During Thursday night’s NBA Draft, the Dallas Mavericks began redefining their identity by picking two dynamic and defensive-minded players in Duke’s Dereck Lively II and Marquette’s Olivier-Maxence Prosper.

Lively followed a more direct route to the NBA, having been born and raised in Pennsylvania before beginning his basketball career. Prosper, on the other hand, was born in Canada and attended a school with no basketball team before enrolling at Lake Forest Academy in Illinois. Prosper then transferred to the NBA Academy Latin America before attending college, and he considers it the best decision he’s ever done.

“I always say, going to the NBA Academy in Latin America was one of the best decisions I made for my basketball career. Going down there was different, the different culture, but I embraced it all and it was an awesome time,” Prosper said. “From all the people, my coaches to my teammates, having teammates from all over Latin America, and all the tournaments we played in and all the competition, I grew so much.

“I made brothers there, brothers from — guys all over the world that you never thought you would meet but you meet them there. Just the entire experience helped me become a better player just because of the training we had supported by the NBA and also the competition that we played with and against.”

Prosper surged up the draft boards after blasting onto the scene at the NBA Combine after being projected as a second-round choice. The Mavericks traded Davis Bertans and the No. 10 pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder for the No. 12 pick, resulting in a $17 million TPE. Dallas subsequently used the trade exception to acquire Richaun Holmes from the Sacramento Kings in exchange for the No. 24 selection, resulting in Prosper becoming a Maverick.

The Mavericks are hopeful that Prosper’s unusual journey would allow him to make an immediate impact as a rookie during the 2023-24 season. Given that Dallas’ defense was ranked 25th last season, OMax’s efforts will undoubtedly be needed.