Former Illinois Fighting Illini center Meyers Leonard is projected to anywhere from pick No. 10 to pick No. 20 in the 2012 NBA Draft, and a recent mock draft by NBADraft.net has him in that exact area. Leonard is selected with pick No. 17 by the Dallas Mavericks in the mock, three spots after the end of the lottery.
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Given that big men are always at a premium on draft night, it wouldn't be a surprise to see Leonard sneak into the lottery. He's as athletic as any pure center in the class.
The Mavericks would present a nice landing spot for Leonard. After Dallas let Tyson Chandler leave via free agency last offseason, the Mavericks desperately missed a dominating physical presence inside. While it remains to be seen if Leonard can ever turn into that, he certainly has the physical gifts to tempt some team into a taking a flyer on him.
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