The Mavericks “fully intend” to re-sign center Dwight Powell in free agency, Marc Stein reports in his latest rumor round-up at Substack. According to Stein, the Cavaliers and Rockets are also expected to show interest in Powell once he hits the open market, but the Mavs value him both on and off the court and are confident about their chances to retain him.
With Powell, Richaun Holmes, and lottery pick Dereck Lively II expected to be in the mix at center in Dallas, it didn’t make sense for Andre Drummond to turn down his player option with the Bulls in the hopes of signing with the Mavericks, Stein explains, following up on a previous rumor. If the Mavs had been able to trade Holmes, it might’ve been a different story, but Drummond opted for the guaranteed money and a clearer path to rotation minutes in Chicago.
Here’s more from Stein:
- Fred VanVleet‘s current plan is to meet with both the Raptors and Rockets in person in Los Angeles when free agency opens on Friday, Stein tweets, reiterating in today’s article that Houston looks like a serious threat to sign the point guard away from Toronto.
- The Lakers are “eager” to bring back point guard Dennis Schröder and would like to give him a raise, but will have a limited ability to do so with his Non-Bird rights. Echoing ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, Stein says there’s a scenario in which Los Angeles commits a portion of its mid-level exception to Schröder and uses the rest on another player.
- Former NBA big man Donta Hall, who is in the midst of a multiyear contract with AS Monaco in Europe, has an NBA opt-out in his deal and is attracting some interest from teams stateside, according to Stein, who names the Grizzlies and Trail Blazers as a couple of the clubs eyeing Hall.
- One Western Conference front office executive was surprised by how many potential free agents exercised their player options. “I’ve never seen this many good players opt in,” the executive told Stein.
Lakers don’t plan to give full MLE to schroeder?
IMO
Rockets are likely to give 3 years $110mm to VanVleet
Dwight Powell is solid but he should be a backup Center. I think he will do great signing with the Houston Rockets on a big short term deal to backup Alperen Sengun.
I would love to see the Dallas Mavericks turn the Center position over to Dereck Lively II and let Rachaun Holmes be the backup. Then turn Power Forward pod over to Olivier Maxence-Prosper and let Maxi Kleber back him up.
Los Angeles Lakers definitely need to bring Dennis Schroder back. Maybe give him part of that mid level exception and use the rest on Eric Gordon. The way Eric Gordon can shoot with so much range it will really space the floor for LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
I would love to see Fred VanVleet sign back with the Toronto Raptors. If he prioritizes the bag I’m not going to be mad at him.
Nooooo!!!! just say no to Dwight Powell. Great attitude and hustle, but his defensive acumen is severely lacking. You just acquired a big roll guy in Richaun Holmes too.
Question: How many games did I watch him spin around aimlessly as a guy blew by a defender and flushed it at the rim? Powell would just stare with a confused “What just happened” look on his face? Answer: all of them. If the Mavs use their MLE or biannual and get hard capped because of that … I don’t see how they can expect to improve their team. Wasn’t Nico just spouting off weeks ago about how the roster will look significantly different? Didnt Michael Finley admit in a presser that they stunk and must have roster changes? Sooooo … what gives?