When the Mavericks selected the Virginia forward with the 21st pick on Thursday night, it signaled perhaps a much-wanted change in the Mavs front-office views of the draft.
He's not Dominique Jones or Jared Cunningham. He's not Maurice Ager. He's not Ricky Ledo. He's not Jae Crowder.
I mean, just look at that highlight reel. It has been over 10 years since a Mavs draft pick has looked that impressive in college physically, doing things against actual, real college teams. The Mavs haven't drafted a forward like Justin Anderson since they took Josh Howard way back at the end of the first round of the 2003 draft -- and Josh wasn't even close to Anderson's bulk.