The NBA draft can make or break a franchise, with teams' ability to both capitalize on their high draft picks, and to find diamonds in the rough further down the draft board, pivotal in their subsequent success – or lack thereof. The Mavericks' ability to be continually competitive since the turn of the century can be in no small part attributed to their performance at the draft, with a number of quality selections having a massive impact on their franchise. With that in mind, let's take a look at the ten best draft picks in Mavericks history.

10. Jamal Mashburn (Pick 4, 1993)

With the Mavericks an absolute basket case in the early parts of the 1990s, Jamal Mashburn was their second consecutive pick four after Jim Jackson was selected with the same pick the year prior. They, along with a pretty handy point guard who will be mentioned a little later in this list, helped to at least make the team moderately competitive, with Mashburn's 1994-95 season particularly impressive. He averaged 24.1 points in his second season as the Mavs jumped from 13 wins to 36, while the next year he backed that up with similar numbers. Unfortunately he would only play three and a half seasons with the team, but he was a good player while there.

9. Detlef Schrempf (Pick 8, 1985)

The bulk of a very good career for Detlef Schrempf occurred outside of Dallas, which makes it hard to place him on this list, but though he only played three and a half seasons for the Mavericks, the quality of his career makes it hard to say that this was anything but a very good pick. In his time with the Mavericks, the German averaged less than ten points in around 20 minutes per game, numbers which ballooned once he moved to Indiana midway through the 1988-89 season. Unfortunately they didn't get nearly what they should have for him in that trade, but the draft pick in and of itself was a very good one.

8. Jalen Brunson (Pick 33, 2018)

Jalen Brunson is still only five seasons into his NBA career at the time of writing and by far the best season of his career to date came in the only one of those which he didn't play in Dallas, but nonetheless, for a second rounder he was a pretty savvy pick. The 6'2″ point guard played four seasons in Dallas, improving in each of them to the point where he averaged 16.3 points and 4.8 assists in his fourth and final year with the team. He subsequently opted to join the Knicks in free agency, and the 24 points per game he averaged in his first season there highlight what a good selection this was at pick 33 – it's just a shame he did it in New York.

7. Josh Howard (Pick 29, 2003)

He might not have been the most popular player in history, but Josh Howard was a mighty good one for the Mavericks, especially for a 29th pick in the NBA draft. He played seven and a half seasons with the team and played a pivotal role in their 2005-06 run to the NBA Finals, a season in which he averaged 15.6 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. Those numbers improved to nearly 20 points per game over the next three seasons, before his output dwindled in the first half of 2009-10 and he was subsequently shipped off to Washington. Aiding the significance of this draft pick even further was what the Mavericks got for him, with three first round picks coming their way for a player who they initially picked deep in the first round.

6. Derek Harper (Pick 11, 1983)

From here this list gets a little easier, with players who the Mavericks drafted who went on to not just have good careers, but to have good careers in Dallas. Derek Harper went on to have a 16-year NBA career after being drafted with the 11th pick, and the first 11 of those were with the Mavericks. In that time he played 872 games for the franchise – the third most in history – and is their current all-time leader in both assists and steals. Though things went off the boil during the latter stages of his time with the Mavs, they were a consistently competitive team with Harper running the show, and he was a major reason why.

5. Mark Aguirre (Pick 1, 1981)

1981 was a pretty good draft for the Mavericks. After winning just 15 games in their inaugural season in the league, they had two picks inside the top ten, including the first one, and they made it count. Mark Aguirre was the first, and from the outset of his career it was clear that he had plenty of talent. After averaging 18.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.2 assists in his first year, he improved rapidly and by his third season, those numbers had jumped up to 29.5 points on 52.4% shooting, 5.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists. In all he played seven and a half season in Dallas, which was enough time to have him currently in third place in career points for the franchise.

4. Rolando Blackman (Pick 9, 1981)

A few selections after Aguirre, the Mavs selected Rolando Blackman, and while his numbers don't quite jump off the page like his teammate, the fact that he played 11 seasons with the team and was drafted with pick nine makes him an even better selection. Blackman's career with the Mavs was incredibly consistent – his first year aside, he averaged between 17 and 23 points, and right around 3.5 rebounds and assists each and every season with the team. Unsurprisingly, that consistency combined with his longevity has him right up there in a number of career categories for Dallas – he's fourth in total games, second in points, sixth in assists and eighth in rebounds for the team.

3. Jason Kidd (Pick 2, 1994)

This pick could be looked at in a couple of different ways, but the cold hard facts are that Jason Kidd, after being selected with the second pick in 1994, turned into one of the best point guards in the history of the game, and a fairly significant portion of his illustrious career was spent in Dallas. The best of his years came while he was with the Suns and the Nets, but two and a half seasons for which he represented the Mavs at the start of his career and the four and a half at the end were still pretty damn good. He was an All-Star in two of them, and most importantly played a key role in their first and only NBA championship in 2010-11.

2. Luka Doncic (Pick 3, 2018)

Technically, of course, Luka Doncic was drafted by the Hawks, but given he was always headed to the Mavericks via trade, this is very much a draft day move. And what a move it was. The majority of Doncic's career is still yet to play out, but five years in it's already pretty clear what kind of player he is. He was Rookie of the Year in his first season in the league with averages of 21.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 6.0 assists, and in the four years since those numbers have moved to close to a 30-point triple-double. He's been an All-Star and All-NBA First Team member in each of those last four seasons, and has long ago established himself as one of the best players in the world – and he's still just 24 years old. The Mavericks haven't yet enjoyed a great deal of success with him there – though they did make the Conference Finals in 2021-22 – but the potential is there for him to become the greatest Maverick of all time if he hangs around – no mean feat given who is at number one.

1. Dirk Nowitzki (Pick 9, 1998)

When a lanky German was drafted with the ninth pick in 1998, even the most ardent optimist couldn't have predicted the kind of player he would become. The greatest player in Mavericks history, Dirk Nowitzki revolutionized the power forward position and acquired all sorts of accolades over the course of his 20 years in Dallas. He was a 14x All-Star, 12x All-NBA, the MVP in 2007, and most importantly, an NBA  champion and Finals MVP in 2011. The sixth leading scorer in NBA history, he has nearly twice as many points in anyone else in Mavericks history, and well over double as many rebounds. He will forever be remembered as a great of the game, and is, for the time being at least, far and away the best draft selection in Mavericks history.