The defensive overhaul of the Mavericks got a strong addition late in the first round of Thursday’s NBA draft when they agreed in principle to acquire the draft rights to Olivier-Maxence Prosper from the Sacramento Kings. The deal is not yet finalized.
However, the 6-8 Prosper (who fondly goes by the nickname O-Max) was one of the players the Mavericks had their eyes on from the start in the draft. In fact, the Montreal, Canada, native got tipped off beforehand that he would be a Maverick.
“I actually knew before I got drafted that I was going to be a Dallas Maverick,” said Prosper in a conference call from the draft in Brooklyn with reporters in Dallas. “My agent told me they were going to trade for me. So I did talk to Nico (general manager Nico Harrison), (owner) Mark Cuban and coach Jason Kidd on the phone right before I heard my name called. I’m so excited to get to Dallas and get to work.
“When I came in to work out with them a couple weeks ago, I just felt the love from the jump and felt like it was a place I could call home.”
The Mavericks also acquired Dereck Lively II earlier in the first round. The players both are defensive-minded, athletic big men who can run the floor and don’t mind getting their noses dirty on the defensive end.
“They were both players that we liked,” Harrison said. “The fact that we were able to get back in and get both of them was amazing. We were like, which one do we take. And we got them both.”
Obviously, pieces had to fall just right for the Mavericks to pull off the deals they did. They ran through a plethora of scenarios, and one of the ones that played out was virtually identical to one of the ones they simulated.
In Prosper, the Mavericks are getting a 6-8, 215-pound forward who is well traveled. He will turn 21 on July 3. And while he grew up in Canada, he spent a year of high school at Chicago and finished his prep career at the NBA Academy/Latin America in Mexico City.
Through it all, he maintained his passion for playing the defensive end of the court.
“I think my defensive versatility is my best attribute,” he said. “I want to come in and help us be a better defensive team. We’ve got great players. I just want to help us move up the ranks defensively.
“I just want to help them where they need help most, and that’s on defense. I’m so ready to come in and defend the best players on the other side.”
O-Max, who came out to the NBA after his junior season at Marquette, first got the eye of the Mavericks during the Big East tournament. He averaged 12.5 points per game as a junior.
“Part of the reason I went to the Big East (tournament) is they had the best players that were going to be undrafted,” Harrison said. “Kudos to O-Max. He played so well in his workouts that he got everybody’s attention. Thankfully, we were already on him so I think that gave us a big (advantage) from everybody else.”
Prosper follows players like Oklahoma City’s Luguentz Dort and Indiana’s Bennedict Mathurin as NBA players from Montreal. His road from Canada to the NBA was interesting, to say the least.
“After my sophomore year, I decided to go to a prep school in Chicago,” he said. “I wasn’t looking to go anywhere after that. I had a really good year. But the NBA academy came calling and they already had Bennedict Mathurin. I was really close with him, another guy from Montreal. They were looking for other guys to bring in and I was a guy who came up. So I decided to go there after my junior year.”
It turned out to be a good move. Prosper is well-versed in international play, having helped Canada to a third-place finish in the FIBA Under-19 World Cup in Latvia in 2021.
He’s also participated in Basketball Without Borders for the NBA.
But mostly, he’s spent his time doing one thing: working on his defensive skills.
“They know that’s the thing that’s going to get them over the hump,” Harrison said of the newest Mavericks.
And Prosper is just fine with that.
Twitter: @ESefko
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