Open Audition

So, by now if you've been reading my blog for any length of time you'd know I was a big Dallas Mavericks' fan/apologist.

With the way this season is going, it's apparent that the Mavs, while dangerous, will be somewhere in between the six to eight seed, meaning a playoff spot and a draft pick somewhere in the 20s.

With Jason Kidd's contract ready to expire at the end of the year, does it take a brain surgeon to realize where Dallas is going to look in the draft?

So while the rest of you are sweating over upsets and Cinderellas and such (my bracket blew up over the weekend unfortunately), I'm analyzing what point guards will be around that 20-25 range.

NBADraft.net has the Mavs taking Ty Lawson, which as a fan I would have absolutely no problem with, especially the way he looked against LSU on Saturday. At the college level, he is without a doubt the best PG at getting to the rim and finishing. I only have two worries with him: first, will he be able to get to the rim with that kind of regularity at the next level, and second, can he consistently knock down open jumpers? Conclusion: the Mavs can do much worse than Lawson.

What about a guy like Jonny Flynn? Personally, I like him better than Lawson because of his stroke is more pure, plus I think he's better at running the half-court stuff. At the worst I think he'll be a solid NBA starter, but I think he has the chance to be a poor man's Chris Paul. Soak that in for a second, and before you belittle me and call me an idiot, think about their games: the handle, the passion, the will to win... I like Flynn. The only issue he has at times is his shot selection, but on a team like the Dallas who has proven scorers I think he'll be fine.

All year long I've been clamoring for Stephen Curry to somehow fall the Mavs' way, but will he declare? Draft.net took him off the boards inexplicably and put him in the 2010 Mock. I wrote a couple posts back that maybe Curry was so peeved by how things ended up this season that he'll be determined to come back dedicated to the team. If it happened with any senior it probably would be Curry, who thanks to daddy's NBA career will be fine financially, and at the very worst he will be playing basketball somewhere after he graduates, whether it's in the NBA or Europe (doubtful). Maybe he enjoys his last season in the limelight of a college campus.

Finally, I know there are point guards ahead of him in mock drafts, but what about Greivis Vasquez? His play this year was up and down, but I think that was more a product of having to shoulder the burden of carrying a limited team. His size at the point guard position will intrigue many NBA teams, and especially with the team's penchant for drafting internationally, I wouldn't rule out the Venezuelan Vacillator (because of his tendency to border on stardom and then do something that makes you say, "Never mind.")

Obviously, as workouts take place, the list of candidates will constantly change, but one thing is for sure... the Dallas Mavericks neeeeeeeeeeeeeed a point guard.

Like I neeeeeeeeeeeeed to stop doing bracket pools.