I started out as an NBA fan in 1985. At that time, the newest expansion team was the Dallas Mavericks. While in hindsight the franchise has never won a title, they were viewed as a model for expansion franchises in terms of how to build a competitive team. What was considered then as the "right way" of building a contender from expansion was to avoid quick fixes through signing veterans nearing the end of their careers and invest in youth. This of course, will then require that the team also take its lumps in the process since a young team will have to endure its share of tough losses and low win seasons. They would invest in absorbing a few years of losing as they built up through the draft.In the case of the early 80s Mavericks, it was also a big help that there was an idiot to take advantage of. This was in the person of then Cleveland Cavaliers owner Ted Stepien, who gave away what ended up as high draft picks for marginal players. This is how the Mavs amassed nearly an entire team-full of draft picks:
> Mavs first ever draft pick, Kiki Vandeweghe, refused to play for the expansion team. He was then traded to Denver for a 1981 # 1 pick that ended up as the 9th overall pick.
> Dallas traded expansion players Richard Washington, who played another 1.5 years after the trade, and Jerome Whitehead, a back-up center, to Cleveland for first round picks in 1983 (9th overall) and 1986 (7th overall).
> They traded another expansion draftee with minimal talent, Mike Bratz, who averaged in double figures once in his entire career, to Cleveland for a 1984 first round pick (4th overall).
> Yet another expansion draftee, Geoff Huston, was traded also to Cleveland for a 1985 first round pick (8th overall).
Having completed the first part, which was to amass draft picks, the Mavs then proceeded by drafting generally successfully as the drafts came about:
1981: After "taking their lumps" in their first season, they ended up with the first overall pick and drafted Mark Aguirre. They also had another first round pick, 9th overall from the Vandeweghe deal, which they used to draft Rolando Blackman. With the first pick of the second round (24th overall), they got the steal of the 1981 draft, forward Jay Vincent. Their final pick, using a second rounder from Phoenix, was defensive minded off guard Elston Turner.
1982: This was perhaps their worst draft of all. With their own pick at 4th overall, they drafted Bill Garnett.
1983: Using their own pick at 9th overall, they drafted Dale Ellis. In addition, they also had Cleveland's pick (they managed to trade for Cleveland's first rounders in 1983, 1984, 1985, and 1986). Using the 11th overall pick, they took Derek Harper.
1984: With another Cavalier pick, they drafted Sam Perkins at #4, and with their own pick, they drafted Terence Stansbury, perhaps the second failed draft pick so far in the Mavs draft history.
1985: Yet another Cavalier pick was used to draft Detlef Schrempf at #8. They also had a couple of failed choices in this draft, taking Bill Wennington at 16th with a pick acquired from New Jersey for Kelvin Ransey.
1986: Using the last of the Cavalier giveaways, they took Roy Tarpley with the 7th overall pick.
And while these players did not all end up playing together, they were not traded for each other and could potentially have been kept together as a team. That would have given them the following lineup:
Starters:
C Roy Tarpley
PF Sam Perkins
SF Mark Aguirre
PG Derek Harper
OG Rolando Blackman
Bench:
F Detlef Schrempf
GF Dale Ellis
F Jay Vincent
C Bill Wennington
G Elston Turner (primarily an off guard but can play point in a pinch)
G Terence Stansbury
PF Bill Garnett
Tarpley would have been a dominant big man if he did not fall victim to drug and alcohol abuse. Together with Perkins and Wennington, plus power forward minutes from Schrempf (during his Indiana days) and Vincent, they would have been a strong power rotation. Schrempf and Ellis may also have had better careers than Aguirre, albeit not with Dallas. That would have given the team two starter-quality players coming off the bench to provide firepower. The only real gap in the team is back-up point guard, but Elston Turner served as an emergency point guard in his career. Schrempf also played some point forward.
As they say, hindsight is 20-20. From that perspective, this could have been a championship contender presuming the egos meshed. Of course we will never know, but it could end up being a big what-if.
