Mavericks Rumors

Fischer’s Latest: Gafford, Pacers, CP3, Clippers, Turner, Warriors

Earlier today, Shams Charania of ESPN passed along several rumors related to the NBA’s trade market, including the fact that the Pacers are on the lookout for a long-term answer at center and that Daniel Gafford is among the players the Mavericks are willing to discuss in trade talks.

In his own look at the trade market on Tuesday, Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link) links those two items, reporting that the Pacers are believed to have interest in Gafford, who could make sense as a pick-and-roll partner for Tyrese Haliburton once the star point guard returns from his Achilles tear.

As we noted earlier in the day, Gafford signed a three-year extension during the offseason that will run through 2028/29, but he remains trade-eligible because that three-year, $54MM+ deal didn’t exceed the NBA’s extend-and-trade restrictions.

It’s unclear exactly what sort of return the Mavs would be seeking for the veteran center, but Obi Toppin ($14MM) or a package of Bennedict Mathurin ($9.2MM) and Tony Bradley ($2.9MM) are a couple examples of potential matches for Gafford ($14.4MM) from a salary perspective. Indiana also controls all of its own future first-round picks and most of its second-rounders.

Here are a few more highlights from Fischer’s latest rumor round-up:

  • According to Fischer, the Clippers fully intend to work with Chris Paul and his representatives at CAA to find a new home for the veteran point guard, who may be the top candidate to be dealt on December 15 when dozens of players become newly trade-eligible. Playing close to his home in Los Angeles was Paul’s top priority in the offseason, but Fischer wonders if playing time will be a more important factor for the future Hall of Famer this time around, pointing out that CP3’s dissatisfaction grew as his minutes decreased in L.A.
  • Outside of Paul, the Clippers aren’t considered likely to pursue any significant deals right away when trade season unofficially opens next Monday, says Fischer, adding that he views Ivica Zubac, James Harden, and Kawhi Leonard as unlikely candidates to be moved — at least for now. Sam Amick of The Athletic made a similar point during an appearance on FanDuel’s Run it Back show on Tuesday (Twitter video link), pointing out half-jokingly that Clippers owner Steve Ballmer has an “inexplicable, borderline insane addiction to this group.”
  • Maintaining cap flexibility beginning in 2027 remains a top priority for the Clippers, according to Fischer, who hears from sources that the team never offered Norman Powell a contract extension before trading him to the Heat over the summer. The Clippers’ front office expected Powell to seek a new deal in the neighborhood of $30MM, per Fischer.
  • While Giannis Antetokounmpo would obviously be of greater interest if the Bucks become sellers, Fischer suggests that Milwaukee center Myles Turner could be a target worth watching for the Warriors as they explore the market for potential deals involving Jonathan Kuminga. Golden State has had interest in Turner in the past, having discussed scenarios involving Kuminga, Buddy Hield, and Andrew Wiggins back when the big man was still in Indiana, Fischer writes.

Charania’s Latest: Mavs, Pacers, T. Young, Nets, Kuminga, Kings

While the Mavericks are expected to explore trade options involving star forward/center Anthony Davis, he isn’t the only notable Dallas player who could be on the move this winter, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. Sources tell Charania that the Mavs are also open to exploring the trade markets for center Daniel Gafford, swingman Klay Thompson, and point guard D’Angelo Russell.

Gafford signed a three-year, $54.4MM extension over the summer that will take effect in 2026/27, but remains trade-eligible because that deal didn’t exceed the extend-and-trade limits; Thompson is earning $16.7MM this season and is owed a $17.5MM guaranteed salary in 2026/27; and Russell is making $5.7MM in 2025/26, with a $6MM player option for next season.

As Charania observes, Thompson was sold on joining the Mavericks during the 2024 offseason in large part because he’d get to team up with Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. But Doncic is no longer on the roster and Irving has been sidelined for over nine months due to an ACL tear. The Mavs are off to a 9-16 start this season and teams around the NBA know that Thompson would prefer to be on a team close to title contention, Charania continues.

While head coach Jason Kidd and minority owner Mark Cuban have some input in personnel decisions, Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi, who are currently running the Mavs’ front office as co-interim general managers, have been empowered to lead conversations about the team’s future, says Charania. Both Finley and Riccardi are expected to be candidates to keep the GM job on a permanent basis when the club conducts a full-fledged search after the season, sources tell ESPN.

Here are a few more items of interest from Charania’s latest ‘Inside Pass’ article for ESPN.com:

  • The Pacers are engaged in trade talks in the hopes of finding a long-term answer at the center position, Charania reports. The team has been deploying Isaiah Jackson, Jay Huff, and Tony Bradley in the middle so far this season in the wake of Myles Turner‘s departure in free agency.
  • While there has been some trade speculation centered around Trae Young this fall, the Hawks believe the star point guard will “elevate” the team once he returns from a sprained MCL that has kept him on the shelf since late October, according to Charania, who hears from sources that Young is optimistic about returning to action later this month.
  • The Nets are still the only NBA team with cap room and continue to have trade discussions about how they might use that remaining room to take on salary along with additional assets, sources tell ESPN. Charania adds that Brooklyn may end up working with Cam Thomas‘ representatives to find a trade destination that works for the fifth-year guard, who has an implicit no-trade clause after accepting his one-year qualifying offer in September.
  • Charania confirms that the Warriors will explore trades involving Jonathan Kuminga, who is eligible to be moved as of January 15, and that the Kings are being “open-minded” about possible deals involving most players on their roster, with Domantas Sabonis, Zach LaVine, DeMar DeRozan, and Keon Ellis among the potential targets being monitored by rivals.

Pistons, Hawks, Raptors Expected To Be Anthony Davis Suitors

A number of Eastern Conference contenders, including the Pistons, Hawks, and Raptors, are expected to be among the suitors for Mavericks big man Anthony Davis at this season’s trade deadline, reports Shams Charania of ESPN.

As Charania details, Atlanta, Toronto, and especially Detroit all look like potential playoff teams in a wide-open Eastern Conference, and may view Davis as the sort of player who could turn them into a legitimate championship contender.

Davis has battled injuries over the course of his career, especially since being traded from the Lakers to Mavericks at last season’s trade deadline. But he’s healthy now, having played in five of six games since returning from a calf strain late last month, including both ends of a back-to-back on Friday and Saturday.

In spite of a two-point outing in Oklahoma City last week, Davis has registered solid overall averages of 18.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, 4.2 assists, and 2.0 blocks in 28.4 minutes per night in his first five games back from that calf injury.

Potential suitors will likely be somewhat wary of Davis’ maximum-salary deal, which includes a $54.1MM cap hit this season and a $58.5MM salary in 2026/27, along with a $62.8MM player option for ’27/28. However, the Pistons, Hawks, and Raptors would each be capable of stacking contracts to send out enough outgoing salary to accommodate him.

A Detroit package would likely start with Tobias Harris‘ expiring salary ($26.6MM); Atlanta could offer Kristaps Porzingis‘ $30.7MM expiring salary; and Toronto could use RJ Barrett ($27.7MM), who has one additional year left beyond this one. Hawks guard Trae Young ($46MM) and Raptors guard Immanuel Quickley ($32.5MM) could also be trade candidates, depending on the structure of a deal.

The Pistons and Hawks would have more salary-matching leeway than the Raptors, who are operating just $1MM below the first apron and would have to match any incoming salary nearly dollar for dollar.

All three teams have plenty of tradable draft picks that could be used to sweeten potential offers. The Pistons and Raptors control all their own future first-rounders, while Atlanta has traded away its own 2027 pick but controls a pair of 2026 selections, including the most favorable of the Pelicans’ and Bucks’ first-rounders, which would be a guaranteed top-five pick if the season ended today.

Rich Paul of Klutch Sports, who represents Davis, recently met with Michael Finley and Matt Riccardi, the Mavericks’ co-interim general managers and sought clarity about the team’s plans for his client, according to Charania. The Mavs’ lead executives conveyed to Paul that they’re keeping their options open for now and will make a decision based in part on how the club performs in the next few weeks.

Dallas hasn’t ruled out the idea of hanging onto Davis and extending him during the offseason, Charania notes.

Mavericks Notes: Davis, Nembhard, Thompson, Gafford, Lively

Anthony Davis and his Mavericks teammates were eager to move on to the next game following Friday’s 21-point loss at Oklahoma City, writes Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal. Davis missed his first eight shots from the field and was held to two points by one of the NBA’s elite defenses. His only points came with 8:08 left in the fourth quarter, shortly before he checked out of the game for good.

“I hold myself accountable for the play,” Davis said. “When I catch the ball, (they) have guys loaded up … there’s not much room to operate. But we don’t have time to dwell on it.”

As Christian Clark of the Athletic describes, the Thunder used Jaylin Williams as the primary defender on Davis, with Chet Holmgren lurking to provide help. That combination prevented Davis from getting many good looks at the basket.

“That was their game plan,” Davis said. “That’s most teams’ game plan. When I catch the ball, have guys loaded up. Specifically, when I have it in the post. … And they didn’t have Chet on me. Chet was kind of the help on the baseline.”

There’s more on the Mavericks:

  • Ryan Nembhard continued to be impressive despite the lopsided loss, Afseth states in a separate story. Coach Jason Kidd said the rookie point guard, who made 4-of-8 shots from the floor and committed just one turnover, held up well under heavy pressure from OKC’s defense. “I thought he did great,” Kidd said. “Being able to find his teammates. … I thought he did a good job of getting guys shots. I thought he attacked.”
  • Klay Thompson will miss Saturday’s game against Houston with left knee soreness, while Daniel Gafford is out due to right ankle injury management, Afseth relays in another piece. P.J. Washington, who was a game-time decision because of a sprained right ankle, has been cleared to play (Twitter link).
  • As the team previously announced, center Dereck Lively II will seek additional medical opinions on the cause of the swelling and soreness in his right foot. Lively has only been available for seven games this season and hasn’t played since November 21. “For a 21-year-old, it’s tough,” Kidd told reporters, per Afseth. “He wants to play. Unfortunately, he can’t play right now. So hopefully as he goes through this process of finding other opinions on what he should do, it brings resolve and he can get back to playing because we miss him. He misses playing.”

Warriors Notes: Horford, Green, Curry, Richard, A. Davis

Al Horford was excited about the opportunity to join the Warriors, but his first few weeks with the team haven’t worked out as planned. The veteran center has only been available for 13 of Golden State’s first 23 games and is averaging 5.6 points and 4.4 rebounds in 21.5 minutes per night. He admits to Nick Friedell of The Athletic that he’s disappointed with his performance so far.

“I’m not where I want to be,” Horford said. “I would say I haven’t been very good. I understand that there’s a lot of work ahead of me, there’s more that I need to do, and I need to be better, and I feel like I will. But right now, I’m not where I want to be.”

Injuries have played a part in Horford’s early-season frustrations, as he just returned Thursday after missing about two weeks with sciatica. Golden State isn’t using him in both ends of back-to-backs, just like Boston’s policy over the past two years, to avoid putting too much strain on his body during the long season. After playing 18 minutes on Thursday at Philadelphia, Horford said he believes he’s making progress physically.

“I felt pretty good tonight,” he said. “Obviously, not playing or anything, that’s always challenging, so trying to get my legs back under me, but it’s just nice to get back on the floor. Things didn’t go our way tonight, the game didn’t go our way, I’m still trying to find myself as well, but I was encouraged with some of the things tonight.”

There’s more on the Warriors:

  • Horford will miss Saturday’s game at Cleveland as part of a lengthy injured list that also includes Stephen Curry, Jimmy Butler, Draymond Green, Seth Curry and De’Anthony Melton, according to Anthony Slater of ESPN (Twitter link). He adds that there’s optimism about Green, who injured his right foot during Thursday’s game and left the arena in a walking boot. Slater states that Green was able to do some shooting on his own after this morning’s shootaround (Twitter link).
  • Coach Steve Kerr said Stephen Curry is making progress in his recovery from a thigh contusion and “it’s realistic” that he could return Friday against Minnesota (Twitter link).
  • At 22, Will Richard was viewed as old for a prospect heading into this year’s draft, but he believes he benefited from playing four seasons in college, writes Kenzo Fukuda of ClutchPoints. Richard has been a surprise contributor for Golden State after being selected with the 56th pick. “I feel like those four years at Florida helped me out with my experience,” he said. “I feel like it helped me adjust much quicker than if I were an 18-year-old freshman or something like that. So no knock to the guys that get drafted who are younger than me. … I know my journey is different from everyone else, so I’m happy how it went.”
  • Rumors that the Warriors are among the teams pursuing Mavericks big man Anthony Davis are untrue, according to Brett Siegel of ClutchPoints, who tweets that Golden State hasn’t contacted Dallas about a potential deal and doesn’t plan to during the season.

Stein: Mavs Plan To Eventually Promote Ryan Nembhard

Within an interesting story about how Ryan Nembhard ended up on a two-way contract with the Mavericks after going undrafted in June, Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link) reports that Dallas has “already committed” to promoting the rookie to a standard deal as soon as the team is able to do so.

As we outlined on Thursday, Nembhard has been making a strong case to have his two-way deal converted to a standard contract since he took over as the Mavericks’ starting point guard five games ago. However, with only about $1.29MM in breathing room below their second-apron hard cap, the Mavs are ineligible to add a prorated minimum-salary contract to their roster until January 6.

Promoting Nembhard as soon as they can next month would put the Mavericks in a difficult financial position, as they would be just $12K away from their hard cap. Dallas was in a similar situation last season and was unable to add reinforcements when the roster was decimated by injuries during the second half.

As Stein writes, it’s possible that a minimum-salary deal wouldn’t be enough to entice Nembhard either, especially if he keeps up his recent play. So the Mavericks might have to offer more than the minimum during the season if they want to prevent him from reaching restricted free agency in 2026.

Nembhard can still be active for 33 more games as part of his two-way contract, and there isn’t necessarily a rush for the Mavs to convert him, even if they intend to do so down the line.

According to Stein, while the former Gonzaga standout worked out for 29 of the NBA’s 30 teams prior to the draft, the Mavericks were the only club to consistently express a desire to acquire him.

Sources tell Stein that Matt Riccardi, who was then an assistant general manager and has since been elevated to co-interim GM, repeatedly told Nembhard’s agents the team hoped to trade for a second-round pick to draft the 22-year-old, but if it was unable to do so and no other team selected him, the Mavericks would “definitely” offer him a two-way contact.

On the day of the second round, the Mavs’ front office was unable to land a second-rounder. Teams selecting in the 50s expressed some interest drafting Nembhard, Stein continues, but his agents rejected those overtures because going undrafted would make him an unrestricted free agent and thus able to sign the two-way deal with Dallas.

I don’t think about it much anymore,” Nembhard told Stein about not being selected. “My focus is on today because that’s all that matters. But deep down I think I have a natural fire to compete. And it’s hotter than maybe it would have been otherwise because no one believed in me.”

Nembhard isn’t the only rookie on a two-way deal with Dallas who has made a good impression this season. Prior to Friday’s game, Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News asked head coach Jason Kidd about big man Moussa Cisse, who has played an unexpected role off the bench amid several frontcourt injuries (Twitter link).

Our two-ways have done great…Moussa and the energy that he’s brought, he’s helped win some games for us early,” Kidd said. “Our two-ways have had a big impact and at some point here in January, they could run out of games. That’s just the unfortunate thing, but we’ve needed them because of injuries and they’ve responded with the opportunities they’ve been given.”

Mavs’ Dereck Lively Seeking Multiple Opinions For Foot Injury

Mavericks center Dereck Lively II is seeking multiple opinions on the next steps to take to treat his injured right foot, according to the team (Twitter link).

Lively was spotted in a walking boot during Wednesday’s shootaround, tweets Christian Clark of The Athletic.

The 12th overall pick in the 2023 draft, Lively last played on November 21 against New Orleans. He has been sidelined with swelling and discomfort in his right foot — the same foot which was surgically repaired over the summer.

Marc Stein reported last week that Dallas was concerned Lively could miss an extended period of time, with the team subsequently stating he would be out at least seven-to-10 days — this is the first update on his status since then.

Lively appeared in the first three games of the season before missing the next nine due to a right knee sprain. The third-year center suited up for four of Dallas’ next six contests, sitting twice during back-to-back sets, before the foot became an issue again.

Even when Lively has been available this season, he has been on a minutes limit. In seven outings (four starts), the 21-year-old has averaged 4.3 points, 5.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.6 blocks in 16.4 minutes per night.

The right foot is the same one that Lively injured at the beginning of the year. He was diagnosed in January with a small fracture in his foot/ankle area, which sidelined him until April and limited him to 36 total games in 2024/25. He averaged 8.7 PPG, 7.5 RPG, 2.4 APG, and 1.6 BPG in 23.1 MPG in those 36 appearances.

Ryan Nembhard Making Strong Case For Promotion From Two-Way Deal

With Kyrie Irving still recovering from his ACL tear, the Mavericks and head coach Jason Kidd found themselves searching for an answer at the point guard position to open the season. No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg was miscast in that role this fall, while other options like offseason addition D’Angelo Russell and 2024/25 standout Brandon Williams struggled to produce as hoped.

As Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News wrote earlier this week, the Mavericks may have found their answer at point guard within the past week, with rookie Ryan Nembhard thriving in a starting role.

Nembhard, who is on a two-way contract, has started in each of Dallas’ past four games, including three victories. During that stretch, the younger brother of Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard has averaged 17.0 points, 7.5 assists, and just 1.3 turnovers in 28.3 minutes per game, with a scorching-hot 65.1% shooting percentage (66.7% on three-pointers).

After the younger Nembhard’s 15-point, 13-assist performance in a win over Miami on Wednesday, the team shared the historical context for his recent production, noting that he’s the first undrafted rookie to ever score at least 15 points and hand out 10 or more assists in back-to-back games. He also became the first rookie since turnovers were first recorded (1977/78) to register 40 or more points, 20 or more assists, and no more than one turnover in a two-game span (Twitter link).

A player on a two-way contract is eligible to be active for up to 50 regular season games, and Nembhard is only at 16, so there’s no rush for the Mavericks to promote him to a standard contract. There’s also no guarantee his recent hot streak will continue. But he has impressed his veteran teammates with his recent play, as Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal writes.

“He’s constantly asking questions,” star big man Anthony Davis said. “There’s been times where he’s talking to me in the middle of a play — ‘AD, roll right here.’ He’s taking big strides. … I don’t know if he’s gonna be a two-way too much longer. All the guys love playing with him. He makes the right plays.”

The Mavericks currently have a full 15-man roster, but one of those 15 players is guard Dante Exum, who has been ruled out for the season due to knee surgery. While waiving Exum to make room for Nembhard would make sense, the team can’t do it quite yet. With only about $1.29MM in breathing room below their second-apron hard cap, the Mavs are ineligible to add a prorated minimum-salary contract to their roster until January 6.

As a rookie, Nembhard’s prorated minimum salary would be just $950,995 if he were promoted to a standard contract today, but he would count for $1,715,607 for tax and apron purposes due to “tax variance,” since he was signed as an undrafted free agent instead of being drafted. That number would dip to $1,280,107 on Jan. 6, allowing Dallas to fit it below the hard cap.

Still, with 34 active games left before he reaches his limit, the Mavs may not rush to promote Nembhard as soon as they can next month — doing so would leave the team just $12K away from its hard cap. Dallas was in a similar situation last season and was unable to add reinforcements as the roster was decimated by injuries during the second half.

Nembhard still looks like a very good bet to be elevated to the standard roster later in the season. For his part, he indicated on Wednesday that he’s not stressing about it.

“I’ll let my agents and everybody figure that out,” Nembhard told Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. “Obviously that’s there, and obviously I’m on a two-way. But at the end of the day, if I go on the court and handle business and do my job at a high level, then that will take care of itself when the time comes. So I’m not too concerned about that. I’m just trying to win games and enjoy hooping.”

Cooper Flagg, Kon Knueppel Named Rookies Of The Month

Former Duke teammates Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel have been named the NBA’s October/November Rookies of the Month for the Western and Eastern Conference, respectively, the league announced today (via Twitter).

According to the league, it’s the first time since the NBA began handing out Rookie of The Month honors by conference in 2001/02 that the Western and Eastern winners were from the same college program.

The No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, Flagg got off to a bit of a slow start for the struggling Mavericks, but had a big November that he wrapped up by scoring a career-high 35 points in a win over the Clippers on Saturday.

In total, the 18-year-old forward averaged 16.7 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and 1.4 steals in 34.0 minutes per game across 20 outings in October and November. Flagg made just 25.3% of his three-point tries, but posted solid field goal (46.2%) and free throw (80.3%) percentages.

Flagg beat out Grizzlies forward Cedric Coward and Pelicans teammates Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen, who were also nominated in the West, per the NBA (Twitter link).

In the East, Knueppel won the award over fellow nominees VJ Edgecombe of the Sixers and Hornets teammate Ryan Kalkbrenner. The fourth overall pick has immediately emerged as a go-to offensive option in Charlotte after starring alongside Flagg with the Blue Devils in his first and only college season.

In his first 20 games, Knueppel averaged 18.4 points per game on .470/.413/.898 shooting while also contributing 5.7 rebounds and 3.0 assists per contest.

Flagg is currently the slight betting favorite for this season’s Rookie of the Year award. Both he and Knueppel are considered significant favorites over the rest of the field.

Mavs Notes: Nembhard, Davis, Marshall, Thompson

Rookie guard Ryan Nembhard, who is on a two-way contract with the Mavericks, submitted a historic performance on Monday in an upset win over the Nuggets in Denver. Appearing in just his ninth NBA game, Nembhard racked up 28 points on 12-of-14 shooting and handed out 10 assists without turning the ball over once.

According to the Mavs (Twitter link), Nembhard is the first undrafted rookie in the modern era (dating back to 1967) to have at least 25 points and 10 assists in a game without committing a turnover. He’s also the first rookie of any kind to post that stat line since Stephon Marbury did it in 1996.

“He kind of took over the game,” head coach Jason Kidd said of Nembhard, per Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal. “He’s been great since we put him in the starting lineup. Being able to find guys. Also his shot. To have 28 and 10, he controlled the game. The ball touches the paint and he finds Max Christie in the corner for a big three. He took what the defense had. He was really good tonight.”

After making just five brief appearances in Dallas’ first 18 games, Nembhard has appeared in each of the last four, starting three times and averaging 24.0 minutes per night. As a starter, he’s averaging 17.7 points and 5.7 assists per contest and has made 9-of-15 three-pointers (60.0%).

Here’s more on the Mavs:

  • As good as Nembhard was on Monday, it was Anthony Davis who led the team in scoring, with 32 points and 13 rebounds in his second game back from a calf strain. Davis, who on a minutes restriction in his return on Friday, exceeded 32 minutes on Monday despite battling the mile-high elevation in Denver. “I was tired for sure, but it’s mental,” he said after the win, according to Afseth. “Trying to push through the fatigue and physically and mentally lock in.”
  • Although the Mavericks struggled during the second half of last season and the first several weeks of this season, forward Naji Marshall has no regrets about signing with the team as a free agent during the 2024 offseason. Speaking to Mark Medina of Essentially Sports, Marshall referred to Dallas as a “beautiful city” and said he loves both his teammates and the Mavs’ coaching staff. “(Kidd) has helped my game in a tremendous way,” Marshall said of his head coach. “He showed me things on and off the court with his experience as being a Hall-of-Fame point guard. The coaching staff that he surrounds himself with are also great dudes. They know the game. So learning from them has been a plus.”
  • Veteran sharpshooter Klay Thompson got off to a brutal start this fall, averaging 7.4 points per game and making 26.7% of his three-pointers in his first 10 outings. In his last 11, he has looked more like himself, scoring 14.5 PPG and hitting 40.6% of his outside shots. “It felt like a relief,” Thompson said after scoring a season-high 23 points and making six three-pointers on Saturday, per Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News. “I haven’t shot the ball well in these first 20 games or at least to my standard. When you have a night like that, after the tough start we’ve had. It just gives you relief to keep going and it really inspires me to be out there as much as I can.” Thompson was initially expected to miss Saturday’s game due to left knee stiffness, but managed to play through it.