JULY 26TH: The Mavericks have officially re-signed James, the team announced today in a press release.
JULY 22ND: Having cleared waivers yesterday after being released by the Mavericks last week, Bernard James is expected to return to Dallas, according to ESPN.com's Marc Stein (via Tim MacMahon of ESPNDallas.com).
The Mavericks had previously pushed back James' contract guarantee date in hopes of keeping him on the roster, but ultimately needed to waive him to clear about $300K in cap room to help sign Monta Ellis. James had been on a minimum-salary ($789K) contract, whereas an empty roster spot only has a cap hold of about $490K.
When Ellis signs, the path will be clear for the Mavs to re-sign James to another minimum-salary deal, since teams are permitted to go over the cap for minimum deals. According to Stein, the two sides have an agreement in principle to complete a new contract once Ellis officially inks his deal.