4 Prospects to Know for Dallas Mavericks After Falling in 2026 NBA Draft Lottery

Mikel Brown Jr., Guard, Louisville

There's a consensus top four for the draft of AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Caleb Wilson, and Cameron Boozer, in some order. After that, it's the collection of guards between Darius Acuff Jr., Mikel Brown Jr., Keaton Wagler, and Kingston Flemings.

Of those four, Mikel Brown Jr. seems to be the likeliest to fall. He's a former five-star talent who averaged 18.2 PPG, 4.7 APG, and 3.3 RPG. He has good size at 6'5", making him capable of handling either backcourt spot, and he's a better shooter than his 34.4% from deep showed last year. He had one of the highest scoring games of the season, putting up 45 points and 9 rebounds against NC State in February.

However, he dealt with a back issue throughout the year that could scare some teams off. Back issues can be tricky to manage, especially for young players. Michael Porter Jr. dropped to the 14th pick in the 2018 NBA Draft because of back issues, but his injuries were much worse than Mikel Brown's.

Labaron Philon Jr., Guard, Alabama

Labaron Philon was All-SEC First Team this season as a sophomore at Alabama, averaging 22.0 PPG and 5.0 APG, shooting 50.1% from the floor and 39.9% from three. He was a great defender as a freshman next to Mark Sears, then returned to show he had the offensive prowess. He delivered that in spades.

There are some slight concerns about his size (6'4", 177 pounds) and Alabama's offensive system, so some people have him in the teens as a prospect on their big boards. He is firmly a top-10 player for me in this class, and I think he'll have a better NBA career than some of the guards projected to go ahead of him, such as Darius Acuff and Keaton Wagler.

Brayden Burries, Guard, Arizona

Brayden Burries is a 6'4", 205-pound shooting guard who was arguably the best player on one of the nation's best teams in Arizona. He averaged 16.1 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 2.4 APG while shooting 49.1% from the floor and 39.1% from three.

Burries isn't the playmaker that Brown or Philon are, as he's more of a natural shooting guard. While the Mavs have a bigger need at point guard for the future, they need an upgrade at both backcourt positions. Burries is a high-floor, low-ceiling option.

Yaxel Lendeborg, Forward, Michigan

Masai Ujiri drafted a lot of versatile wings in his time running the Toronto Raptors, so we have to consider one for the Mavericks, too. They already have a lot of forwards with Cooper Flagg, P.J. Washington, Naji Marshall, and Caleb Martin, so it'd be hard to get Mavericks fans on board with another player in that group.

Yaxel Lendebourg was one of the nation's best players, averaging 15.1 PPG, 6.8 RPG, and 3.2 APG at 6'9", 230 pounds for the national champion Michigan Wolverines. He plays the game with a high motor and can impact the game in every way. However, he'll be 24 years old at the time of the draft, which could limit his ceiling.

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