Southwest Notes: Mavericks, Pelicans, Rockets

The Mavericks have liked what they’ve seen from Chinese swingman Ding Yanyuhang in limited Summer League minutes, but may not be able to keep him stateside with a low-paying two-way contract, writes Eddie Sefko of The Dallas Morning News. As Sefko details, if the Mavs want to keep Ding around, it will likely require an NBA contract offer, even if the 23-year-old may not be NBA-ready quite yet.

Within his story on Ding, Sefko also suggests that Nicolas Brussino‘s time with the Mavericks may be coming to an end. Brussino’s salary guarantee deadline for 2017/18 is next Thursday, and the Argentinian swingman seems unlikely to remain in Dallas beyond that date, per Sefko.

Here’s more from around the Southwest division:

• The Pelicans remain in the market for an impact guard and an outside shooter, but would likely need to shed salary to add both, tweets Scott Kushner of The Advocate. As Kushner notes, it will be complicated for New Orleans to accomplish all three goals.
• In an interview with Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, Chris Paul explained why he felt it was time to move on from the Clippers, and what drew him to the Rockets.
• Isaiah Taylor, who has a non-guaranteed minimum salary for 2017/18, will likely spend the majority of the season with the Rockets rather than the team’s G League affiliate in Rio Grande Valley, per head coach Mike D’Antoni (Twitter link via Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle). Of course, that assumes Houston doesn’t use Taylor’s non-guaranteed contract to help accommodate a trade.