Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has said he may draft Baylor University women’s basketball star Brittney Griner, according to ESPNDallas.com.
The 6-foot-8, Griner averaged 22 points and 8 rebounds over her four-year career at Baylor. She finisehd with 3,283 total points and 18 dunks.
Before his team’s Tuesday night game against the Lakers, Cuban said that the possibility of Griner on the Mavs has peaked his interest.
"If she is the best on the board, I will take her," Cuban said. "I've thought about it. I've thought about it already. Would I do it? Right now, I'd lean toward yes, just to see if she can do it. You never know unless you give somebody a chance, and it's not like the likelihood of any late-50s draft pick has a good chance of making it."
“I would hold my own! Let’s do it,” she said in a tweet Tuesday night.
Cuban said that if he were to draft Griner, he projects her going as a second-round pick. He went on to say that even if he doesn’t pick Griner in the NBA Draft in June, he would have “no problem whatsoever” allowing Griner to try-out for the Mavericks summer league team.
"She'd still have to make the team," Cuban said. "I'm not going to carry her just to carry her. I don't think, anyways. But I certainly wouldn't be opposed to giving her the opportunity."
Cuban also said that there could be significant marketing value if Griner were to play on the summer league squad.
"It would, wouldn't it? See how she could do?" he said. "That'd sell out a few games."
Cuban admitted it would be hard to evaluate Griner since there is a enormous talent difference between what she would face in the NBA and her competition in during her college career. However, he said he is not joking when it comes to letting Griner try out for the summer league team.
