THURSDAY, 3:59pm: Mayo has officially signed his contract with the Mavs, tweets Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
TUESDAY, 11:40pm: The deal is for two years, with a second-year player option, according to Jeff Caplan of ESPNDallas.com (via Twitter).
10:14pm: Free agent guard O.J. Mayo has announced via Twitter that he's decided to sign with the Mavericks. ESPNDallas.com's Jeff Caplan reports that it's a multiyear deal, and that the Mavs had roughly $4MM left in cap space; they either signed him to a deal that fits under that figure, or are planning to participate in a larger sign-and-trade move.
At this stage in the summer, Mayo was considered to be one of the most sought-after players left on the market. He recently met with the Suns, but reportedly walked away from the meeting with no offer from the team. Mayo was asking for $8MM per season.
Last season the 24-year-old guard's role in Memphis changed, as he saw himself take a permanent role off the bench for the first time in his playing career. In his fourth year, Mayo averaged 12.6 PPG and 2.6 APG, and was nearly dealt to the Celtics for Ray Allen at the trade deadline.
We don't yet know how much money the deal amounts to, which is obviously important, but on the surface this move is a positive one for an active Mavericks team that suffered a huge blow two weeks ago after Deron Williams announced he'd be signing with Brooklyn. Mayo could either slide back into a starting role, or fill in for the recently departed Jason Terry as the team's main scoring presence off the bench.
Yes sir! Starting to recover slowly but surely!
I thought Dallas was his best option and they suddenly have a young, and potentially dynamic back court with a solid front court. Very nice offseason turned in by Dallas.
PG: Collison, Beaubois
SG: Mayo, Jones
SF: Marion, Carter
PF: Nowitzki, Brand
C: Kaman, Wright
I like it. Maybe sign Delonte West as well for more backcourt depth.
i like it too.to bad they wont defend.
Mayo will come up with steals since he is as althletic a 2 guard the league has, and his on ball defense will most likely improve too since he is so quick. Collison is solid all around. Marion, even at his age is as good as they come defensively. As for the front court, Kaman is an upgrade over the centers defensively from last years group.
If it hasn’t improved by now it probably won’t, he’s not getting any quicker… Guy has always been more interested in offense.
Add Dominique Jones and rookie Jared Cunningham to the guards, as well (assuming you’ve got Dahntay for backup SG).
Rookie Jae Crowder will also be in the SF mix, maybe a little PF if Mavs go small ball.
If Bernard James makes the team, he’s the 3rd string C, meaning the Mavs have one roster spot left (assuming that the Mayo deal is not a sign-and-trade where Dallas sends a player or two back Memphis’ way). If that roster spot is used, it’s for someone who signs for the veteran’s minimum.
West played solid last year, but I think he’s going to be priced out of Dallas’ range and looking for more than a 1 year deal, which is likely all Dallas will offer.
In my opinion, the Mavs should either ink a veteran sharp shooter or lockdown defender. If going for offense, I think Michael Redd fits the bill. If going for defense, I think a return of Raja Bell makes a heckuva lot of sense, if Shannon Brown and Mickael Pietrus are priced out of range.
Please no Brian Cardinal. If he wants to come back, it needs to be as an assistant coach … lol.
Heck yes!
Dallas is not going to make the playoff with this team. Mayo was been nothing but a bust since he enter the league. Collison is a guard with.no outside shot l. Marion has been wasted up since he was traded to the heat. Kaman was a nice pick up but he still a soft center. Carter and brand are old and wasted up. Dirk is a star but not a superstar he cant carry this horrible team no where what a bad off season for mark and donnie
WTF are you talking about? I smell hate towards the Mavs with this post. Did you expect the Mavs winning in 2011 with that roster? Seriously? This lineup is way better than the championship team.
your buggin out.. do you look at stats.? dirk stats never diminished.. and on top of that his playoffs number increases more them regular season stats every year.. dirk nowitzki is a basic to the floor player.. so he will last longer than the average player.. collison may not have the smarts of jason kidd but way better athleticism to keep up with younger guards. oj mayo averaged 18 points his first two years and only dropped a few points last year because he was coming off the bench not his fault.. shawn marion dropped his scoring since the heat days but still is very productive on both ends of the floor.. and chris caman is a down grade defensively fron tyson chandler but a upgrade offensively.. and he still solid when healthy… you must be a heat fan or something still upset that dallas took yal out two seasons ago.. or may be your a laker fan upset cuz dallas swept yal … this team is already lookin better then our championship team… and it show that dirk does not need a string of stars around him to win a ring.. jus players who does there job rite……. he will handle the rest
yeah lebron sucker! just go back at sucking his d*ck!
Great turnaround by Dallas. Mayo has superstar capabilities, and being a starter next to Dirk, with Carlisle coaching him, could finally bring it out of him. At the very least, he’s a capable 6th man.
I don’t think this is a upgrade from Jason Terry, but at least they made up for the loss a little here with this signing. I’m interested to see how this fits with Dallas (only having 4m). This is a huge blow to the Phx Suns rebuilding project. If any team needed a solid SG, it was Phoenix.
Mavs on fire