A photo of Mavericks owner Mark Cuban and president Donnie Nelson with Frank Ntilikina made the rounds – aided by the Mavericks themselves – before the draft:
After his great game yesterday Frank Ntilikina @FrankLikina was in Venice this morning to meet Mavericks owner Marc Cuban and Donnie Nelson pic.twitter.com/4nOVLZvfw8
— Olivier MAZET (@OlivierMAZET) June 10, 2017
Word leaked Ntilikina’s coach in France would coach Dallas summer-league team:
Frank Ntilikina's coach at Strasbourg, Vincent Collet, will coach with the Mavs Orlando Summer League team - Dallas all in on Ntilikina
— NBA Big Board (@chadfordinsider) June 19, 2017
Marc Stein of The New York Times:
If it were a ruse, it worked. The Knicks drafted Ntilikina No. 8, and Dennis Smith Jr. fell to the Mavericks at No. 9.
Vincent Collet never coached the Mavericks’ summer-league team. They hired Smith’s college coach at North Carolina State, Mark Gottfried, as a scout, though.
Either guard could have the better career, but both before the draft and currently, I’d take Smith over Ntilikina. (LeBron James agrees.)
So, did Dallas pull a fast one?
Cuban, via Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News:
Take Cuban’s denial for what it’s worth – something, but not everything.
Maybe he’s telling the truth. Ntilikina would have been a reasonable pick at No. 9 (just as he was a reasonable pick at No. 8). If the Mavericks tricked the Knicks, Cuban might take a victory lap.
But maybe Cuban doesn’t want to offend Ntilikina or his agent by acknowledging they’d been used. Or maybe Cuban doesn’t want to reveal tricks that would make future Dallas subterfuge less effective.
Cuban and the Mavericks could have just been playing their Ntilikina interest straight all along. But if they were misdirecting, there’s at least some incentive to keep it up.
