The Mavericks have signed Chinese swingman Ding Yanyuhang to a contract, according to a team press release.
It’s not immediately clear whether Yanyuhang received a two-way contract, though Dallas opened up one of those slots by trading forward Johnathan Motley to the Clippers on Monday. Dallas also has roster space to give Yanyuhang a standard contract and is currently thin at the wing positions.
The 6’6” Ding has spent the last seven seasons playing professionally for China’s Shandong Golden Stars. In 45 games for Shandong last season, he averaged 26.0 PPG, 5.2 RPG, 3.2 APG and 1.6 SPG and earned his second consecutive Chinese Basketball Association Domestic MVP award.
Ding played on the Mavericks’ summer-league team last year. He was a candidate for a two-way contract with Dallas last summer.
Sorry, but seeing that name just makes the 13 year old me giggle. He hasn’t been around for a while, but he will always be a part of me.
Apparently he’s a swinger, too.
!!!!!!! DING is coming to the NBA! I didnt think this would happen, but was still holding out hope, and it actually happened. I was disappointed when he wasnt in summer league again, and thought that maybe he’d try next year, so this is cool. This is a bit of a risk for him, considering hes leaving decent money in China as an MVP to try and make it in the NBA as a role player at the end of the bench.
He plays really hard, which is why the crowd immediately loved him in summer league, and he can defend on the wing. He also seems to have a high basketball IQ on both sides of the ball. He just seems to be in the right spots. I hope he develops, b/c if he does, that’s gold for the NBA
The question is, how much this is for basketball reasons or for PR reasons? China has the biggest market in the world.
Also agree with formerlyz, very risky for him to leave stardom in China for the end of an NBA bench, probably loosing money in the process, I wouldn’t do it.