{"id":343214,"date":"2026-06-19T18:45:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-19T18:45:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/343214\/"},"modified":"2026-06-19T18:45:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-19T18:45:09","slug":"mavericks-pipe-dream-draft-pick-is-still-alive-after-an-nba-insiders-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/343214\/","title":{"rendered":"Mavericks&#8217; pipe dream draft pick is still alive after an NBA insider&#8217;s report"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"4v\">It sounds like the Dallas Mavericks have tons of choices to get their perfect Cooper Flagg running mate, but they have to hit now, as they won&#8217;t fully control their first-round pick until 2031. One name who&#8217;s a perfect fit for Dallas is Illinois guard Keaton Wagler. NBA reporter Jake Fischer has reported that <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JakeLFischer\/status\/2067458115126108471?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Clippers staffers have been impressed with Brayden Burries<\/a> during his visit to Los Angeles. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"4y\">Fischer adds that Burries is &#8220;very much under consideration for the fifth pick.&#8221; Burries, the Arizona guard, has been the consensus to go to the Mavericks. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7365062\/2026\/06\/18\/nba-2026-mock-draft-peterson-boozer-acuff\/?unlocked_article_code=1.rFA.IJo1.s0jgf7zJn4Oj&amp;source=athletic_user_shared_gift_article_copylink&amp;smid=url-share-ta\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Sam Vecenie from The Athletic<\/a> repeated that same point in his latest mock draft. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-2\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"51\">But if the Clippers make the leap of faith to pick Burries, this opens the door for a potential Mavericks dream pick. <\/p>\n<p>The Mavericks&#8217; chances to draft Keaton Wagler are very much alive<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"57\">The Clippers have already said <a href=\"https:\/\/sportdfw.com\/mavericks-hopes-of-a-dream-draft-pick-are-still-slim-but-the-odds-just-increased-01ktye2z4shx\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">they aren&#8217;t head over heels for Wagler<\/a>, and if we combine that with the Clippers being impressed with Burries, then Masai Ujiri and Mike Schmitz need to look at that as a gold coin. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-5\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5a\">If the Clippers aren&#8217;t bluffing here and Burries is picked at No. 5, that could mean Mikel Brown Jr., Darius Acuff Jr. and Kingston Flemings to be picked from the 6-8 range. If that happens, it easily opens the door for Dallas to pick Wagler. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-6\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5d\">Even if Wagler is picked before the Mavericks, they could still make an emergency trade and <a href=\"https:\/\/sportdfw.com\/mavericks-hands-are-tied-for-their-dream-draft-pick-but-there-s-one-clear-solution-01krkghx16yh\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">trade up for Wagler<\/a>. The Mavs would probably be giving away their No. 30 selection. There also may not be a trade-up for No. 9 because the Mavs reportedly want to trade up from No. 30. They&#8217;re also open to trades in either direction at No. 9, so anything is possible. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5g\">The Brooklyn Nets and Sacramento Kings are also interested in Wagler, as he would be a Day 1 star with either organization. From the Mavs&#8217; standpoint, a Wagler pick works out the way they want it. Kyrie Irving could still play the point guard position, while the 6-foot-6 Wagler could play the shooting guard. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5j\">Wagler can&#8217;t be passed up on if he surprisingly lands at No. 9. He shoots from NBA range and drives inside even against the most physical defenders. <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/noahweber00\/status\/2054617736198733974?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2054617736198733974%7Ctwgr%5E1d72950a5be34ee13bde515afed532328e28a72f%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fsportdfw.com%2Fmavericks-hands-are-tied-for-their-dream-draft-pick-but-there-s-one-clear-solution-01krkghx16yh\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">He sees himself<\/a> as a perfect fit next to Flagg, and it&#8217;s the ideal guard\/forward combo the Mavs need for the foreseeable future. <\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-9\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-secondary my-f-1\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"5m\">The Clippers looking at Burries could change everything, and it may push Wagler all the way to No. 9 if the stars align. <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow sportdfw.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=sportdfw.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It sounds like the Dallas Mavericks have tons of choices to get their perfect Cooper Flagg running mate,&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":343215,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[27,29,28],"class_list":["post-343214","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343214\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/343215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343214"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343214"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}