The Mavericks have completed a series of roster moves, announcing today in a press release that they’ve waived center Jeff Withey from their 15-man roster. Additionally, Dallas has made a change to its two-way players, waiving swingman Antonius Cleveland and signing guard Kyle Collinsworth to a two-way contract to replace him.
Withey, 27, signed a non-guaranteed two-year deal with the Mavericks back in August, and earned a spot on the team’s regular season roster. However, he didn’t play much in Dallas, appearing in 10 games and logging just 39 total minutes this season. The Mavs will assume a cap hit of about $588K for Withey if he goes unclaimed on waivers.
Meanwhile, Dallas also swapped in a new player on a two-way contract — Johnathan Motley will remain in one of the team’s two slots, while Collinsworth will replace Cleveland in the other. Collinsworth has spent the last two seasons with the Texas Legends, Dallas’ G League affiliate. In 18 games this season, the 6’6″ guard has averaged 11.4 PPG, 8.6 RPG, 4.8 APG, and 1.7 SPG.
As for Cleveland, he had spent a good portion of this season with the Mavericks, having appeared in 13 games for the team, but with his 45-day limit approaching, Dallas has apparently decided to cut him rather than to convert his contract into a standard NBA deal. Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News notes (via Twitter) that Cleveland suffered an ankle injury on Monday night, so it’s possible the Mavs could bring him back when he gets healthy.
The Mavs now have 16 players under contract — two on two-way deals and 14 on standard NBA pacts.
Cutting a guy while he is hurt just seems like something that shouldn’t happen. I can’t believe the player’s union signed off on that.
Players who get waived while injured do still continue to get paid until they’re healthy.
Ah, thanks for the info. I was unaware.
Team had about 5 centers and 3 were significantly better and the other, there was some gushing about. So Withy was not likely to last.
Mejri isn’t that good, motley is the truth