The Mavs Gaming Hub in the Deep Ellum neighborhood of Dallas, Texas.
The roster is set and the rebuild is complete. Mavs Gaming selected four players in the 2022 NBA 2K Draft on Saturday, filling out the team with a host of new talent.
Joining the team are Kenneth “Kenny Zeus” Strombeck, Zekirri “Zayy” Dennis, Jarvis “Simptoms” Thompson and Jake “Legit” Knapp with picks No. 3, 6, 33 and 50, respectively. They join Gerald “Sick One” Knapp as the core of the new-look team.
“From the jump, draft night was exciting! We made a last-minute trade to pick up Kenny, who is the best point guard in the draft. Then we decided to go with Zayy, who is known for making it difficult for opposing point guards,” Mavs Gaming Head Coach LT Fairley said in a press release.
“Simptoms is the perfect complementary piece for Kenny. And we rounded out the draft with Sick’s brother, Legit, one of the top defensive power forwards in the league. The chemistry the two have on and off the court is unmatched.”
Initially, Mavs Gaming held the first overall pick in the 2022 draft. The club won the NBA 2K League Draft Lottery in November after finishing last season with a 9-19 record. It was an unlikely win as the team only had a 10.2% chance of landing the first overall pick.
In February, however, the team decided to deal the No. 1 pick in a multi-team trade with Heat Check Gaming and the Gen G Tigers. Mavs Gaming also dealt picks No. 26 and 28. In return, the club netted picks No. 6, 8 and 33.
“This is a deep draft with a lot of talent,” Fairley said at the time. “We were offered an opportunity to add two amazing draft picks in the top ten opposed to just one. Overall, I have great confidence in our draft process, so this will put us in a great spot for this upcoming season.”
Mavs Gaming enters its fifth season of NBA 2K League play with an entirely rebuilt roster. Last year, the team traded away long-tenured point guard Artreyo “Dimez” Boyd midseason, kickstarting the rebuilding process.
With the roster now set, the team will look toward building a winning culture and returning to the playoffs. Mavs Gaming begins its season on April 5 with THE TIPOFF Tournament.
