Dallas Mavericks Dirk Nowitzki (Photo by Holger Sauer/Getty Images)
Dallas Mavericks: Dirk Nowitzki shares his NBA Draft story
The Dallas Mavericks drafted Dirk Nowitzki back in 1998. If you read the back of his basketball card (or his Basketball-Reference page), it says he was taken by the Milwaukee Bucks. That is technically the case because of the NBA’s rule of not allowing trades on draft night. The Bucks traded up for Robert Traylor, while Dallas got Dirk and Pat Garrity. They quickly flipped Garrity as part of the package for Steve Nash in what may have been the greatest day of trading in basketball history.