Stein’s Latest: Mavs, D-Lo, Paul, Exum, Sixers, Hawks

Within his latest NBA rumor round-up for The Stein Line (Substack link), Marc Stein reiterates a report he published on Twitter earlier this week, writing that the Mavericks are “increasingly regarded as the favorites” to sign point guard D’Angelo Russell.

Dallas will likely be limited to offering free agents the $5.7MM taxpayer mid-level exception, and Stein suggests Chris Paul will be another Mavs target using that MLE. However, there’s a growing belief that Paul would want to play somewhere closer to his home in Los Angeles if he continues his career, Stein explains.

Meanwhile, while the Mavericks still have interest in re-signing him, there’s a chance that a roster crunch could spell the end of Dante Exum‘s time in Dallas. Assuming Brandon Williams – who is on a non-guaranteed contract – is retained, the Mavs will have 14 players on standard contracts even before adding a free agent point guard.

According to Stein, a handful of EuroLeague teams – including Anadolu Efes, Fenerbahce, and Partizan Belgrade – are interested in trying to lure Exum back overseas. But the former No. 5 overall pick is still focused on trying to stick in the NBA even if there’s no pathway back to the Mavs for him, Stein writes.

Here’s more from Stein:

• Providing updates on a couple of popular Mavericks assistant coaches, Stein says the Nuggets are now among the teams with interest in hiring Jared Dudley away from Dallas, joining Memphis and Cleveland, while the Magic continue to put on a “full-court press” in the hopes of poaching God Shammgod from Jason Kidd‘s staff.
• Despite rumors and speculation in recent weeks suggesting that the Sixers explored the prospect of moving off Paul George‘s contract and trading down from No. 3 in the draft, a league source familiar with the team’s thinking called that “nonsense,” according to Stein. Jake Fischer reported several weeks ago that Philadelphia wasn’t trying to get rid of George using that lottery pick.
• Although they had interest in Masai Ujiri earlier in their front office search, the Hawks aren’t expected to circle back now that the longtime Toronto executive is out of work, Stein says. One source close to the process tells Stein that Atlanta is operating under the assumption that general manager Onsi Saleh will be the team’s head of basketball operations for the foreseeable future.