Thanks to Sully, I was at the Mavs media draft event and got to hear Don Nelson's comments live and uncensored after both picks as well as Jim Cleamons' comments after the Wells pick. With the 15th pick, Dallas selected Kelvin Cato. I was filling my head with trivia of Cato being the second Kelvin for Dallas (Upshaw the first) and trying to remember the other Iowa State players the Mavs have had when Nelson came down a few picks later to announce that we had traded the pick. The Mavs traded the rights to Cato to Portland for #18 Chris Anstey and monetary considerations (read money). The trade saves the Mavs $118,800 in cap money next season by moving down 3 picks. Nellie said that Anstey was the player the Mavs wanted that was available, but we were never given a clear reason as to why he didn't just draft him at 15 instead of gambling that he would still be there at 18. The closest to answer for the wait was "I don't know. The intrigue, maybe." It is no secret that the Mavs were really interested in getting one of Olivier Saint-Jean, Austin Croshere, or Derek Anderson, but they were drafted #11, #12, and #13 respectively. Not surprisingly, Nelson would not address if he was disappointed, who he really wanted, or some such except to say that the team was happy with who they got. Anstey is a 7-0, 249 center who is currently playing in the Australian league. Their season ends in September, but the Mavs may try to get him earlier so that he can participate in the Mavs summer teams (they will have two this year). Nelson described him as a player who can run the floor really well and said that he can play center, power forward, and small forward against the taller small forwards. He needs to muscle up some to be able to hold his own against centers. Nelson emphasized Anstey's running athletism. He said that Anstey is not a project and will be ready to play now; of course, he'll also need to improve. The quotes: (from the handout by the Mavs - basically a transcript of most of the answers/comments Nelson gave to the media regarding Anstey) It has not cleared yet, but we flip flopped picks with Portland and got the same guy that we would have drafted at 15 and picked up some cash. We are very happy with Chris Anstey. We have been following him for quite a while now. He did make a tour over here and possibly some people saw him play last year. He has been playing professionally in Melbourne. He is a 7 footer who I believe can play three positions. He is a great runner. He's a young player. He has only been playing 4 years, a lot of skill and a lot of ability and he has just scratched the surface. Right now, we probably label him as a 4, 3, 5, something like that. As he gets stronger, he can play some backup center, some power forward, and some small forward against some of the bigger 3s in the league. We certainly wouldn't ask him to guard anybody small, but there are enough big threes in the league. We are very excited about being able to draft him and I think he is going to help our ballclub. On switching with Portland We just went from 15 to 18 and picked up some cash. And we got the same player. Was the trade made before the picks were made? We drafted for each other. It went down to the wire. If Anstey was the player they wanted, of course, there was no deal so they had to tell me who to draft. If it would have been that same player, we would have no deal and that is the guy we would have taken at 15. But as soon as they said Cato, I was able to draft for them and keep Anstey alive. I wasn't sure he was still going to be there at 18. We took a gamble and he was there. So we got the guy that we wanted. Was he taken because he was the best available athlete? He is the guy we really liked. I don't know if he is the best athlete, but he is the best guy for our team. We really like his upside. We really like the way he plays right now. He plays professional basketball already, he's going to be able to come in and play right away. He's able to play in the NBA now. He'll get better over the next couple of years. He's only been playing for 4 years. He's only 22 and he's 7 feet tall. He's the best runner in the draft. He used to be a tennis player. He was rated second in the country. He grew so fast that he went to basketball and fell in love with basketball. Is he project? He is not a project. He is ready to roll. He'll get better. Will he play power forward? Yes, some backup center. Certainly at power forward. We are real pleased with this guy. will he be an intimidator? I wouldn't call him an intimidator. He is a runner. He can block shots. He can score from outside. He's got a decent inside game. He's a pretty good all around player. He's a great runner. He'll probably be the best big man runner in the NBA. Who was your ideal choice? I don't want to discuss that. You can take your pick. This was the guy we wanted, a guy we wanted. I was really glad we got him. With the 35th pick, Dallas selected Bubba Wells. Wells is 6-5, 230 forward from Austin Peay. He only played in 19 games last season, so he did not qualify, but would have lead the NCAA in scoring with an average of 31.7 points while shooting 52%. He has suffered from stress fractures in both legs and has steel rods in both legs. Nelson described him as a scorer and outside shooter who can post up. He will play small forward, but may have to move to shooting guard when the Mavs play against tall small forwards. Nelson said that despite a strong regular season, he did not play well in the post-season and that hurt his stock. Nellie visited Austin Peay during the season to look at Wells (he had a real good game with something like 40 points) for consideration for the Mavs 1st round pick. His injuries seem to be fine. The Mavs investigated and he check out and Wells says he is fine. Nellie thinks he can make the team and was very pleased to get him at this pick. [My favorite comment came from someone who said after the Wells pick: Nelson figured he since he was in Texas, he had to draft a Bubba.] Nelson: I [still] think it's a terrific draft for us, those two players. It will be real interesting. Jim Cleamons on the draft: (not quotes as I'm not that good of a note taker - he also was not up there for very long) The Mavs got players that will step in and help. They will fill in some of the voids the team had last season. Micheal [Finley] will play some 2 this year. His comments seem to indicate that he had little say in who the Mavs drafted and that he is publically towing the Nellie line. Chris Anstey - ?? Position: C Height: 7-0 Birthday: January 1, 1975 Birthplace: Melbourne, Australia High School: Catholic Regional College College: --- 1997 Portland draft pick, 1st round (#18) Acquired from Portland for the #15 pick (Kelvin Cato) 6/25/97. 1994 Melbourne Tigers stats 95-97 South East Melbourne Magic stats Year GP FGM-FGA PCT FTM-FTA PCT REB AVG 1994 20 24-49 0.490 14-19 0.737 52 2.6 1995 26 35-71 0.493 17-28 0.607 86 3.3 1996 32 133-219 0.607 111-152 0.730 250 1.9 1997 8 39-78 0.500 22-34 0.647 57 7.1 Total 86 231-417 0.554 164-233 0.704 445 2.4 Year AST AVG PTS AVG 1994 7 0.3 62 3.1 1995 7 0.3 87 3.3 1996 18 0.1 377 2.8 1997 6 0.8 101 12.6 Total 38 0.2 627 3.4 3-pointers: 1994 0-0 0.000, 1995 0-1 0.000, 1996 0-1 0.000, 1997 1-5 0.200, Total 1-7 0.143. from the NBA Draft Media Guide Background: Winner of the 1996 National Basketball League (Australia) Most Improved Player Award. Anstey was a member of the South East Melbourne Magic team which won the NBL Championship in 1996. Also came 2nd in voting for the NBL 6th Man Award. Following the 1996 season, played for Magic during a 6-game tour vs NCAA Division I colleges. Top games were 25 points and 10 rebounds vs Arizona, 23 points and 12 rebounds vs San Diego State, and 18 points and 9 rebounds vs Texas. As of May 14, he was averaging 12.6 points, 7.1 rebounds, and 1.2 blocks through 8 games for the SE Melbourne Magic. During the 1996 season, Anstey averaged 11.8 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.1 steals in 22 minutes. He led his team in blocks averaging 1.5. He also led the league in field goal percentage (minimum 100 attempted) shooting 60.7%. Anstey is currently a member of the senior Australian Men's squad for the 1998 World Championships in Athens. He was also selected as a member of the Australian Men's Under 23 squad for the 1997 World U/23 Championships in Melbourne. Started playing in the NBL at age 19 with the Melbourne Tigers as a back-up to Mark Bradtke. Helped the Tigers to a Semi-Final berth in his rookie season. Signed as a free agent with the SE Melbourne Magic in 1995. did not play organized Basketball until he was 17 years old. Bubba Wells - ?? Position: Forward Height: 6-5 Birthday: July 26, 1974 Birthplace: Russellville, Kentucky High School: Russellville High School College: Austin Peay '97 1997 Dallas draft pick, 2nd round (#35) Austin Peay stats Year GP FGM-FGA PCT FTM-FTA PCT REB AVG 93-94 27 130-252 0.516 50-83 0.602 147 5.4 94-95 29 210-428 0.491 132-159 0.830 219 7.6 95-96 30 312-568 0.549 131-173 0.757 219 7.3 96-97 19 218-419 0.520 120-165 0.727 135 7.1 Total 105 870-1667 0.522 433-580 0.747 720 6.9 Year AST AVG PTS AVG 93-94 22 0.8 315 11.7 94-95 58 2.0 560 19.3 95-96 86 2.9 789 26.3 96-97 42 2.2 603 31.7 Total 208 2.0 2267 21.6 3-pointers: 93-94 5-14 0.357, 94-95 8-29 0.276, 95-96 34-78 0.436, 96-97 47-111 0.423, Total 94-232 0.405. from the NBA Draft Media Guide Background: Finished collegiate career as Austin Peay's all-time leading scorer (2,267 points) as well as 3rd on the Ohio Valley Conference all-time scoring list. Has overcome remarkable adversity, as he suffered fractures in each leg at different points in his collegiate career and now plays with steel rods implanted in each lower leg in twin operations called tibial nailings. Suffered right leg stress fracture in 1995 OVC title game. suffered similar fracture in left leg in a preseason game prior to the 1996-97 season and missed the first 12 games of the season. Holds school record for single-season scoring average at 31.7 points. Finished as school's all-time leader in field goals made (870) and free throws attempted (580). At Nike Desert Classic, averaged 6.3 points. "Bubba Wells would be a player in our league (ACC)," said Bobby Cremins of Georgia Tech. "He can post up and score on you down low but also can go out and shoot the 3-pointer. he can hurt you in a lot of different ways." As a senior, was named the Ohio Valley Conference Player of the Year. led the Governors in all 19 games that he played in, scoring 30 or more in 11 of them and finishing with 58 straight double-figure scoring games. Would have led nation in scoring, but did not play enough games. Averaged 33.0 points in conference games. As a junior, became first Austin Peay player to be named OVC Male Athlete of the Year. Named OVC Tournament MVP after scoring 35 points in the championship game to lead the school to its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1987. Finished as the nation's 3rd leading scorer at 26.3 points. Scored 30 or more points 6 times, including a season-best 42 points in a win against Air Force. led team in scoring (26.3 points) and rebounding (7.6 rebounds) and was 2nd in assists (2.9 assists) and free throw percentage (75.7%). As a sophomore, named to All-OVC first team and All-OVC Tournament team. Led team in almost every category - scoring (19.3 points), rebounding (7.6 points), minutes played (33.2 minutes), and FT% (83.0%). Ranked 2nd on the team in steals (34) and 3rd in blocked shots (17). had 7 double figure rebounding games for the season. As a freshman named OVC Freshman of the Year and selected to the leagues All-Newcomer team. Started 22 of 27 games and scored in double figures 15 times. Scored a season-high 27 points in the win vs Murray State. Sat out the 1992-93 season as a medical reshirt. Suffered slow-healing ankle stress fracture during the fall. Cleared to play in December and a week later incurred a foot injury where the decision was made to redshirt the season.