4:14pm: It’s a partially guaranteed three-year deal, tweets Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com, so the Mavs are using cap space.
3:51pm: The Mavericks announced that they have signed center Salah Mejri. Terms of the deal were not disclosed in the press release, though Marc Stein of ESPN.com recently reported that the Mavs made a three-year offer to the big man.
Mejri played in 34 games with Real Madrid last season and averaged 4.3 points and 2.1 rebounds in 8.6 minutes on the way to helping his team win the Spanish League title. In championship play, he increased those averages to 5.0 points, 2.6 rebounds and 10.3 minutes across eight games. While Mejri didn’t play much last year, Dallas is intrigued by his energy, mobility, and length, as David Pick of Eurobasket.com noted recently (Twitter link).
A native of Tunisia, Mejri was a member of the Tunisian National Team that competed in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. The team secured its bid to the London Olympics by winning the 2011 FIBA African Championships where Mejri was named MVP.
Sportando’s Orazio Cauchi first reported the interest from Dallas. The Cavs were reportedly interested earlier this year.
Another move the Mavs probably wouldn’t have made if Jordan had kept his original promise.