Mavericks select BYU star freshman in early NBA mock draft

The NBA season doesn’t start until October 24th for the Dallas Mavericks as they are currently in the middle of preseason, but it’s never too early for mock drafts. The Mavs are expected to be one of the best teams in the NBA this season and will likely be out of the running for Cooper Flagg, but in 2025 it’s a talented draft class with plenty of depth.

Sam Vecenie from The athlete released its preseason NBA mock draft more to get names out there than to match prospects with teams. But who he mocked on the Mavericks was an interesting match. The “draft order” was determined based on the profit projections.

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With the 23rd pick in the draft, Vecenie ensured that the Mavericks took Egor Demin, a five-star freshman at BYU who is originally from Russia.

Regarding the selection, Vecenia said: “This is higher than where I would have Demin. But similar to Maluach above, if I didn’t rank him top 30, it wouldn’t be a completely accurate description of where scouts are at this point. Being an 8-point guard and playmaker at BYU. I’m not entirely sure how he scores in basketball yet. He’s never proven he’s capable of consistently finishing or knocking down shots, but I don’t believe in the passing game and the vision that much, and that’s the reason he shows up here. The novelty of a potential point guard of this size makes him one of the players I most want to watch this season. But there are some real questions that scouts want him to answer, despite their keen interest.

Demin would be an interesting addition for Dallas. Spencer Dinwiddie, Quentin Grimes and Jaden Hardy are under contract for this season only, and the Mavericks could use a promising replacement for Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. He has a similar stature to when Doncic came to the NBA, and both players played for Real Madrid, but his game is no longer at the same level as Doncic since he first entered the NBA.

Dallas owning their 2025 first-round pick in a talented draft opens up a lot of possibilities, including a future trade if they find a better player who can help them win right away.

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