Mavericks Rumors

Mavs’ Kidd Credits Kyrie For Role In Recruiting Thompson

August 20th, 2024 at 3:59pm CST by Luke Adams

Appearing on the latest episode of NBC Sports Bay Area’s Dubs Talk podcast, Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said the recruitment of free agent sharpshooter Klay Thompson this summer was a group effort, but singled out Mavs guard Kyrie Irving as having played a lead role, according to Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area.

“When you talk about the recruitment, it was a lot of people that were involved in that. But one of the biggest players in that was Kai,” Kidd said. “Kai being able to, player to player, (detail) his experience of what Dallas has been like for him in two years and being able to tell Klay the honest truth of what he thinks can happen with Klay coming to Dallas.

Irving requested a trade out of Cleveland in 2017, then did the same in Boston in 2019 and Brooklyn in 2023. He was also at the center of a handful of off-court controversies during his time with the Nets. However, since arriving in Dallas, the eight-time All-Star is enjoying an “unprecedented level of stability and fulfillment,” Poole notes, making him an ideal candidate to sell a newcomer on the city and the organization.

“… I would love to say it was all me,” Kidd joked. “But it wasn’t. It was a team effort. But I think player-to-player – in this league, they all talk about their situations, and they all recruit one another – this was about Kai and Klay being able to talk. And I also believe Klay did his homework, just understanding the situation. It would have been an easy for him to stay (in California). So, he had to put in some effort of doing some homework to see what Dallas was all about.”

Although the Mavericks appeared in the NBA Finals this past spring, Irving is the only player on the roster besides Thompson with a championship under his belt (Markieff Morris, who is expected to re-sign with the Mavs, has also won a title). Kidd believes Thompson’s experience on the biggest stage – which includes four championships – will benefit Dallas as the team looks to win its first title since 2011.

“We truly believe that he gives us something that we haven’t had, a guy who’s not afraid to take the shot,” Kidd said of Thompson, per Poole. “He’s been in championship situations. He understands what it means. We believe that we’re building a championship team. And his being a veteran, his experience being in big games and then being able to play both ends, we truly believe that he’s going to make a lot of open shots for us and have fun. But, also, we’re going to lean on him because has won a championship. We’re going to need his advice and his leadership throughout this journey.”

According to veteran NBA reporters Marc Stein and Chris Haynes (Twitter links), several Mavericks players – including Thompson – are practicing together this week in Los Angeles. Irving is in attendance even though he can’t yet practice in full as he continues to recover from hand surgery — he’s doing limited work for now and remains on track to be cleared by the start of training camp.

Mavericks To Add Makhtar N’Diaye To Front Office

August 18th, 2024 at 11:58am CST by Rory Maher

The Mavericks plan to hire former NBA big man Makhtar N’Diaye as their director of pro personnel and international scouting, reports Marc J. Spears of Andscape (via Twitter).

N’Diaye only appeared in four games for the Grizzlies back in 1999, but he made history as the first player from Senegal to play in the NBA. N’Diaye was a scout for the Knicks for nine years, Spears notes.

N’Diaye, 50, played college ball at Michigan and North Carolina and spent time in the NBA D League (now known as the G League) after his stint with Memphis. He also played professionally in France.

The Mavericks have been busy the past handful of months, giving multiyear extensions to head coach Jason Kidd and GM Nico Harrison and making the NBA Finals in June for the first time since 2011.

They made some roster changes this offseason, essentially swapping out Josh Green, Derrick Jones and Tim Hardaway Jr. for Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall and Quentin Grimes. They also brought back Spencer Dinwiddie on a one-year, minimum-salary contract.

Hawks, Nets, Bulls Control Largest Trade Exceptions

August 17th, 2024 at 1:21pm CST by Luke Adams

As our list of traded player exceptions shows, six NBA teams currently control TPEs worth more than $10MM apiece. Those exceptions are as follows:

Atlanta Hawks: $25,266,266 (expires 7/7/25)
Brooklyn Nets: $23,300,000 (expires 7/7/25)
Chicago Bulls: $17,506,232 (expires 7/8/25)
Dallas Mavericks: $16,193,183 (expires 7/7/25)
Memphis Grizzlies: $12,600,000 (expires 2/3/25)
Washington Wizards: $12,402,000 (expires 2/10/25)

A trade exception allows a team to acquire a player’s contract without sending out matching salary in return. So in theory, the exceptions listed above could put these clubs in position to take on a sizable salary in a preseason or mid-season trade, perhaps acquiring a draft asset or two in the deal for their troubles.

In practice though, it will be difficult for any of these teams to make full use of their large TPEs in that sort of move. The Hawks, Nets, Bulls, Mavericks, and Wizards are all hard-capped at the first tax apron, while the Grizzlies would be if they were to use any portion of their exception.

Atlanta, Brooklyn, and Memphis also don’t have much breathing room below the luxury tax line, while Dallas is already in the tax, so they won’t be eager to take on much extra salary anyway.

Chicago could get about $6.6MM below the tax line by waiving Onuralp Bitim‘s non-guaranteed salary, while Washington could get about $11.9MM below that threshold by waiving their non-guaranteed players, so accommodating modest salary dumps could be in play for those clubs — especially the Wizards, whose big TPE will expire at the trade deadline. But generally speaking, these trade exceptions might not prove all that useful until the 2025 offseason.

Our TPE list uses italics to show which exceptions are currently ineligible to be used. As a reminder, teams operating above either tax apron can’t use trade exceptions generated during the previous regular season (2023/24) or the previous offseason (2023), while teams operating above the second tax apron can’t use new TPEs created from sign-and-trades.

That means, for example, that the Timberwolves are ineligible to use the $4MM exception they generated in February when they traded Troy Brown to the Pistons. They’re also ineligible to use the $8.8MM TPE they generated by signing-and-trading Kyle Anderson to Golden State last month. However, they could use the $2.5MM TPE created in July’s Wendell Moore deal, since it’s new since the season ended and wasn’t the result of a sign-and-trade.

Western Notes: Mills, Booker, Mavericks

August 17th, 2024 at 11:58am CST by Tristan Tucker

New Jazz guard Patty Mills is a respected veteran who has been a key part of several contenders and championship winners across the span of his 15-year career. That’s what made him an appealing target for Utah, Tony Jones of The Athletic writes.

As Jones observes, Mills and Jazz coach Will Hardy crossed over in San Antonio and Hardy observed as Mills worked hard to become the player who helped the Spurs win a ring in 2014. Mills isn’t the player he was a decade ago, but his hard work and veteran guidance could help aid Cody Williams, Taylor Hendricks, Keyonte George and others in their professional development.

Jones notes that the Jazz have been interested in Mills for a while now and almost acquired him at the February trade deadline. The guard was eventually bought out from Atlanta and finished the 2023/24 season with Miami. While the Jazz won’t officially announce the signing quite yet as they continue exploring taking in salaries from trades, it says a lot about Mills that he was able to land a guaranteed deal with the team.

We have more from the Western Conference:

Stars like Stephen Curry, LeBron James and Kevin Durant rightfully dominated Olympic headlines as the U.S. brought home the gold, but there were impressive showings up and down the roster. One such “unsung” player is Devin Booker, Doug Haller of The Athletic writes. Haller ponders whether Booker will gain more respect as he enters his 10th NBA season, arguing that he isn’t as “strongly appreciated” as he should be outside of Arizona.
Bucks guard Damian Lillard praised Booker for his role on the Olympic team, saying he was able to put his head down and fill various team needs, Dana Scott of Arizona Republic writes. “Watching the games, I thought it was extremely obvious that he went into it with that mentality,” Lillard said of Booker. “Like, ‘I’m gonna pick guys up, I’m gonna get into the ball, make open shots, I’m gonna compete for the team.’ I think it takes a special type of person to take that role when there’s so many outside voices and people talking about every little thing, and he definitely did that.” Lillard sees the Suns superstar as holding a critical role on the 2028 iteration of Team USA.
The Mavericks are holding their training camp in Las Vegas this year, Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com relays. They’ll train on UNLV’s campus from Oct. 1-4 before returning to Dallas, where they play Memphis in their preseason opener on Oct. 7.

And-Ones: Marquee Matchups, Cap Room, Spending, Most Improved Teams

August 16th, 2024 at 7:55am CST by Luke Adams

The NBA revealed its full schedule for the 2024/25 regular season on Thursday, and while there generally aren’t any surprises on that schedule (it’s not like the NFL, where a team plays fewer than half of the league’s other clubs), it’s still worth circling specific dates and marquee matchups.

Zach Harper of The Athletic, Chris Mannix of SI.com, and ESPN did just that, with Harper highlighting 35 games he’s looking forward to, Mannix naming 10 games to watch, and ESPN identifying 23 games not to miss.

Unsurprisingly, the Knicks/Celtics regular season opener (October 22), Paul George‘s return to Los Angeles with the Sixers (November 6), and Klay Thompson‘s return to Golden State with the Mavericks (Nov. 12) made all three lists.

The other two matchups that showed up on all three lists? Wizards at Hawks on Oct. 28 in the first regular season matchup between this year’s top two draft picks (Zaccharie Risacher and Alex Sarr) and Spurs at Thunder on Oct. 30 in this season’s first Victor Wembanyama/Chet Holmgren showdown.

Here are more odds and ends from around the basketball world:

A total of seven NBA teams operated under the cap and used room to make moves this offseason. As Keith Smith of Spotrac writes, those clubs used their cap space in very different ways, with some – like the Sixers and Thunder – making splashes in free agency, some (such as the Hornets) focusing on taking in salary in trades, and one (the Jazz) using most of its room to renegotiate a star player’s contract.
Which NBA teams have been the “cheapest” in recent years and which have been most willing to spend? Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report explores that questions, ranking each team by its spending from 2017-24 and considering whether clubs should have been willing to invest more on those rosters. The Warriors, Clippers, and Bucks have been the biggest spenders over the last seven years, while the Bulls, Pistons, and Hornets are at the other end of the list.
In a three-part series for The Athletic, David Aldridge ranks all 30 NBA clubs based on how much they improved their rosters with their offseason moves. Aldridge’s list, which is sorted by which teams improved most in the short term rather than which clubs made the “best” moves, features the Thunder, Sixers, and Magic at the top. Not coincidentally, those clubs made three of the summer’s biggest free agent signings, adding Isaiah Hartenstein, Paul George, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, respectively.

And-Ones: K. Smith, Schedule, C. Brown, Burton, Duke & Rutgers

August 14th, 2024 at 11:02pm CST by Arthur Hill

Warner Bros. Discovery is suing the NBA after being excluded from the new broadcast rights package, but Kenny Smith isn’t worried about how that might affect what will likely be the final year of “Inside the NBA,” writes Greg Rajan of The Houston Chronicle. Smith, who has been with the network since his playing career ended in 1998, insists that nothing will change inside the studio.

“No, because we do our jobs,” he said. “Our job is to talk (about) the game and give insight and also give you insight about what’s going on behind the scenes with TNT. Like, ‘Hey, we’re not happy.’ That’s part of what makes us different. I don’t think any other network would allow or want their talent to talk about things like that. We’re going to do it, no matter what happens.

“But again, we’ve had a great run. If it continues, it’ll be great. But also, there are massive opportunities for the four of us — again, to create ownership opportunities to make sure our directors, producers, makeup, stats and audio people are still part of one of the greatest shows in sports TV history.”

Smith views the possible end of the network’s affiliation with the NBA as an opportunity for the show to reach out into other areas. He compares it to what Adam Sandler or Peyton and Eli Manning are doing with their companies, providing a chance to create a new brand in sports television.

There’s more from around the basketball world:

More details on the 2024/25 NBA schedule continue to leak out ahead of the official announcement at 3:00 pm ET on Thursday. The Nuggets will host the Thunder on October 24 in the season opener for both teams, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link). It will be a matchup of the top two seeds in the West last season. After facing the Clippers October 23 in the first game at the new Inuit Dome, the Suns will stay in Los Angeles to take on the Lakers October 25 before hosting the Mavericks in their home opener a night later, tweets Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic. The Kings will have two six-game road trips during the season, sources tell James Ham of Kings Beat (Twitter link). One in January will have them face the Nuggets, Knicks, Nets, Sixers, Thunder and Timberwolves, and another from March 29 to April 7 will feature games against the Magic, Pacers, Wizards, Hornets, Cavaliers and Pistons.
Former NBA players Charlie Brown Jr. and Deonte Burton will be among the players representing the G League United in a pair of September exhibition games, the league announced (Twitter links).
Duke and Rutgers will be the top destinations for NBA scouts when the college basketball season begins, observes Adam Zagoria of NJ.com. The Blue Devils have the projected No. 1 pick in the 2025 draft, Cooper Flagg, along with Khaman Maluach, a probable lottery selection who played for South Sudan in the Olympics. The Scarlet Knights’ Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper are also in contention for the top spot in next year’s draft.

Knicks/Celtics, Wolves/Lakers To Play On Opening Night

August 12th, 2024 at 12:01pm CST by Luke Adams

The NBA’s opening night schedule will feature home games for the league’s two most accomplished franchises, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic, who reports (via Twitter) that the Celtics will host the Knicks in the early game, while the Lakers will host the Timberwolves in the late game.

The Celtics, who won their record 18th NBA title in June, will receive their championship rings on opening night, which will take place on Tuesday, October 22. That game will be the first for the new-look Knicks, featuring Mikal Bridges.

The game between the Lakers and Timberwolves will feature several stars who participated in Saturday’s gold medal game in Paris, including LeBron James and Anthony Davis of the Lakers and Anthony Edwards and Rudy Gobert of the Wolves.

Both games will air on TNT Sports, which will be distributing NBA games for one final year in 2024/25, assuming their lawsuit against the league doesn’t result in a new broadcast rights deal that begins in ’25/26.

The full regular schedule for the 2024/25 NBA season is expected to be released later this week, according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. In the meantime, here are a few more notable matchups, courtesy of Charania:

The new-look Sixers, led by former MVP Joel Embiid, reigning Most Improved Player Tyrese Maxey, and free agent addition Paul George, will host the Bucks on October 23 to open their regular season (Twitter link).
The first regular season game at the new Intuit Dome in Inglewood will be played on October 23, when the Clippers host the Suns (Twitter link).
Klay Thompson and the Mavericks will visit the Warriors on November 12 in Thompson’s first trip back to the Bay Area (Twitter link). That will also be the first game of the in-season tournament (NBA Cup) for both Dallas and Golden State (Twitter link).
The NBA Finals rematches between the Celtics and Mavericks will take place on January 25 in Dallas and February 6 in Boston (Twitter link).
In case you missed it, 2024’s Christmas Day matchups were reported last week.

NBA 2024 Offseason Check-In: Dallas Mavericks

August 10th, 2024 at 3:46pm CST by Luke Adams

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2024 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Dallas Mavericks.

Free agent signings

Klay Thompson: Three years, $50,000,000. Includes 15% trade kicker. Signed using Bird rights and acquired via sign-and-trade from Warriors.
Naji Marshall: Three years, $27,000,000. Includes 5% trade kicker. Signed using non-taxpayer mid-level exception.
Spencer Dinwiddie: One year, minimum salary. Signed using minimum salary exception.
Jazian Gortman: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
Emanuel Miller: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
Jamarion Sharp: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

Acquired the draft rights to Melvin Ajinca (No. 51 pick) from the Knicks in exchange for the draft rights to Ariel Hukporti (No. 58 pick), the draft rights to Petteri Koponen, and cash ($1MM).
Acquired Quentin Grimes from the Pistons in exchange for Tim Hardaway Jr., the Raptors’ 2025 second-round pick, the Heat’s 2028 second-round pick, and either the Clippers’ or Hornets’ 2028 second-round pick (whichever is least favorable).
Acquired Klay Thompson (sign-and-trade) and either the Nuggets’ or Sixers’ second-round pick (whichever is more favorable in a six-team trade in exchange for Josh Green (to Hornets) and the Mavericks’ 2031 second-round pick (to Sixers).

Draft picks

2-51: Melvin Ajinca
- Signed with ASVEL in France.

Two-way signings

Kessler Edwards
Brandon Williams

Departed/unsigned free agents

Greg Brown (unsigned)
Derrick Jones (Clippers)
Markieff Morris (unsigned)

Other moves

Waived Alex Fudge.

Salary cap situation

Operating over the cap ($140.6MM) and above the luxury tax line ($170.8MM).
Carrying approximately $176.1MM in salary.
Hard-capped at $178,132,000.
Approximately $4.25MM of mid-level exception available; full bi-annual exception ($4.67MM) available.
Two traded player exceptions available (largest worth $16,193,183).

The offseason so far

The vibes were good in Dallas after the Mavericks made an unexpected run to the NBA Finals this spring, with general manager Nico Harrison suggesting after the team’s loss to Boston that his plan was to simply keep the core intact and to find a way to re-sign starting small forward Derrick Jones.

The Mavs’ ability to give Jones a raise on his previous minimum-salary contract was limited because they only held his Non-Bird rights, but Harrison vowed that bringing back the talented defensive swingman was “priority 1A and 1B” for the organization.

When Dallas struck a deal to send Tim Hardaway Jr. and some future second-round picks to Detroit in exchange for Quentin Grimes, the team’s intentions looked pretty clear — having created nearly $12MM in extra cap flexibility as a result of that move, the Mavs gained the ability to use the non-taxpayer mid-level exception to re-sign Jones.

That didn’t happen though. Instead, Jones opted to sign a three-year, $30MM contract with the Clippers, prompting the Mavs to pivot to another free agent, Naji Marshall. Dallas used a portion of its MLE to bring in Marshall – a three-and-D forward – on a three-year, $27MM deal.

That signing hard-capped the Mavs at the first tax apron for the rest of the 2024/25 league year, but the front office wasn’t done wheeling and dealing yet. The club reached an agreement with the Warriors and Hornets on a three-team trade that would send Josh Green to Charlotte and Klay Thompson to Dallas on a three-year, $50MM contract. The move was eventually combined with a handful of other transactions and completed as a six-team deal.

When the dust settled, the Mavs had essentially replaced three wings – Jones, Hardaway, and Green – with three new ones in Thompson, Marshall, and Grimes. Thompson isn’t the perennial All-Star he once was, and Grimes is coming off a disappointing, injury-plagued season, but between Thompson’s shooting ability and Marshall’s and Grimes’ three-and-D skill sets, Dallas has a good chance to come out ahead in the series of wing swaps, strengthening a roster that just won the West.

The Mavs also brought back Spencer Dinwiddie, who had a down year with the Nets and Lakers in 2023/24, but thrived in Dallas during the one-year period from the 2022 trade deadline (when he was acquired in the deal sending Kristaps Porzingis to Washington) to the 2023 deadline (when he was sent out as part of the package for Kyrie Irving). A potential bargain on a minimum-salary deal, Dinwiddie will provide additional depth behind the star-studded backcourt of Irving and Luka Doncic.

Up next

The Mavericks have 15 players on standard contracts, but they’ll likely make a change to their 15th spot at some point before training camp. Reports throughout the summer have indicated that veteran forward Markieff Morris is expected to return to Dallas on a new deal.

A.J. Lawson, who is on a non-guaranteed contract, would almost certainly be waived if Morris officially re-signs, since he’s the clear 15th man and the Mavs don’t have enough flexibility below their hard cap to eat a guaranteed salary.

Dallas also still has a two-way slot available alongside Brandon Williams and Kessler Edwards. It’s unclear if the Mavs have anyone specific in mind for that opening or if the team’s current Exhibit 10 players (Jazian Gortman, Emanuel Miller, and Jamarion Sharp) might get a chance to compete for that last two-way deal.

The Mavs have several players who are either already extension-eligible or will become eligible for new deals prior to opening night, though it’s possible none of them will sign contracts before the regular season tips off.

Maxi Kleber has one more guaranteed season on their respective contracts after 2024/25, so there’s no urgency to work something out this year. Grimes, who is eligible for a rookie scale extension, has yet to suit up for the Mavs and will likely need to prove 2023/24 was an aberration before the team is willing to invest long-term in him.

Doncic could technically sign an extension now, but despite meeting the performance criteria for a super-max contract, he needs to have one more year of experience under his belt to actually sign that super-max, so he’ll wait until 2025.

Third-year guard Jaden Hardy is an interesting extension candidate, but unlike the three aforementioned players, he’ll remain eligible for the entire 2024/25 season, not just until October 21, so the Mavs could postpone their decision on him until the winter or the spring.

Christmas Day Games Include Sixers-Celtics, Lakers-Warriors

August 8th, 2024 at 9:20pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The NBA’s leaked slate of Christmas Day games will feature several heavy hitters.

Sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link) that, as usual, five games will be broadcast, highlighted by a marquee matchup between two longtime Eastern Conference foes, the revamped Sixers and the Celtics. Boston, the reigning league champion, will host.

The schedule will be rounded out by several clashes between starry clubs, from veteran-laden squads to young up-and-comers. The Spurs will travel to Madison Square Garden to play the Knicks. A Western Conference Finals rematch is also on the docket, as the Mavericks will host the Timberwolves.

The newly Klay Thompson-less Warriors will host the Lakers, and the Nuggets will travel to Phoenix to face the retooled Suns.

Philadelphia almost completely overhauled its roster around incumbent All-Stars Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. The new additions are headlined by nine-time All-Star combo forward Paul George, who departed the Clippers to sign a four-year, maximum-salary deal with the Sixers. Philadelphia also signed seasoned free agents like forward Caleb Martin, center Andre Drummond, and shooting guard Eric Gordon while bringing back wing Kelly Oubre Jr.

The Celtics retained all of their own key players after going 64-18 in the regular season and 16-3 in the playoffs. A pair of new extensions for All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum and All-Defensive Team guard Derrick White highlighted the team’s transactions, though longer-term uncertainty looms as owner Wyc Grousbeck is looking to sell the franchise.

Led by Defensive Player of the Year and impending Olympic medalist Victor Wembanyama, the Spurs figure to improve on their paltry 21-61 record in 2023/24. The team signed 12-time All-Star point guard Chris Paul to a one-year deal this summer, and traded for veteran combo forward Harrison Barnes. San Antonio also used its No. 4 pick in the lottery on NCAA championship-winning UConn guard Stephon Castle, the 2023/24 Big East Freshman of the Year.

The Knicks, meanwhile traded for former All-Defensive small forward Mikal Bridges this summer to maximize their ability to switch on the wing. The team also re-signed free agent forward OG Anunoby to a long-term contract and free agent center/power forward Precious Achiuwa to a shorter-term deal, inked All-NBA point guard Jalen Brunson to a contract extension, and brought aboard veteran point guard Cameron Payne for extra depth.

Fresh off its first NBA Finals appearance with star guards Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, Dallas added future Hall of Famer Thompson away from the Warriors as part of a sign-and-trade, while also acquiring young guard Quentin Grimes from the Pistons. Dallas also signed free agent wing Naji Marshall to a three-year deal.

After winning their first (two) playoff series in 20 years this spring, the Timberwolves traded for the draft rights to No. 8 pick Rob Dillingham and retained several of their own free agents.

While Golden State did lose out on Thompson, the Warriors quickly pivoted on the perimeter, signing free agent guard De’Anthony Melton and signing-and-trading for free agent wings Kyle Anderson and Buddy Hield. The team is hoping to rebound from a finish as the West’s No. 10 seed and a quick play-in tournament exit.

Denver let free agent starting shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope walk in free agency and brought in reserve guard Russell Westbrook.

The Suns hired title-winning head coach Mike Budenholzer and signed Tyus Jones to a steal of a veteran’s minimum contract. Phoenix also brought back several of its own free agents, including wings Josh Okogie and Royce O’Neale and Damion Lee. The team also inked free agents Mason Plumlee and Monte Morris to minimum-salary contracts.

The most questionable omission from all this Christmas scheduling is clearly the Thunder, who claimed the West’s No. 1 overall seed last season and added ex-Knicks center Isaiah Hartenstein via a lucrative three-year, $87MM deal. Oklahoma City also dealt guard Josh Giddey – who fell out of the starting lineup in the playoffs – to Chicago for All-Defensive wing Alex Caruso.

With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander having finished as the MVP runner-up last year and young pieces Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams set to develop, the Thunder look poised to contend for the West’s top seed once again.

Mavs Sign Kessler Edwards To Two-Way Deal, Waive Alex Fudge

August 8th, 2024 at 10:20am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Mavericks have officially signed Kessler Edwards to a two-way contract, according to a team press release. They have also waived two-way forward Alex Fudge.

The agreement with Edwards was reported last month. Edwards holds career averages of 3.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 11.9 minutes in 138 career games, 27 of which were starts, with the Nets and Kings. In 54 games for Sacramento last season, Edwards averaged 1.7 points and 5.1 minutes per game.

Edwards was eligible for restricted free agency this summer, but the Kings opted not to issue him a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Fudge signed a two-way deal with Dallas in early March but only appeared in two games. The 20-year-old small forward began the season on a two-way deal with the Lakers, seeing action in four games before being waived in early January. He also appeared in 27 G League games last season.

Fudge, 21, played college ball with LSU and Florida and went undrafted last year.

Having waived Fudge, the Mavericks have an open two-way spot. Guard Brandon Williams holds the other two-way spot.

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