The Dallas Mavericks were the talk of the NBA Draft this week, having been granted the opportunity to pick college phenom Cooper Flagg with the No. 1 overall pick.
After the selection, talks about Dallas went quiet. The Mavs did not have another pick of their own for the rest of the draft, and rumors of general manager Nico Harrison trading back into the second round subsided once the time came.
In the evening hours after Round 2 concluded on Thursday, Dallas signed two undrafted free agents in Gonzaga point guard Ryan Nembhard and Auburn wing Miles Kelly. Media head Bill Simmons raved about Nembhard on social media, crediting the Mavs for swiping the NCAA's assists per game leader from last season.
Simmons suggested that Dallas picked up a steal, as Nembhard was player he believes should have gotten drafted. The host of his popular podcast on The Ringer offered a tweak to the draft format, saying an additional round would eliminate draft-worthy players slipping out and having to settle for cheaper free agent deals.
Mavericks part-owner and former director of basketball operations Mark Cuban agrees, but realizes that it can't be done easily. He responded to Simmons on X with a long-winded explanation of why this change could work in the modern NBA.
"The @Nba should add 2 rounds," Cubes said. "As you get into the 50s, agents start calling in a panic to get their guy drafted or in some cases telling teams not to draft their guy, so he can go to a team they think is a better fit.
"But once the last name is called, the real scramble starts. Calling guys you had on your board to be drafted that weren’t, and trying to get them to come as a possible roster spot, a 2-way or to fill out your G league or summer league team."
Nembhard and Kelly will be eligible to play a handful of games with the Mavericks' NBA roster, but will predominantly hone their craft in the G League with the Texas Legends. Cuban believes this to be an advantage for the team because those contracts don't count against the cap and allow the player to still live out their dream of earning their way to the NBA.
Because of the "scramble" of trying to secure these deals post-draft, Cuban made a suggestion during the last voting for the new collective bargaining agreement that gets rid of this headache.
"I proposed to go to 4 rounds as part of the last CBA. Per usual. They ignored me.
"It would make things so much more organized and easier for teams. Players might not like it as much as they lose some flexibility to pick their best situation (like any draftee), but gain from hearing their name called and knowing they have an opportunity."
Cuban added that he also believes Nembhard to be a valuable addition to the roster by acknowledging Simmons' confusion as to why he wasn't drafted.
"And yes Ryan was a huge get for us. He can play," Cuban said. "If there weren’t so many picks consolidated with a few teams, forcing them to draft and stash , he would have been picked early to mid 2nd round."
There isn't a draft formula that would satisfy all parties, but additional rounds would make the roster-building process much smoother for teams. Players would also reap the guarantee of an opportunity to fulfill their NBA dreams.
Draftees would be forced to face the reality that the draft process doesn't provide a lot of player-based leverage - just ask Ace Bailey ... More draft picks and fewer undrafted free agent deals level the playing field for all prospective rookies.
Having Nembhard on a two-way contract should help the Mavericks' backcourt as they wait out starting point guard Kyrie Irving's recovery from an ACL tear.
Flagg, Nembhard, Kelly, and other members of the Mavericks' G-League affiliate Texas Legend,s will prepare for the Summer League in Las Vegas, with the Mavs' first game scheduled for July 10.