12:45pm: Dalembert has been released, Dallas announced via a press release.
11:43am: The Mavericks are waiving center Samuel Dalembert, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reports (Twitter link). The veteran big man’s minimum salary arrangement was fully guaranteed, so Dallas will be responsible for the $947,276 owed to the player for the 2015/16 campaign.
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. Dalembert’s career stats through 886 regular season contests are 7.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks.
Dallas’ roster count now stands at 19 players, which means the team still needs to part ways with a minimum of four players prior to Monday’s deadline.
Not a fan of this. He can still help. I assume this means they’re going to keep Salah. I think Sam can help more.
Could the behind the scenes reason be that McGee is coming back from his injuries and might possibly be ready for the start of the season. That would be great news along with chandler taking the court.
Mavs needs ALL their starters to be available to compete. If these “over the hill gang” can get their act together, yes a BIG if, then look out NBA.
Might be the end of the line for Dalembert, though he could be a mid-season pickup for a team beset by injuries up front.