Mavs Draft Prospect Works Out With Dirk’s Mentor

If the Dallas Mavericks can’t get Rudy Gobert this summer, perhaps they draft a French center with ties to Dirk Nowitzki.

Dalton Trigg | Apr 5, 2022

It’s no secret that the Dallas Mavericks, despite having their best season in a decade, need some big man help heading into next season.

Dwight Powell has exceeded all expectations as the Mavs starting center this year. Powell has recovered remarkably from the Achilles injury he suffered in 2020 and probably has the best chemistry on the team with superstar Luka Doncic.

0C5B14E9-9F3F-47F1-8918-67B5FA0E6EC0 — Jeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images

Luka Doncic, Dallas Mavericks, Milwaukee Bucks — Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

Dallas Mavericks, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks, Dwight Powell — Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

That said, the Mavs need need an upgrade inside in order to raise their ceiling and to lessen Powell’s load. Given that Dallas owns its pick in the draft this year, could the 6-11 French prospect Ismael Kamagate be a viable option?

More than likely, the Mavs would rather make a big splash by trading for a different French big man — Utah Jazz star Rudy Gobert — if at all possible. But, if that or any other big-time trade is not in the cards, then Mavs general manager Nico Harrison will need to focus on utilizing his first ever draft pick with Dallas.

Kamagate, who is 21 years old and has a 7-5 wingspan, is averaging 11.7 points and six rebounds for Paris Basketball in 26 minutes per game. In 26 games so far, he’s also averaging 1.5 blocks per contest.

Some plays from Ismael Kamagate this weekend vs ASVEL. Athleticism and shock blocking mainly on display, but a bonus nice assist for a big (nothing too crazy) included as well pic.twitter.com/AQ5VHBJbW4
— Rich Stayman (@MavsDraft) November 8, 2021

The most intriguing thing about Kamagate for Dallas fans, though, might be the fact that he has a tie to Mavs legend and current front office special advisor Dirk Nowitzki.

E1F3A075-3677-43AA-861C-82719381ED00 — ProBallers.com / Alchetron.com

D45890F3-3C92-45CA-9CD3-FE2B155C6915 — Basketball Forever/Facebook

Kamagate has been working out with Holger Geschwindner, Nowitzki's long-time personal coach.

“I had a very busy summer with very little time off because, in addition to training with the French National Team for the Olympics, I also played for the French U20 Team, too,” Kamagate said in an interview.

“When that was over though, I went to Germany to work on my game with Holger Geschwindner. It was a great experience working with Holger, who I had met last year through my agent [Bouna Ndiaye], who is based in Dallas. In addition to working on my shot and basketball skills, we also worked a lot on my footwork.”

There will surely be a large number of prospects tied to the Mavs on draft night (June 23), but given the team’s roster needs, Dallas could end up taking a chance on Kamagate due to his physical tools and upside. But the opinions of Nowitzki and Geschwindner could also end up playing a factor, as well.

Published Apr 5, 2022

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.