, hitting 39 three pointers this year in 32 games and showing very nice elevation on his shot combined with a high release. He has shown a little bit of ability to hit shots off the dribble as well at times.

Marshall might be viewed by some teams as a potential hustle player who can bring a lot of energy off the bench with his raw athletic ability. He is a good rebounder because of his physical tools, and has the toughness and body control needed to take a hit at the basket and finish after contact.

He was somewhat of a positionless player at the NCAA level, roaming freely around the court (he is very quick off the ball) looking to create havoc and playing every position from the 1-4 for his team this year. The experience he received playing bringing the ball up the floor his Oakland at times undoubtedly helped his progression as a player.

Defensively, he has all the physical tools needed to lock down his man as a SG or SF, but wasn't allowed to fully show that this year because of the fact that his team played a lot of zone and they needed him to stay out of foul trouble at all costs. He still averaged just under 2 steals (he can be a terror in the passing lanes) and a block and a half per game.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Draft Express

Weaknesses
Despite his age (as a fifth year senior), Marshall is a very raw prospect in almost all aspects of the game. Physically, he is very skinny still. In terms of skills, his ball-handling is good enough to get by people in the Mid-con, but because of how long his arms are he will need some serious work to be able to create shots for himself in the NBA. His overall basketball IQ is not extraordinarily high, as he gets caught doing things that many raw and inexperienced players are plagued with; picking up his dribble, running into brick walls (3.2 turnovers per game backs that up), killing his team's ball movement, gambling excessively for steals and blocks, over-penetrating and getting caught in no man's land, or taking bad shots out of the context of the offense.

This would not have been as obvious or extreme if he played for a better team that did not rely as heavily on him as they did, but its still an issue.

His perimeter shooting is also something that needs work, as he shot 29.5% from outside. Part of that has to due with the fact that his shot selection isn't always great.

Mentally, his focus isn't always there and he can be very streaky both from game to game and even within the game itself. He needs to learn how to play with the same energy and focus for an entire game, as right now he is excellent in spurts and then very passive in others. This might not be as much of an issue in the NBA, though, as not only will he mature with age but his role and minutes on the court will not be as big as they were in college.

I couldn't find anything on Michael Harris, just that he's also a SF first then SG

mavsman · 06-29-2005, 04:43 AM

Harris looks like a short PF type at 6'6" 240 lbs according to ESPN. I really liked Jason Maxiel in this years draft and this guy looks like that type of player. I really don't know much about him but anyone who can average 20 and 12 rebs at least has some potential. One of the things they say translates very well from college to the pro's is rebounding and this guy was 4th in the nation at rebounding so at least that is a good sign.

Season Averages
YR GMS MIN PTS REB AST TO A/T STL BLK PF FG% FT% 3P% PPS
2004-05 31 32.5 20.6 11.7 1.3 2.2 1/1.7 1.3 1.2 2.6 .608 .803 .241 1.62
2003-04 33 30.8 17.5 8.9 1.2 1.8 1/1.5 1.4 0.7 2.4 .603 .699 .485 1.61
2002-03 28 26.1 15.3 7.3 1.1 1.8 1/1.7 1.1 0.9 1.9 .623 .758 .471 1.55
2001-02 29 24.7 12.8 8.6 0.5 1.4 1/2.7 0.8 1.2 2.1 .574 .622 .353 1.38

aussiewill · 06-29-2005, 05:00 AM

^^ That is some damn good stats

, what was he playing against, pre-teens

.

mavsman · 06-29-2005, 05:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aussiewill

^^ That is some damn good stats

, what was he playing against, pre-teens

.

Rice plays in the WAC. The did have back to back games against Uconn and Syracuse. In those games he went for:

22 and 9
25 and 8

He did have a nice 30 pt 24 reb game against Hawaii.

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