Without Kyrie Irving, the Dallas Mavericks struggled mightily to score this past season. They finished 27th in points scored per 100 possessions, their lowest ranking in the NBA’s offensive rating metric in 28 years.The Mavericks surrounded Cooper Flagg with minimal play creation and outside shooting. As a result, Dallas ranked 22nd in assist percentage, 29th in 3-pointers made and 27th in half-court scoring efficiency, according to Cleaning the Glass.Even with a healthy Irving back in the lineup this fall, the Mavericks have an obvious need for more guard creators. Dallas should have an opportunity to target a player who fits that mold with the No. 9 selection in next week’s NBA Draft.This year’s class is loaded with talented backcourt players. Kansas’ Darryn Peterson is a lock to be taken somewhere in the top three. Illinois’ Keaton Wagler could go as high as No. 5 to the LA Clippers. Arkansas’ Darius Acuff Jr. is also likely to be taken somewhere in the first half of the lottery.If the draft plays out this way, that could still leave Houston’s Kingston Flemings, Arizona’s Brayden Burries or Louisville’s Mikel Brown Jr. on the board when the Mavericks are making their selection. Here is a closer look at this guard trio.HEIGHTWEIGHTPTS2P FG%3P FG%RBSASTTOVSTLFlemings6-2 1/2 18316.150.338.74.15.21.81.5Burries6-421516.156.239.14.92.41.51.5Brown6-3 1/219018.250.434.43.34.73.11.2The burnerFlemings is a blur with the basketball in his hands. The San Antonio native is one of the quickest players in this year’s class — an elite north-to-south driver. Flemings loves to get past the first layer of the defense and spring into his midrange pull-up jumper. Flemings also looks comfortable and confident delivering passes on the move. He averaged 5.2 assists compared to 1.8 turnovers. That he earned Houston coach Kelvin Sampson’s trust as a one-and-done freshman was no small feat.Most of the concerns surrounding Flemings are size-related. He measured at 6 feet 2 1/2 without shoes with a 6-foot-3 1/2 wingspan at the NBA Draft Combine, and he weighs 183 pounds. Realistically, he’s only big enough to play one position — point guard — unlike Burries and Brown.Why Kingston Flemings is the point guard NBA teams dream ofSam VecenieSampson is clearly a big Flemings advocate, but even Sampson has cautioned that it could take the 19-year-old Flemings time to hold his own defensively at the NBA level.Some talent evaluators have questions about Flemings’ shooting mechanics. His jumper is a little unorthodox. He brings the ball close to his forehead before flicking it away. He shot a healthy 38.7 percent from 3 at Houston, but on low volume — 2.9 attempts per game.The intel on Flemings’ intangibles is strong. He was a beloved teammate at Houston with a pure point guard’s mindset of sharing the ball. He thrived under Sampson, who doesn’t coddle players. As one college talent evaluator told The Athletic, “Anyone who goes to play for Kelvin Sampson as a five-star … that kind of says it all.”