Need to know who the top NBA prospects are and how they might fit with the Mavericks? SportsDayDFW caught up with NBA draft and college basketball experts to talk about some notable players and what the Mavs could do.

This time, we talked to ESPN's Fran Fraschilla about his favorite prospects, what the Mavs could do with the fifth pick and the class as a whole. Here are some highlights, and be sure to keep an eye out for the rest of the Q&A with Fraschilla coming soon.

What’s your assessment of this class?

Fraschilla: Everything about the NBA draft is cyclical and sometimes random. This particular class does have its share of talented, young big men. The interesting thing about all these young big men is you have to look at them and ask where do they fit in the modern NBA. The positionless, smaller, faster NBA. Each of them has some strengths that you can plug into the modern NBA, and each of them have some weaknesses that you have to put up the red flags about. That particular part of evaluating strengths and weaknesses is really part of NBA draft, regardless on if the talent is cyclical or not.

In the Mavericks' case, they’re really at the mercy of the teams before them. By the time you get to five, that group of five or six quality young big guys is going to be winnowed down to two or three. They’re really at the mercy of what the teams in front of them do barring any trade up from five.

Most of the mocks have Mohamed Bamba at No. 5 to Dallas. Give me your assessment of him?

Fraschilla: The strength is certainly the incredible length and wingspan. The fact he has a condor-like frame, which is conducive for the modern game right now. He used that length this year in college particularly as a shot-blocker and rebounder, and at times was just breathtaking in terms of the way he could use that length. There is the potential for a guy that could play away from the basket and shoot threes, which would certainly fit in to the modern game.

The questions would comes in terms of body type. Right now he is not going to hold his ground in the low post. He is not going to be a low post scorer for the foreseeable future. He’s going to be a guy that sets ball screens and runs to the rim and catches lobs, and plays in what we call the dunker spot which is right off the base line. Someone drives into the lane and he sneaks in from the baseline, catches lobs, offensive rebounds, putbacks, things of that nature. His body type is still a work in progress because he does not hold his ground.

What you’re getting is a player who definitely still needs physical development. Let me stop and say, you can use this anyway you want, you can use it as background, but I hear people say he dominated college. Whether he did or not, and he didn’t, the simple fact is he’s going from 19 years old, and I think he’s going to turn 20 soon, to playing against men who are physically already mature.

There will be an adjustment for him and virtually all those guys taken. I try and compare it to college basketball being Double AA baseball and the Euro league, where [Luka] Doncic plays, is AAA and the NBA being the major leagues. In Mo’s case, I will say this, and I’ll just keep saying it and he may get mad at me saying it and I don’t really care, but he didn’t play hard all the time. He didn’t. This was a fact. I watched him a lot in person. While he’s a bright, engaging kid with all this physical potential, the fact is his motor reved up to a 6 or 7 on most nights. That will be a work in progress as he transitions to the NBA.

How do you think Bamba fits in Rick Carlisle’s system?

Fraschilla: Rick's a brilliant offensive mind. From year to year you have to adjust your offensive scheme based on what you're roster looks like. Rick's going to utilize him in a way that puts him the best position to help the team offensively, and that would be in high pick-and-roll where he can run to the rim kind of like Anthony Davis does, and catch lobs. The potential to shoot the ball from outside is definitely there, although that's still a work in progress. It's not so much how much does he fit into Rick's scheme, as much as how does Rick adjust his scheme to utilize a kid with some attributes that really work well on the offensive end, and yet not put him in positions where he's going to fail. You're not posting him up next year, at least not initially. He just doesn't have the physical strength to be able to post up mature men. Rick's going to utilize him wisely simply because Rick is a very flexible and high-level offensive mind.

What can you tell me about Jaren Jackson? What does he bring to Dallas if he’s available in this draft?

Fraschilla: He's one of my favorite players in this draft. If I'm not mistaken he's at least one year younger than Mo. I think he'll be the youngest player taken in the first round. He turns 19 in late September, which is right before training camp. Right off the bat you're talking about a kid who played his entire freshman year of college as an 18-year-old. What you have with him is let's go back and start with incredible character and DNA. Mom's an attorney, father played 13 years in the league. He's a no maintenance guy. He understands the NBA. He was coached by a guy that pushed many player and hard coached them into the league in Tom Izzo. Now when you look at him in terms of on the court you're looking at a young thoroughbred. He's got size. He's got shot-blocking instincts. He's got, so far, the ability to accurately make shots from deep. He did get in foul trouble a lot, which I think is a product of some inexperience this past year. And also he needs physical development, as they all do. He is an intriguing prospect.

You hate to use the term unicorn, because if too many people are described as unicorns then they’re not really unicorn. But he does have some of that Porzingis ability to shoot the three and block shots at the rim. Also at Michigan State this year they had a glut of inside players, all quality players. He didn’t need to play 35 minutes a night, which probably hindered his development a little bit. I like his long-term potential. I think it’s not unreasonable to think that in this draft, that six or seven years from now, that even though he went fifth that he might be one of the best players in the draft or one of the two best players in the draft. He’s got that kind of long-term potential.

Most mocks have Bamba at No. 5. Where do you see Jackson going, and could he drop to No. 5?

Fraschilla: He could. In this draft, personally I would peg him at 4. I see the range as 4-7. He's been trending up since the season. There are some questions about Bamba and Michael Porter. Jaren is safe. There are no red flags. No injuries, no questions about intensity. With Jaren you're getting a young big man on the rise. He may not develop into the player we think he could be, but he's a safe pick.