Before getting on to the draft news, a couple of other Mavs notes. The Mavs will be having a mini-camp July 5-13 at the Baylor/Tom Landry Center for the players who will participate in the summer league (Dirk Nowitzki will miss part of the mini-camp due to Germany's play in the European Basketball Championships). The Mavs are sending teams to the Long Beach league July 14-25 and to the Rocky Mountain Revue (Salt Lake City) July 26 - August 2. Dirk Nowitzki is playing for Germany in the European Basketball Championships. He had a couple of poor games against Turkey and Italy in the 8th round where those teams focused their defense on him. He only had 8 points in each game. But, Germany came back in the game against Croatia to shock the tournament with the 102-85 upset. Dirk had 21 points in that game. With the win, Germany only has to win one more game to achieve an Olympic berth - the top three finishers of the European Championship receive Olympic berths. Their next game is today. Here is Dirk's numbers from the Croatia game: June 28 Germany 102, Croatia 85 (major upset) Min FGM-FGA 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA PTS OFF DEF REB AST STL TO F 35 8-10 4-5 1-2 21 0 5 5 1 0 1 0 Congratulations to former Mavs assistant (87-93) and interim coach in 92-93 Gar Heard on finally receiving a long overdue chance to be a head coach again. Washington named Heard as head coach June 16. Well, Don Nelson decided to extend the 97-98 season ad campaign of "Never a Dull Moment" into the draft and just couldn't sit with the #36 and #40 picks. The Mavs traded the #40 pick and Dallas' 2000 2nd round pick to San Antonio for the rights to #29 Leon Smith and took Wang Zhi-Zhi with the #36 pick. Neither player will be in a Mavs uniform for 99-00. The Mavs had talked with San Antonio for a couple of days to work out the trade, with San Antonio taking the high schooler Smith at the Mavs' direction. Nelson plans for Smith to play next year in Europe, where he can continue to develop and the Mavs can watch his development. He is 6-10 and 235 and still growing - Nelson said he has a shoe size of 21. This is a player who the Mavs wanted. Nelson said that they had been talking to Smith's people, but did not bring him in for a workout (actually, the Mavs did not bring _anyone_ in for a workout) as they did not want to let any other teams know what they were up to. He believes from his communication with Smith's people that Smith will be willing to go to Europe. The Mavs will be able to work with him during the summer before the European season starts. Nelson felt that Smith may have been a lottery player in the future if he had gone to college. When asked why not bring Smith to the team now, Nelson responded that Smith really isn't ready yet and the team doesn't have the roster room. The Mavs have 10 players under contract and are expected to re-sign Cedric Ceballos and try to re-sign Gary Trent. Nelson expects that Smith will "probably be a power type of player eventually when he grows up" and described him as "6-10 and still growing; about 235, his body is pretty good, broad shoulders". Because he is a first round draft pick, the Mavs will have to sign him to a 3 year rookie contract when/if he comes to the Mavs next season. If when you read "Wang Zhi-Zhi" above, you went "Who???", you were not alone. But, again, this _was_ who the Mavs absolutely planned to take at #36. I heard Donnie Nelson on the radio Tuesday night and he said at the start of the interview that they had been busy and were going to get some Chinese take-out. At the end of the interview, the radio person said, "Now you can go get your pizza or whatever" and Donnie Nelson responded, "No, Chinese take-out". Wang Zhi-Zhi (pronounced Wong ZuZu, according to Don Nelson) is 22 years old, 7-0, 260, and plays for the Army Rockets China. He is Chinese, so that leaves a lot of questions of when he will ever be allowed to come to the US to play in the NBA; but, as Nelson said, Arvydas Sabonis had the same political issues when he was drafted and Portland's patience/draft rights paid great dividends. Wang does have a commitment to his Chinese team (and the Chinese army?) of at least a couple of years and Nelson says that they plan on honoring that commitment. Nelson also said that he plans on taking a trip to Beijing later to meet Wang and discuss his situation - Donnie Nelson has seen him played. His team has been the top team for the last 5 years and he averaged about 26 points. He is a solid center. Nelson described him as having good running abilities, strong, and agile. Nelson: "We have been working on this for well over a year." His name was in the draft due to fact that he turned 22 years old - foreign players who turn 22 are automatically entered into the draft. Nelson: "I wouldn't have drafted him if I wasn't high on him." The (very sketchy) bios from the draft guide: Leon Smith - Forward Martin Luther King High School (Chicago) 6-10, 235 born November 2, 1980 in Chicago Early entry candidate for the 1999 NBA Draft. Selected as the 1999 Illinois Player of the Year by USA Today after averaging 25.5 points and 14.5 rebounds for Martin Luther King High School (27-7) in Chicago. Selected to the 1999 Chicago Tribune All-State Basketball Team and the 1999 USA Today All-USA Second Team. Had 15 points and 20 rebounds despite playing with an injured leg while helping King upset Westinghouse High to advance to the Class AA Quarterfinals in March of 1999. Scored 20 points in 1999 Class AA consolation game against Schaumburg that resulted in a 67-58 win for King High School. Briefly attended Mt. Carmel High School in Chicago before transferring to Martin Luther King HS. Wang Zhi-Zhi - Center Army Rockets China 7-0, 260 born July 8, 1977 in Beijing 1996 Olympic Games Games FGM-FGA PCT FTM-FTA PCT REB AST PTS AVG 8 30-75 .400 29-32 .910 45 7 89 11.1 [The bio is not in the 1999 draft guide and the one handed out seems to be from an older guide.] One of China's most promising basketball players, he has excellent agility and possesses the ability to run the court well. Needs to add strength and weight (listing in the bio is 220) to be even more effective. Played in 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta for China's National Team, averaging 11.1 points and 5.6 rebounds. Against the USA Basketball Men's Senior National Team in a pre-Olympic exhibition game played at America West Arena in Phoenix, tallied team highs of 12 points and 7 rebounds and added 1 blocked shot in a 119-58 loss, playing against USA centers David Robinson, Shaquille O'Neal, and Hakeem Olajuwon. In the Olympic Games against Team USA, scored 6 points and grabbed 3 rebounds, also registering 1 assist, 1 steal, and 1 block in China's 133-70 loss. Had several excellent performances in the 1996 Olympics. In a 70-67 win over Angola, scored 17 points and added 11 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. In a 116-55 loss to Lithuania, had 18 points and 5 rebounds. In a 109-78 loss to Croatia, tallied 15 points [on 2-10 FG and 11-12 FT], 7 rebounds, and a team-high 4 blocks. Played sparingly in the 1995 Asian Championships, won by China. Also played in the 1995 World Junior Championships, and the Asian Junior Championships. Participated in the 1996 Nike Hoop Summit Game in North Carolina. patricia