Dallas Mavericks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Mavs Rookie Omoruyi Out 4-6 Months After Toe Surgery

December 23rd, 2021 at 6:17pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Mavericks two-player Eugene Omoruyi recently underwent surgery on his right big toe and will require 4-6 months to return to basketball activities, the team’s PR department tweets. Head coach Jason Kidd said Omoruyi will likely miss the remainder of the season, Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News tweets.

Omoruyi suffered the injury in an NBA G League game with the Texas Legends on December 15.

Undrafted out of Oregon, the 24-year-old small forward has appeared in four games with Dallas this season. He has averaged 15.8 PPG, 6.8 RPG and 2.9 APG in eight G League games.

Omoruyi played his first three college seasons with Rutgers.

Dallas could look to add another two-way player to replace Omoruyi. Like many teams, the Mavericks have been hit hard by COVID-19 cases as of late.

Mavericks Sign Brandon Knight Via Hardship Provision

December 23rd, 2021 at 4:47pm CST by Luke Adams

DECEMBER 23: The Mavericks have officially signed Knight to a 10-day deal, the team announced today (via Twitter). Dallas has now added six players via hardship exceptions, as our tracker shows.

DECEMBER 22: Another NBA veteran is making a comeback, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports (via Twitter) that the Mavericks plan to sign guard Brandon Knight to a 10-day contract via a hardship exception.

Knight, who hasn’t played in the NBA since the 2019/20 season, has 446 regular season appearances on his career résumé, having spent time with the Pistons, Bucks, Suns, Rockets, and Cavaliers from 2011-20. The 30-year-old has averaged 14.1 PPG over the course of his career, though he has been well below that mark since the ’15/16 season.

Knight signed a G League contract earlier this year in the hopes of earning a shot with an NBA team. He has put up 21.3 PPG, 5.5 APG, and 4.6 RPG in 11 games (38.0 MPG) for the Sioux Falls Skyforce, Miami’s NBAGL affiliate, making 3.2 three-pointers per game at a 35.7% rate.

As we noted earlier when word broke that the Mavs had reached a 10-day deal with Carlik Jones, the club’s number of reported hardship signings has now exceeded the number of players they have in the health and safety protocols, which suggests a couple more Dallas players could end up entering the protocols today.

Mavericks Sign Carlik Jones To 10-Day Deal

December 23rd, 2021 at 4:45pm CST by Luke Adams

DECEMBER 23: Jones’ 10-day contract with the Mavericks is now official, the team announced today (via Twitter). It will run through January 1.

DECEMBER 22: The Mavericks are calling up guard Carlik Jones from their G League affiliate, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that Jones is getting a 10-day deal via a hardship exception.

A 6’1″ guard, Jones went undrafted earlier this year after transferring from Radford to Louisville for his senior season. He put up 16.8 PPG, 4.9 RPG, and 4.5 APG in 19 games (37.5 MPG) in 2020/21 for the Cardinals and made the All-ACC First Team.

Jones spent training camp this fall with the Mavs, then reported to the Texas Legends, where he has started all 10 games he has played for Dallas’ G League team. He has averaged 20.2 PPG, 5.2 RPG, and 4.4 APG on .451/.324/.875 shooting in 30.8 minutes per contest.

Dallas has now completed two hardship signings and has reportedly lined up three more, even though the team only has four players currently in the health and safety protocols. The NBA’s new rules allow clubs to sign a replacement for each player who enters the protocols.

That could mean that another Mavs player will enter the protocols today or that one of the team’s previously-reported agreements has fallen through — we’ll have to wait for more clarity.

Mavericks Sign Charlie Brown Jr. To 10-Day Contract

December 23rd, 2021 at 12:28pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

DECEMBER 23: The Mavericks have officially signed Brown to a 10-day deal, the team announced today (via Twitter). The team has now finalized three hardship signings this week and has two more (Brandon Knight and Carlik Jones) reportedly on tap.

DECEMBER 21: Valuable Mavericks swingman Tim Hardaway Jr. is now in the league’s coronavirus health and safety protocols, per Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Given that Hardaway is the fourth Maverick to be placed into COVID-19 protocols in the last four days, the Mavericks will ink shooting guard Charlie Brown Jr. to a 10-day contract via the league’s hardship exemption, Charania tweets.

Brown is currently with the NBAGL’s Delaware Blue Coats. Across two NBA seasons, he has appeared in 19 games between the Hawks in 2019/20 and the Thunder in 2020/21. He holds career averages of 3.2 PPG and 1.1 RPG.

The 23-year-old shooting guard out of Saint Joseph’s is averaging 16.8 PPG, 8.1 RPG, 1.6 APG, 1.6 SPG, and 0.9 BPG in 11 starts this season with the Blue Coats, on shooting splits of .457/.400/.850.

Dallas re-signed Hardaway this past summer to a four-year, $75MM contract. In 29 contests for the Mavericks, including 20 starts, the 29-year-old out of Michigan is averaging 14.9 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 2.4 APG and 1.0 SPG. The 6’5″ guard has had an inconsistent shooting season from the floor and has seen his numbers dip at the charity stripe, with splits of .391/.332/.743.

JaQuori McLaughlin Enters Protocols

December 23rd, 2021 at 11:48am CST by Luke Adams

Mavericks two-way player JaQuori McLaughlin has entered the health and safety protocols, according to the team (Twitter link). McLaughlin joins Luka Doncic and five other teammates — Dallas has had to place seven players in the protocols in the last six days.

Six New Mavericks Join The Team: Jared Dudley Discusses Transition To Coaching

December 22nd, 2021 at 9:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

Callie Caplan of The Dallas Morning News takes a closer look at the six hardship additions the Mavericks are making in the wake of a COVID-19 outbreak. Theo Pinson, Marquese Chriss and George King have already joined the team, and the signings of Charlie Brown, Carlik Jones and Brandon Knight are expected to become official soon.
Jared Dudley, a first-year assistant coach with the Mavericks, talks to Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times about the transition from playing to coaching. “I really wanted to play one last season with the Lakers, to be honest, but I’m also loving coaching,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to be a coach and for (Jason Kidd) to give me this opportunity, I am so grateful.”

Luka Doncic, Trey Burke, Nerlens Noel Enter Protocols

December 22nd, 2021 at 1:19pm CST by Luke Adams

Two more Mavericks players have entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols, according to the team (Twitter link). Luka Doncic and Trey Burke are the fifth and sixth Dallas players in the protocols.

It’s especially tough timing for Doncic, who appeared to be on the verge of returning to action after missing the Mavs’ last five games due to a left ankle ailment. Assuming he has tested positive, he’ll now be out for the next 10 days or until he can return two consecutive negative tests at least 24 hours apart.

We suspected that two more Mavericks may have entered the protocols today, since the club has now signed or reached agreements with six replacement players in the last week. The NBA’s new roster rules allow clubs to sign a replacement for each player in the protocols.

Meanwhile, a former Mav has also been placed in the COVID-19 protocols today, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, who tweets that center Nerlens Noel is the latest Knicks player to be affected by the virus.

New York now has seven players in the protocols, though a couple of those players – Obi Toppin and RJ Barrett – have reached the 10-day mark and should hopefully be cleared soon.

Mavericks Sign George King To 10-Day Deal

December 22nd, 2021 at 12:31pm CST by Luke Adams

DECEMBER 22: King’s 10-day contract is now official, the Mavericks announced today (via Twitter). It’ll run through December 31.

DECEMBER 21: The Mavericks are signing forward George King to a 10-day contract via a hardship exception, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

The 59th overall pick in the 2018 draft out of Colorado, King spent his rookie season with Phoenix on a two-way contract, but appeared in just one NBA game and then was out of the league for two years. He played in Italy and Poland during the 2019/20 season, then spent the ’20/21 campaign in Germany with the Niners Chemnitz.

King joined the Clippers this fall on an Exhibit 10 deal and landed with the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario – the team’s G League affiliate – after failing to earn a spot on the regular season roster. In 11 NBAGL games this season, he has averaged 13.7 PPG, 5.7 RPG, and 1.7 SPG with an impressive .534/.466/.818 shooting line in 31.3 minutes per contest.

Luka Doncic Could Be Back Thursday

December 21st, 2021 at 10:00pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Mavericks are hoping to have All-Star point guard Luka Doncic back on the floor as soon as Thursday against the Bucks, per Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link).

Doncic has been unavailable for the Mavericks’ past four games as a result of a sore left ankle, and is out for a fifth straight on Tuesday against the Timberwolves. The 6’7″ fourth-year guard, a two-time All-Star, will be sidelined for his ninth overall contest of the young season.

Despite kicking off the 2021/22 NBA season out of shape, Doncic has been his typically effective self for Dallas when available. In 21 games, the 22-year-old is averaging 25.6 PPG, 8.5 APG and 8.0 RPG.

The Mavericks are 14-15 overall, including 2-6 without Doncic. Dallas is currently the No. 9 seed in the Western Conference standings, a far cry from the team’s more competitive preseason expectations.

Mavericks Sign Marquese Chriss Via Hardship Exception

December 21st, 2021 at 3:41pm CST by Luke Adams

DECEMBER 21: The Mavericks have officially signed Chriss to his 10-day deal, according to the team (Twitter link). It will run through December 30.

DECEMBER 20: The Mavericks, having agreed to a deal with Theo Pinson, will also sign free agent forward/center Marquese Chriss to a contract via a hardship exception, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link).

Chriss, 24, was selected eighth overall in the 2016 draft by the Suns, but was traded from Phoenix to Houston after just two seasons. He played for the Rockets and Cavaliers in the 2018/19 season, then found a home in Golden State for the ’19/20 campaign, averaging 9.3 PPG, 6.2 RPG, and 1.1 BPG in 59 games (20.3 MPG) for the Warriors.

Chriss projected to be a rotation player for the Dubs again last season, but broke his right fibula just two games into the season, ending his year. He was subsequently traded to San Antonio and waived.

The Trail Blazers signed Chriss to a non-guaranteed contract this fall, but he was beaten out by Dennis Smith Jr. for the last spot on the team’s regular season roster and was cut again.

The Mavs have two players in the health and safety protocols and a few other players dealing with injuries or non-COVID illnesses, so adding Pinson or Chriss will help them fill out the back of their active roster in the short term. Neither deal will count against the team’s cap.