AUGUST 6TH, 1:27pm: The deal is official, the team announced via press release.
JULY 25TH, 1:19pm: The Mavericks have reached a one-year agreement with veteran center Samuel Dalembert, Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo Sports tweets. According to ESPNDallas.com’s Tim MacMahon, Dalembert will receive the veteran’s minimum (Twitter link).
This comes as no surprise, as ESPN’s Marc Stein reported nearly two weeks ago that the parties had mutual interest. Stein tweeted on Saturday that the Mavs are still looking at other center options, as they are in advanced talks with Tunisian center Salah Mejri and have not ruled out JaVale McGee if he’s healthy.
Dalembert was the Mavs’ No. 1 center as recently as 2013-14, when he started 68 games for them. He was then included in the Tyson Chandler swap with the Knicks. The 34-year-old only played 32 games for New York, including 21 starts, and averaged 4.0 points and 5.3 rebounds.
He gives the club additional depth behind Zaza Pachulia, who wound up with Dallas in a trade with the Bucks after top free agent target DeAndre Jordan decommitted and re-signed with the Clippers.
Psychologically, this move just isn’t going to feel right for the Mavs, but it’s not as if there are really options that are much better. If Dalembert is engaged, he can play well for them. He did start all seven games of a playoff series against the eventual-champion Spurs in 2014.
FILLS A VOID. No talent at all. Grab rebounds then get the ball out of your hands. Welcome back to Dallas by default only.
These are the types of moves that teams make when their master plans are obliterated. Mavs figured they had a guy who was going to give them 35-40 minutes a game there until Jordan backed out.