Mavericks Draft Grades

ESPN.com (Chad Ford): B
"Head coach Rick Carlisle was looking for more shooting, preferably from a player who could contribute now. They may have found their man in Anderson. He shot 45 percent from three as a junior at UVA, has a terrific NBA-ready body, is a hard worker and a tough defender. But is he a great shooter? During his first two years at UVA he shot about 30 percent from downtown. Was this year just an aberration? If it wasn't, the Mavs got tremendous value at 21."

SI.com (Chris Mannix): B
"Anderson is an interesting pick here. On one hand, he is an NBA defender right away. He’s big, physical and was a linchpin of Virginia’s stingy defense last season. Anderson shot the ball well statistically, but there are lingering concerns about his consistency. Still, Rick Carlisle loves intelligent players who know how to fit into a system and Anderson played in arguably the most precision-based system in college basketball last season. Clearly, Dallas was not enamored with any of the point guard prospects here."

Yahoo Sports (Kelly Dwyer): B+
"Anderson developed rapidly in his junior year at Virginia, nailing a ridiculous amount of threes while playing his way into the first round. If he can keep up his knockout outside shooting, he’ll have a lasting role in this league. Even if the pro game limits Anderson’s ability to carry over bits of the all-around 3-and-D game he featured as a Cavalier in his third season, if the jumpers are falling he’ll be worth the selection. If his ceiling is the new Hubert Davis, so what? That’s where the NBA is at right now."

CBS Sports.com (Sam Vecenie): B+
"The Mavericks got a pretty good wing in Anderson that has very high upside as a role player. He's already got an NBA frame at a chiseled 6-6, 230 pounds with a 6-11 wingspan. Anderson is also already an NBA level athlete, as his 43-inch vertical leap shows. This guy is just explosive and really a high motor defensive player. The key to him being a great role player or just a rotation guy will be the shot. He knocked down 45 percent of his 3s this season after struggling there the last two years. If the mechanics he showed this year are legitimate, then he's got a shot to make a ton of money and be very successful in Dallas. If his mechanics are more like the first two years of his career and what they looked like at the combine after he returned from his broken finger, he's probably just a guy. Overall though, definitely a good value at No. 21."

SB Nation (Kevin O' Connor): A
"Anderson could be the steal of the draft. He is a very good defender with the size to defend multiple positions, and he could grow into an elite stopper once his fundamentals improve. His motor is incredible, but his work ethic is even better. That's why he improved significantly as a three-point shooter this past season at Virginia by revising his mechanics. This bodes well for his ability to develop as a ball handler, his prominent weakness."


USA Today (Scott Gleeson): B
"Justin Anderson (No. 21) made huge strides at Virginia and seems to be getting even better. At 6-6, he's a wing capable of playing solid defense and knocking down open shots, which is exactly what Dallas needs. Satnam Singh (No. 52) is the first India native to get drafted."