The Dallas Mavericks' 2022-23 season was nothing short of a disaster. The team had a poor start, traded for Kyrie Irving, and still missed the playoffs. One silver lining is that the Mavs will keep their pick in the 2023 NBA Draft because of what happened in Tuesday's lottery.

After some shameless tanking to end the season, Dallas wound up in the No. 10 lottery slot. If any team jumped them, the Mavs would have lost the pick to the New York Knicks. Instead, Dallas stayed at 10, allowing them to keep the pick.

Now the Mavs will look to either use the pick or trade it for more immediate help. Playing with Doncic can be difficult, as he is a unique and ball-dominant player. He also needs help on the offensive end from a player who can operate in the flow of Dallas' offense offense.

Whether or not the Mavs re-sign Kyrie Irving this offseason, the team can use a knockdown shooter and a willing defender to help make the team better and get them back to the playoffs next season. This player is Kansas guard Gradey Dick.

Why Gradey Dick makes sense for Mavs

Dick is a lanky 6-foot-8 guard from Wichita, Kansas, who played one season for the Jayhawks. In his only college season, Dick put up 14.1 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.7 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. His biggest talent is as a 3-point shooter. Dick shot nearly six-pointers per game and finished the year with a stellar 40.3% 3-point percentage. And that was with a mini-slump at the end of the season.

Gradey Dick is the best pure shooter in the 2023 NBA Draft. It is a singular and elite skill that will translate into the NBA. At worst, this puts his floor at a solid rotation player and 3-point specialist who can have a 10-plus-year NBA career.

His ceiling is likely at an elite No. 2 scorer in the mold of a player like Khris Middleton.

Dick is an excellent offensive player, but he does have his limitations defensively. As The Box and One explains, Dick was targeted often in college because of his lack of elite defensive athleticism. However, he is a willing defender and at times made up for his physical limitations by outsmarting the player targeting him.

As we saw at the end of the 2022-23 season, pairing Luka with another ball-dominant player (Kyrie) resulted in a, my turn, your turn situation that bogged down the offense and simply didn’t work.

Whether the Mavs decide to bring Kyrie back and try again with a full preseason to prepare or if they cut bait and start fresh, a player like Gradey Dick, who can operate effectively without the ball and still be a major offensive threat is an ideal fit.

Defensively, with Doncic and Irving, the Mavs are going to be a middle-of-the-pack defensive team at best anyways. Their best chance to win is by outscoring people and playing just enough defense to do so. Dick can absolutely fit with that kind of philosophy with his defensive effort and smarts.

There are several other prospects that the Mavs will consider at No. 1o. High-upside creators and defenders will certainly be on the list.

Villanova freshman Cam Whitmore, UConn sophomore Jordan Hawkins, and G League Ignite’s Leonard Miller are all players who end up in Dallas in various mock drafts. Still, none of these players have the singular NBA-translatable skill that Gradey Dick has with his 3-point shot.

If the Mavs do keep the No. 10 selection, Gradey Dick should be the pick, and he will make the team better in 2023-24 and beyond.