Dallas Mavericks Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Seth Curry Signs Two-Year Deal With Mavericks

July 14th, 2023 at 9:21pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

JULY 14: Curry’s contract with the Mavericks is now official, per the team (Twitter link).

JUNE 30: Former Nets combo guard Seth Curry is inking a new two-year contract to return to the Mavericks, CAA agent Austin Brown informs Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link).

Per Tim MacMahon of ESPN, Curry will join Dallas’ roster via the team’s $4.5MM biannual exception.

It represents a reunion with the Duke alum’s former 2022/23 Brooklyn teammate All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving.

Across his 61 contests for Brooklyn last season, Curry – a 6’2″ combo guard – averaged 9.2 PPG on excellent .463/.405/.927 shooting splits, along with 1.6 RPG and 1.6 APG.

The 32-year-old, a career 43.5% three-point shooter, will help stretch the floor around Dallas’ All-Star backcourt of Irving and Luka Doncic.

This agreement with Curry will now hard-cap the Mavericks at the $172.3MM first tax apron, per Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype (via Twitter). The club is currently about $9MM below the luxury tax line and $16MM below that hard cap.

If Dallas, which finished as the No. 11 seed in the West last season, wants to use the full $12.4MM mid-level exception to sign another rotation player this summer, the team will need to shed a little salary, Gozlan adds.

This actually marks Curry’s third separate run with the Mavs. He previously played for the club in 2016/17, prior to Doncic’s arrival, and in 2019/20, alongside Doncic. In a journeyman decade-long NBA career thus far, Curry has also played for the Grizzlies, Cavaliers, Suns, Kings, Trail Blazers, and Sixers.

Contract Details: Exum, Vezenkov, Stevens

July 14th, 2023 at 4:02pm CST by Luke Adams

Dante Exum‘s new deal with the Mavericks was initially reported to be a one-year, minimum-salary agreement, but the terms were adjusted between July 1 – when the two sides struck a deal – and today, when it was made official.

According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link), Exum ended up signing a two-year, $6.15MM contract that is non-guaranteed for the second season. It will be worth $3MM in 2023/24 and $3.15MM in ’24/25, with this year’s salary coming out of the Mavericks’ mid-level exception.

Giving Exum a portion of the MLE wouldn’t have been possible if the Mavericks’ offer sheet for Matisse Thybulle had been successful, since Thybulle would have received $10.5MM of the $12.4MM mid-level. Once Portland matched Dallas’ offer for Thybulle, the Mavs’ MLE fully freed up, allowing the team to renegotiate its deal with Exum.

It wouldn’t be surprising if the Mavs also use a chunk of the mid-level to complete their reported agreement with Seth Curry, who was initially expected to be signed using the bi-annual exception. Signing Curry with the MLE would preserve the BAE for 2024/25.

Here are a couple more contract-related notes from around the NBA:

Sasha Vezenkov‘s three-year contract with the Kings comes in just below $20MM, Hoops Rumors has learned — its exact value is $19,975,609, including a $6,341,464 starting salary in 2023/24. As Michael Scotto of HoopsHype tweets, the first two years of Vezenkov’s deal are guaranteed, while the third is a team option (worth $6,975,609).
As part of the trade that sent him from Cleveland to the Spurs, Lamar Stevens had his minimum salary partially guaranteed for $400K, tweets Yossi Gozlan of HoopsHype. Stevens also had his salary guarantee deadline moved up from January 7 to July 17, so San Antonio will have to decide in the coming days whether or not to fully guarantee the forward’s 2023/24 cap hit.
In case you missed it, we passed along contract details on a few other recently reported deals on Thursday.

Dante Exum Signs With Mavericks

July 14th, 2023 at 2:14pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 14: Exum has officially signed with the Mavericks, the team announced today (via Twitter).

JULY 1: Free agent guard Dante Exum is signing a guaranteed contract with the Mavericks, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). According to veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein (via Twitter), Exum will be receiving a one-year deal for the veteran’s minimum.

As Tim MacMahon of ESPN tweets, former Jazz GM and current Mavs front office adviser Dennis Lindsey drafted Exum No. 5 overall back in 2014.

Exum, who turns 28 in a couple weeks, battled major injuries during his NBA career and was limited to just 245 regular season appearances across seven years (2014-21) in Utah and Cleveland. He spent the past two seasons playing internationally after being cut by the Rockets in October 2021.

Known as a strong defensive player, Exum helped Australia win a bronze medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which actually took place in 2021 due to the pandemic. He struggled with his shot throughout his NBA career, posting a .407/.305/.764 slash line, but that has changed in Europe.

In 18 EuroLeague games with Spanish club Barcelona in 2021/22, Exum averaged 6.8 PPG and 2.6 RPG on .500/.526/.837 shooting in 17.8 MPG. He had a larger role this past season with Serbian squad Partizan, averaging 13.3 PPG, 2.8 APG and 2.4 RPG on .544/.424/.859 shooting in 33 EuroLeague contests (22.9 MPG).

Exum reportedly sustained a ruptured tendon in his toe in late April during the EuroLeague playoffs after being slammed to the court by ex-NBA player Guerschon Yabusele, who plays for Real Madrid. Yabusele received a five-game suspension. Partizan was up 2-0 in the best-of-five series, but wound up losing the next three games without Exum. Madrid went on to narrowly win the championship.

Presumably Exum has recovered by now. If he maintains his shooting turnaround, his defensive versatility could be a nice fit for Dallas if he can stay healthy.

Mavs Notes: Draft Picks, Bogdanovic, McGee, Centers

July 14th, 2023 at 7:54am CST by Luke Adams

The Mavericks‘ acquisition of Grant Williams in a three-team sign-and-trade agreement with Boston and San Antonio was initially reported on July 5, but wasn’t officially completed until a week later. According to Tim Cato of The Athletic, that delay was by design, as the three clubs agreed to keep the deal unofficial through Tuesday evening to give everyone a chance to explore expanding it further. No opportunities materialized, so the teams completed the trade as planned on Wednesday.

The Mavs were – and remain – willing to immediately flip the 2025 and 2028 second-rounders they acquired from San Antonio in order to further upgrade their roster, but they’ve been “incredibly cautious” about trading their own 2027 first-round pick, a team source tells Cato.

Because Dallas has already moved its 2029 first-rounder, it would be difficult to put any protections on its 2027 first-rounder due to the Stepien rule, which prohibits a team from leaving itself without a first-round selection in any two consecutive future drafts.

If the Mavs were to trade their 2027 pick, it would have to either be unprotected or turn into a second-rounder (or multiple second-rouders) if it were to fall into its protected range in ’27, since it couldn’t be rolled over to 2028. An unprotected pick would be an extremely valuable trade chip, whereas one that would become a second-rounder if not conveyed in 2027 would have more limited appeal to potential trade partners.

Here’s more on the Mavs:

Confirming an ESPN report, Cato says that the Mavericks and Pistons recently revisited conversations about a possible Bojan Bogdanovic trade. League sources tell The Athletic that the two teams discussed a framework that would’ve sent Bogdanovic and Killian Hayes to Dallas, with Tim Hardaway Jr. and JaVale McGee going to Detroit. It’s unclear what level of draft compensation the Pistons would’ve been seeking in such a deal or how far discussions advanced, says Cato.
As previously suggested during Tim MacMahon’s Howdy Partners podcast (YouTube link), the Mavericks are considered likely to trade or waive McGee before the 2023/24 regular season begins, according to Cato.
Assuming McGee is moved or let go, the Mavericks’ centers would be Richaun Holmes, Dwight Powell, and Dereck Lively. The team could still trade for another big man, but would be content to open the season with that trio, according to Cato. While Powell would be the favorite to start, Mavs staffers are optimistic about Holmes’ bounce-back potential, believing that he’ll be a better fit in the team’s “guard-based schemes” than he was in a Sacramento system centered around Domantas Sabonis, Cato adds.

Hardy Out For Rest Of Summer League With Shoulder Contusion

July 13th, 2023 at 3:59pm CST by Rory Maher

Another young guard, Jaden Hardy, has been ruled out for the rest of Summer League due to a left shoulder contusion, the Mavericks announced (via Twitter). The move was just precautionary and the injury isn’t considered serious, tweets Marc Stein. Hardy had a promising rookie season in 2022/23, averaging 8.8 points on .438/.404/.823 shooting in 48 games (14.8 MPG). He was the 37th overall pick of last year’s draft.

Free Agent Wright To Miss Rest Of Summer League

July 13th, 2023 at 2:31pm CST by Rory Maher

Point guard McKinley Wright will miss the remainder of Summer League after spraining his left ankle, the Mavericks announced (via Twitter). Wright is currently an unrestricted free agent after spending the past two seasons on two-way deals with Minnesota and Dallas, respectively.

Olivier-Maxence Prosper May Get Immediate Playing Time In Dallas

July 13th, 2023 at 8:59am CST by Arthur Hill

Summer League coach Jared Dudley believes Olivier-Maxence Prosper could make an immediate impact with the Mavericks, tweets Mavs reporter Grant Afseth. Dudley said the rookie power forward understands the game and can score without having plays called for him. “I could see him easily playing for the Mavs this season just because of his defense and his aggressiveness,” Dudley said. “Anytime I tell him to do something, He does it automatically, and it’s no second-guessing it. He does it a hundred miles an hour, so I respect that.”

Grant Williams Received Exact Amount Of Mid-Level

July 13th, 2023 at 7:51am CST by Luke Adams

Dennis Schröder‘s two-year deal with the Raptors is worth the full mid-level amount, Hoops Rumors has confirmed: $12,405,000 in year one and $13,025,250 in year two. Grant Williams‘ fully guaranteed four-year contract with the Mavericks is also worth the exact amount of the full non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($53,341,500 in total), though Dallas acquired him via sign-and-trade and still has its MLE available.

Mavs Acquire Grant Williams In Three-Team Sign-And-Trade

July 12th, 2023 at 2:40pm CST by Rory Maher

JULY 12: The Mavericks, Celtics, and Spurs have put out press releases officially confirming that their three-team deal is official. The terms of the deal are as follows:

Mavericks acquire Williams (via sign-and-trade), the Spurs’ 2025 second-round pick, and the Spurs’ 2028 second-round pick.
Spurs acquire Bullock and the right to swap 2030 first-round picks with the Mavericks.
Celtics acquire either the Pelicans’ or Bulls’ 2024 second-round pick (whichever is more favorable; from Spurs), the Mavericks’ 2030 second-round pick, and the right to swap the most favorable of the Wizards’, Warriors’, and Pistons’ 2025 second-round picks with the Mavericks’ 2025 second-round pick.

JULY 5: The Mavericks, Celtics and Spurs are finalizing a three-team trade that will send restricted free agent forward Grant Williams to Dallas, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links).

According to Charania, the Spurs will receive Reggie Bullock and an unprotected 2030 pick swap from the Mavs, while the Celtics will receive multiple second-round picks.

Charania hears Williams will receive a four-year, $54MM contract as part of the transaction, while ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski has heard (via Twitter) it’s $53MM. The deal is fully guaranteed and does not feature any options, sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).

The Celtics and Mavericks will each receive two second-rounders as part of the trade, Wojnarowski reports (Twitter link). According to Adam Himmselsbach of The Boston Globe, the Celtics will also receive a 2025 second-round pick swap (Twitter link).

Interestingly, the reported figure Williams will receive is the value of the non-taxpayer mid-level exception, which will be worth $53.34MM over four years. However, since the Mavs are acquiring him via sign-and-trade, they will preserve their MLE and still have “strong interest” in using it to sign restricted free agent Matisse Thybulle to an offer sheet, per Marc Stein (Twitter links). Dallas will be hard-capped at the first luxury tax apron due to the sign-and-trade, Stein notes.

ESPN’s Bobby Marks has a detailed list of the cap complications from the deal (via Twitter). The Mavs are approximately $9MM below the first apron, so they’ll have to clear some additional cap space to have access to the full MLE, which starts at $12.4MM in 2023/24.

They could open up an additional $3.4MM — the exact difference between those two figures — by releasing JaVale McGee and using the stretch provision on his contract, Marks adds. Dallas will also generate a $10.5MM trade exception, equivalent to Bullock’s outgoing salary.

The Celtics, meanwhile, will create a $6.2MM trade exception of their own, which is half of Williams’ projected salary. It would have cost Boston $40MM against the luxury tax to pay Williams’ salary, per Marks.

As for the Spurs, they’ll use some of their cap room to accommodate Bullocks’ $10.5MM salary, according to Marks, who notes they’ll have about $12.5MM in space remaining after the deal.

Himmelsbach was the first to point out (via Twitter) that Williams’ contract is right in the ballpark of what he was rumored to be seeking in an extension before the ’22/23 season started. Jared Weiss of The Athletic hears (Twitter link) the Celtics were willing to meet Williams’ asking price in the fall, but only if the deal included incentives.

Williams, 24, just completed his rookie scale contract and hit restricted free agency after four seasons with Boston. He turned himself into a valuable 3-and-D player in recent years, playing an important role in helping the Celtics make the Finals and Eastern Conference finals the past two seasons.

Since the start of ’21/22, Williams averaged 8.0 PPG and 4.1 RPG on .464/.403/.829 shooting in 156 games (44 starts, 25.1 MPG). His versatile defense was particularly essential in the postseason, and he could be a nice complementary fit next to Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, who aren’t known for their play on that end. It’s also worth noting that Williams is from Houston, about 240 miles from Dallas.

Veteran wing Bullock, 32, is another 3-and-D player who often guards top perimeter players, though his defense slipped a bit last season to my eyes (Bullock’s 116.5 defensive rating was 0.4 worse than the team’s 25th-ranked D at 116.1). He has been a rotation regular over the past two seasons for Dallas and is a career 38.4% shooter from behind the arc.

As Marks noted, paying Williams would have been exorbitantly expensive, but he will be missed. His departure seemed likely after the Celtics acquired Kristaps Porzingis and his $36MM deal in a trade. They’ll reportedly receive some draft compensation to try and recoup some value in the sign-and-trade (they were rumored to be looking for a first-round pick).

Trade Rumors: Harden, Bogdanovic, Mavs, Zion, Blazers

July 12th, 2023 at 1:48pm CST by Luke Adams

Although James Harden hasn’t backed off the trade request he made in June, there’s no indication that the Sixers are on the verge of dealing the former MVP, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne said during an appearance on NBA Today on Tuesday (YouTube link).

“(Harden and the Sixers) have spoken again, and he still reiterated he wants to be traded,” Shelburne said. “Now, this isn’t a demand, it’s a request. I think the Sixers have said, ‘Okay, we will try to trade you,’ but there is no hurry to do this. I think the Sixers understand that they have the leverage here. James has picked up his option… He’s going to be a free agent after this season, so at some point he needs to play, whether that’s in Philadelphia or elsewhere.”

The situation in Philadelphia, as Shelburne portrays it, isn’t acrimonious. While Harden would prefer to play elsewhere, it’s not necessarily a sure thing that he’ll be wearing another uniform when the 2023/24 season begins.

“There is a sense that if they can give it some time – and he’s cool with his teammates, he’s been talking to Joel Embiid, he’s been talking to Patrick Beverley, P.J. Tucker – that eventually maybe those fences can be mended, and there is a path to reconciliation with James Harden,” Shelburne said. “But for now, he has reiterated his trade request.”

Here are a few more trade-related items from around the NBA:

In the latest episode of his Howdy Partners podcast (YouTube link; hat tip to The Smoking Cuban), ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said he has “heard some rumblings” about the Mavericks circling back to Pistons forward Bojan Bogdanovic, who was linked to Dallas prior to the draft. MacMahon cautions that he’s not sure the Mavs have the assets to land Bogdanovic, given Detroit’s high asking price, and suggests Dallas’ priority may be to trade for a starting-caliber center.
According to Jake Madison of Locked on Pelicans (Twitter link), Chris Haynes of TNT said on a TV broadcast last Friday that league executives got the sense this offseason that Pelicans forward Zion Williamson could be had “for the right situation and the right package.” However, sources have told Zach Lowe of ESPN (Insider link) that New Orleans wasn’t prepared to “pivot away” from Williamson on draft day, and ESPN’s Andrew Lopez said in the latest Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link) that the Pelicans’ trade offers for the No. 2 and No. 3 picks in this year’s draft were heavily based around future picks, not players.
Within that same ESPN.com story, Lowe says he hasn’t heard compelling evidence that a “sensible” trade was available for the Trail Blazers with the No. 3 overall pick last month. The Nets never showed any interest in giving up Mikal Bridges for a package based around the No. 3 pick and Anfernee Simons, according to Lowe, who says the Heat “chuckled” at the idea of Portland asking for Bam Adebayo. The Raptors also weren’t ready to move off of Pascal Siakam or OG Anunoby as of draft day, Lowe adds, though it’s unclear if the Blazers would have moved the No. 3 pick in a deal for either player.