NBA 2025 Offseason Check-In: Dallas Mavericks

Hoops Rumors is checking in on the 2025 offseason for all 30 NBA teams, recapping the summer’s free agent signings, trades, draft picks, departures, and more. We’ll take a look at each team’s offseason moves and consider what might still be coming before the regular season begins. Today, we’re focusing on the Dallas Mavericks.

Free agent signings

• Kyrie Irving: Three years, $118,473,846. Third-year player option. Trade kicker (15%). Re-signed using Bird rights.
• D’Angelo Russell: Two years, $11,654,250. Second-year player option. Signed using taxpayer mid-level exception.
• Dante Exum: One year, minimum salary. Re-signed using minimum salary exception. Waived right to veto trade.
• Moussa Cisse: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.
• Matthew Cleveland: One year, minimum salary. Non-guaranteed (Exhibit 10). Signed using minimum salary exception.

Trades

• None

Draft picks

• 1-1: Cooper Flagg
  • Signed to rookie scale contract (four years, $62,730,225).

Two-way signings

• Miles Kelly
  • One year, $85,300 partial guarantee.
• Ryan Nembhard
  • One year, $85,300 partial guarantee.

Departed/unsigned free agents

• Spencer Dinwiddie (Hornets)
• Kessler Edwards (Nuggets)
• Kai Jones (Anadolu Efes)

Other roster moves

• Signed P.J. Washington to a four-year, $88,762,440 veteran contract extension that begins in 2026/27.
• Signed Daniel Gafford to a three-year, $54,380,289 veteran contract extension that begins in 2026/27.
• Waived and stretched Olivier-Maxence Prosper (guaranteed $3,007,080 salary).

Salary cap situation

• Operating over the cap ($154.6MM) and above the luxury tax line ($187.9MM).
• Carrying approximately $204.7MM in salary.
• Hard-capped at $207,824,000.
• Three traded player exceptions frozen (largest worth $11,000,000).

The offseason so far

It’s almost hard to fathom a non-playoff NBA team experiencing the same sort of highs and lows that the Mavericks – and their fan base – did during the five-month stretch this year from the start of February to the end of June.

A not-insignificant number of Mavs supporters appeared ready to give up on the team after the front office traded perennial MVP candidate Luka Doncic to the Lakers in a February blockbuster that could be charitably described as “controversial.” But many of those same fans had a “just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in” moment on May 12 when Dallas – having entered the night with the 11th-best odds (1.8%) – improbably won the 2025 draft lottery, putting the club in position to draft a new franchise player: Cooper Flagg.

With Doncic no longer part of the Mavericks’ future, Kyrie Irving recovering from an ACL tear he sustained in March, and Anthony Davis (eye) and Dereck Lively II (foot) both undergoing offseason surgeries, it looked like it would be a miserable summer in Dallas on the heels of a disappointing spring in which the injury-plagued team missed the playoffs entirely after making the Western Conference Finals in 2024.

Winning the draft lottery and the right to select Flagg didn’t just salvage the offseason — it reinvigorated the organization, providing the Mavericks with legitimate optimism for the long-term future after the Doncic/Davis swap had shortened their probable window for contention.

Describing Flagg’s arrival in those terms makes it sound as if the pressure on him will be enormous, but it’s not as if he’ll immediately be asked to carry the franchise like he would have been if he’d landed somewhere like Utah or Washington. The Mavs, even without Doncic, have a pretty talented roster when Irving and Davis are healthy, with Lively, P.J. Washington, Klay Thompson, Daniel Gafford, Naji Marshall, Max Christie, and Caleb Martin among the most likely candidates to play major roles in 2025/26. Flagg will certainly see regular playing time, but the club won’t ask too much of him in his rookie year.

With a couple important exceptions, most of the Mavs’ key players were already under contract for 2025/26 when the offseason began, so after drafting Flagg, the team had two clear priorities: addressing the point guard spot and locking up some of those players already under contract to longer-term extensions.

Although there have been some rumblings this summer about the possibility of the Mavs experimenting with Flagg as a point guard, the hole at that position was one crucial leftover problem from the Doncic trade that winning the draft lottery didn’t solve. Not only was Irving a free agent this summer, but he almost certainly won’t be ready to return from his ACL tear until sometime in the second half of 2025/26 at the earliest. Even if they were to re-sign Irving, the Mavs were going to need more reinforcements.

Despite turning 33 this year, Irving remains the Mavs’ point guard of the future — their belief in him was part of the reason that president of basketball operations Nico Harrison was willing to trade Doncic at all. So it came as no real surprise when the two sides quickly agreed to terms on a new three-year, $118.5MM deal several years before free agency began.

It’s almost the exact same contract Irving signed with the club in 2023, with the same two guaranteed seasons, third-year player option, and trade kicker. While Irving is two years older now and is coming off a major injury, he has been excellent on the court – and hasn’t created any off-court drama – since arriving in Dallas. Salaries have also risen a little since 2023, and the Doncic trade gave him some additional leverage in those contract negotiations.

The Mavs also agreed to bring back Dante Exum on a one-year, minimum-salary contract. A solid defender who has improved his three-point shot since a multiyear stint in Europe from 2021-23, Exum has battled injuries during his two years in Dallas and has been limited to just 75 regular season outings, but he has been very productive when he’s available.

Still, with Irving out, the Mavs weren’t about to hand over ball-handling duties to the trio of Exum, Brandon Williams, and Jaden Hardy, so adding an outside point guard was the front office’s number one goal entering free agency. With only the taxpayer mid-level exception available to spend, Dallas didn’t realistically have a shot at any of the top players on the market, but the club did well to land D’Angelo Russell, a former No. 2 overall pick and 2019 All-Star who is still just 29 years old.

Russell isn’t a strong defender and his three-point percentage dropped off significantly last season to a career-low 31.4%. But based on his career trajectory, last season’s shooting numbers look like an anomaly. Russell is still a solid scorer and play-maker who spent multiple seasons in Los Angeles developing chemistry with Davis. Dallas probably isn’t a legitimate contender in the postseason if Russell is the starting point guard, but for a stop-gap option who will transition to a backup role if and when Irving returns, the team could’ve done much worse.

The Mavs didn’t complete any trades this summer, so drafting Flagg, adding Russell, and waiving 2023 first-round pick Olivier-Maxence Prosper (a necessary move to create room under a second-apron hard cap to re-sign Exum) were the only moves the club made involving its standard roster. But Dallas also completed a pair of veteran contract extensions, agreeing to terms with both Washington (four years, $88.8MM) and Gafford (three years, $54.4MM).

Those prices are reasonable for what that duo brings to the court, though it’s fair to question whether the Mavs really needed to invest long-term in Washington and Gafford at this point. They’ll be part of a crowded frontcourt that already features Davis, Lively, and Flagg, three players who would likely rank ahead of Washington and Gafford if you were to list the team’s most valuable long-term assets.

For what it’s worth, the terms of Gafford’s deal fell within the extend-and-trade limits, meaning he could be moved at any time this season, whereas Washington’s extension makes him ineligible to be dealt until at least the 2026 offseason.

Up next

With little room to maneuver below their hard cap, the Mavericks will likely enter the regular season with their current 15-man standard roster. Outside of making a trade, the only option they would have to create some additional flexibility would be to waive Williams, whose minimum-salary contract is only partially guaranteed for $200K for now.

However, Williams was an effective role player for Dallas down the stretch last season, earning a call-up from his two-way contract when the team could’ve opted to promote Kessler Edwards or Kai Jones instead. If the Mavs didn’t plan to hang onto Williams through opening night, they likely would’ve made a move with him in June or July, before his $200K partial guarantee was locked in.

While Dallas’ 15-man roster looks pretty set, the club does have one two-way slot available alongside Miles Kelly and Ryan Nembhard. That opening may be up for grabs in training camp and the preseason — Moussa Cisse and Matthew Cleveland have already signed Exhibit 10 contracts with the Mavs and Jamarion Sharp is reportedly expected to do the same, so they could be among the players who get a chance to compete for a two-way deal.

Having already finalized new deals with Washington and Gafford, the Mavericks likely won’t complete any more contract extensions before the season begins. Dwight Powell, who is on a $4MM expiring contract, is the only Mav who is still extension-eligible, but a new deal for the 34-year-old reserve probably isn’t at the top of the front office’s to-do list.