The Dallas Mavericks entered the 2026 NBA Draft with the #9 pick, the #30 pick and a fair amount of trade rumors swirling around them. After selecting Morez Johnson, Jr. at #9, things went dreadfully quiet on the trade front. As subsequent picks were made and the minutes ticked by, it seemed apparent that Dallas would be making a selection at #30 instead of packaging that pick with a veteran in an effort to move up the draft board. Any hope at picking up a young guard to help in the rebuild looked bleak.
Dallas, TX
Eater Dallas’s Tips for Enjoying the Total Solar Eclipse in April
The 2024 solar eclipse will happen on Monday, April 8 and Dallas happens to be one of the cities in the path of totality. According to NASA, the partial eclipse will begin at 12:33 p.m. completely block out the sun at 1:40 p.m. and the sun will stay hidden behind the moon for just shy of four minutes, until 1:44 p.m. The partial eclipse will go on until 3:02 p.m.
What does that mean? For everyone, it means order some eclipse glasses and brush up on safety during the event now. For locals, ask your boss now about taking PTO or working from home that day (that is perhaps our hottest tip). And for the innumerable tourists descending upon the Metroplex for this auspicious event, it means you need to know where to watch the eclipse for the best views, plus where to eat and drink while you’re in town.
Eater Dallas has a running map of our picks for the best solar eclipse events to attend, from viewing parties to lunches to beer gardens, and our Eater’s Guide to Dallas is also a great reference for what’s hot and notable around town.
Here are our tips for navigating the Metroplex, both during the eclipse and the weekend before — and for however long you’re around.
What to know about DFW neighborhoods and the ‘burbs
For those staying in Dallas, you’ll find that many of the neighborhoods are walkable but walking from neighborhood to neighborhood can be challenging. Depending on both the weather and time of day, you might want to call Uber or Lyft, or ask your hotel if it provides car service.
That said, some key neighborhoods worth exploring include Deep Ellum, a historically Black neighborhood where the Dallas music scene was born; Bishop Arts, in the north part of Oak Cliff where lots of young folks live and lots of great restaurants can be found; Lower Greenville, which is a great slice of all kinds of Dallas experiences from dive bars to fine dining restaurants run by some of the city’s top chefs, are in one place; and Knox/Henderson, where you can hop on the Katy Trail for a hike or grab a ritzy bite to eat.
15 Essential Restaurants in Deep Ellum
11 Essential Restaurants in Bishop Arts
15 Essential Greenville Avenue Restaurants
14 Essential Knox-Henderson Restaurants
Many visitors find themselves staying Downtown, where there are loads of interesting places to eat within walking distance. Don’t just stick to your hotel restaurant and bar — there are great options nearby. For those heading to viewing events around lunchtime,
13 Essential Downtown Dallas Restaurants
The Metroplex is massive, covering 9,286 square miles and only a tiny part of it is Dallas. If you’re staying in Grapevine, Frisco, Fort Worth, or any of the numerous suburbs then transportation into Dallas proper is most efficiently done by Uber or Lyft but expect it to take between 30 minutes and an hour depending on traffic. But there are great hidden gems for food and drink all over so consult our maps of the ‘burbs to find the best places to eat wherever you are.
13 Essential Frisco Restaurants
How to Spend a Day Eating and Drinking at the Star in Frisco
14 Essential Restaurants in Plano
15 Essential Richardson Restaurants
14 Essential Carrollton Restaurants
11 Essential McKinney Restaurants
12 Essential Restaurants in Denton
What to eat in DFW
So many people who come to Dallas want to eat steak (we’re known for it), barbecue, Tex-Mex, tacos, and burgers. And they should!
14 Essential Dallas Steakhouses
13 Essential DFW Barbecue Joints
12 Essential Tex-Mex Restaurants in Dallas
The 10 Top Tacos in Dallas
The 8 Juiciest Burgers in Dallas
The city also has a wealth of sushi restaurants, a slew of amazing Asian foods from all over the continent, Mexican food (it’s not the same as Tex-Mex), and more.
12 Stellar Sushi Restaurants Around DFW
12 Essential Chinese Restaurants in DFW
13 Incredible Indian Restaurants in DFW
13 Essential DFW Vietnamese Restaurants
11 Essential Mexican Restaurants in DFW
13 Essential DFW Italian Restaurants
9 Marvelous Cajun and Creole Restaurants in Dallas
And if you’re here on a weekend, you have to know some of the best people watching in the city happens at brunch — which is less of a meal and more of contact sport here.
14 Beautiful Brunches to Eat in Dallas
More Eater Dallas maps to use while you’re here
The 38 Essential Dallas Restaurants
The 15 Hottest Restaurants in Dallas
The 14 Essential Hotel Bars in DFW
15 Excellent Dallas Breakfast Destinations
The 11 Hottest New Cocktail Bars in DFW
14 Essential Dallas Bars
14 Excellent Dallas Breweries
14 Essential Dallas Dive Bars
11 Stellar Rooftop Patios in Dallas
13 Delightful Dallas Patios
14 Most Mouthwatering Dallas Pizzerias
The 15 Coolest Coffee Shops in Dallas
12 Dallas Restaurants With Amazing Views
Why Gabby Williams chose to play for Golden State Valkyries
Valkyries’ Gabby Williams shares with USAT’s Meghan L. Hall why she chose Golden State in the wild WNBA free agency.
Sports Seriously
When the Dallas Wings travel to Las Vegas for a clash with the Aces on Thursday night, they’ll be without one of their key players.
Alanna Smith is listed as out for Thursday on the latest WNBA injury report as she is in concussion protocol.
Smith seemingly suffered an injury to her face on Saturday night during the Wings’ 93-92 win over the Chicago Sky. In the first quarter, Smith was shaken up after a head-to-head collision with Gabriela Jaquez as Smith was defending the Sky rookie’s drive to the basket. At halftime, the team announced that Smith would not return to the game.
On Monday, Smith didn’t play in the Wings’ 112-110 overtime win over the Seattle Storm, listed as being out due to a face injury. Smith has worn a protective face mask after she suffered a nasal fracture in the Wings’ preseason game against the Aces on May 3.
Smith is the highest-paid player on the Dallas roster, signing a three-year deal worth about $3.7 million this offseason. Last season with the Minnesota Lynx, she was the co-Defensive Player of the Year, sharing the award with A’ja Wilson.
A 6-foot-4 forward from Australia who played collegiately at Stanford, Smith found a consistent role over the past two seasons with the Minnesota Lynx, starting in all 81 games she appeared in for Cheryl Reeve’s squad. Across two seasons in Minnesota, Smith averaged 9.1 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.7 blocks per game, helping the Lynx make back-to-back playoff appearances — including a trip to the Finals in 2024.
With the Wings, she’s started in just seven of the 15 games she’s appeared in, playing an average of 15.1 minutes per game. She’s posting 3.5 points, 2.9 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game.
Dallas has instead turned to Jessica Shepard in the frontcourt, who also arrived via free agency after spending last season with the Lynx. The Notre Dame product is posting career-highs in points (14.2), rebounds (11.1) and assists (5.6) per game while shooting 57% from the floor.
Still, Smith brings an imposing presence on defense, one that would have come in handy against the Aces.
A 12-year-old Dallas middle-schooler ended up on the streets, where a pimp discovered her. For as little as $50, he sold her for sex. He withheld food unless she worked. She later disappeared into the state’s foster care system after suffering from depression. She attempted suicide.
A 13-year-old seventh- grader was forced to have sex with men in Houston by a pimp who hooked her on drugs. She died shortly after turning 18 from a fentanyl overdose — a few months before her abuser was sentenced to prison.
A 17-year-old Lubbock runaway was required to have sex with men in hotels and truck stops until she earned her pimp $1,000 daily. That quota meant seeing up to 20 “clients” per day. She spiraled into drug addiction.
These children have more in common than the abuse they endured — and the lifelong trauma that comes with it. Each was mandated by federal law to receive financial compensation from the pimps and pedophiles who abused them.
You can read more in-depth reporting from our media partner, The Dallas Morning News.
With the #30 pick, Dallas selected Koa Peat, Adam Silver said goodnight and that was that. Except it wasn’t. As the first round of the Draft was concluding, rumors started buzzing that the Mavericks were in fact making a move. Details are still being confirmed, but as it stands, Dallas will be trading the #30 pick Koa Peat and two future second-round draft picks to the New York Knicks in exchange for Sergio DeLarrea’s services. The exact second-rounders were still being determined late Tuesday night.
Here are the details we have at this time:
Los Angeles Lakers Received: 24th Overall Pick (Cameron Carr, Baylor)
Dallas Mavericks Received: 25th Overall (Sergio de Larrea, Spain)
Phoenix Suns Received: 30th Overall (Koa Peat, Arizona)
New York Knicks Received: Cash (Lakers), two second-round picks (Mavericks), and three more second-round picks (Suns)
DeLarrea was on the radar of a number of Mavs Moneyball staffers, perhaps none more than Tyler Edsel who wrote an excellent crash course on him and what he can bring to the Mavs. To be clear, it is unlikely he is going to have a massive day-one impact on the team, but the Mavericks really needed to do something to acquire more young talent that fit a position of need. While he may not be as flashy a name as Brayden Burries (whom the Mavs skipped over in favor of Morez) or Labaron Philon, Jr. (who somewhat surprisingly slipped to #22), Dallas really needed to do bolster the guard position and they came through.
If DeLarrea’s shooting transfers to the NBA level, it would be a big boon for a team that struggled from downtown much of last season. While not an immediate impact player, Dallas did well to move up a bit in a low-cost move that keeps all of their other assets intact for what will surely be a summer of retooling via trades and free agency.
Stay tuned for updates, as it is unclear which second-round picks the Mavericks will let go of in this deal.
I invite you to follow me @_80MPH on X, and check back often at Mavs Moneyball for all the latest on the Dallas Mavericks.
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