NBA: Carlisle: Had taken position 5 Carter Jr. in the draft

The Dallas Mavericks threaded a trade with the Atlanta Hawks before the draft to bring Luka Doncic to Texas. If this hadn’t worked out, Dallas would probably have drafted Wendell Carter Jr., who now plays for the Chicago Bulls, according to head coach Rick Carlisle.

“We probably would have pulled Wendell Carter Jr. on No.5 if we hadn’t traded up for Luka Doncic,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle explained before the game against the Chicago Bulls. Carlisle continued to rave about the young center and compared the 19-year-old with Al Horford of the Boston Celtics.

“He’s gonna be a very, very, very good NBA player,” Carlisle was sure. Other reports before the draft said that Dallas had great interest in Center Mo Bamba, which ultimately landed at No.6 in Orlando. One pick later, the Bulls hit Carter Jr..

The Bulls Center made a good impression in the first 14 games for Chicago. In an average of 26.2 minutes per game, the ex-Dukie played 11.8 points, 7.7 rebounds and 2.1 blocks.