Southeast Notes: Knueppel, Hornets, Heat Bigs, Kispert
On Thursday night, Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel set the rookie record for made three pointers when he hit his 207th of the season against the Pacers, per ESPN. He managed to achieve the feat in just 59 games, shattering the mark previously set by Keegan Murray, who needed 80 games to establish that record in 2023. Knueppel, who leads the entire NBA in threes, claimed he wasn’t hunting for the record during the game.
“It’s really just about making the right basketball play,” Knueppel said. “My teammates are setting good screens and setting me up in good spots. The coaches as well. I’m just out there looking to make the right play for my team.”
The rookie’s shooting display caught the attention of the greatest shooter of all time, Stephen Curry, who holds the single-season record with 402 made threes.
“He can obviously shoot the ball at a high level,” Curry said after playing the Hornets. “You can’t really leave him open at all as he has such a quick release and shoots with confidence. And his play-making is very underrated. His game just suits the NBA style, whether it’s fast-paced or a slowed-down possession game.”
We have more from around the Southeast Division:
- While Knueppel’s individual play has caught fans’ attention, it’s just one of many reasons for optimism in Charlotte this season, Roderick Boone writes for the Charlotte Observer. The Hornets are currently one of the hottest teams in the league, having gone 17-6 in their last 23 games. After years of struggles to put a competitive team together, there is a palpable sense of excitement from the team and fanbase as Charlotte looks to keep climbing the Eastern Conference standings. “It’s a different vibe,” said Miles Bridges. “We’ll go to away games, their teams be loud, cheering along. And we didn’t have the same at home. Some people showed up, but now it’s like everybody’s showing up, showing us love… Shout out to the fans that’s been down with us before and shout out to the fans now.”
- Heat big men Bam Adebayo and Kel’el Ware want to play more minutes together, but they know the numbers need to justify it, Anthony Chiang writes for the Miami Herald. For much of the season, Adebayo/Ware duo has been one of the team’s worst two-man groups statistically, but that has started to turn around recently, Chiang notes. Against the Rockets, the pair was unleashed and the Heat won the 16 minutes they played together by 21 points. “I mean, it felt good,” Ware said. “It felt like the days when I’ve played alongside him recently. So, I mean, it felt good.” One wrinkle coach Erik Spoelstra introduced to make the pairing more effective was to use them in a zone defensive scheme, Ira Winderman writes for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. “Both of those guys were really good in our zone,” Spoelstra said. “Kel’el, that was one of his better jobs in the zone, just communicating, and protecting in that inner circle… Bam was super dynamic at the center position in the zone, and when you play him in the wing (in the zone), he’s our best wing defender, as well.”
- Corey Kispert recorded his career high in points in his first time playing against his former Wizards as a member of the Hawks, Lauren Williams writes for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Kispert had 33 points and six rebounds as Atlanta won the game without ever trailing. “This game meant more to him. He’d been there for a long time,” teammate CJ McCollum said. “For me, I had a cup of coffee, some tea there. I just figured out my directions on how to get the facility without a GPS when I got traded. He spent some real time there, so I’m glad he’s doing that.”
Warriors Notes: Santos, Curry, Horford, Playoffs
Gui Santos has been given more ball-handling responsibility for the Warriors of late and it has sparked a new excitement in him, Nick Avila writes for NBC Sports Bay Area.
“Yeah, I’m loving it — not that I don’t like the other part,” Santos said. “I love to just be on the NBA floor, but when you’re on the NBA floor and you’ve got a little bit more freedom to find teammates and either go to the basket and do all that, that gives you so much more joy to play. So, I really love it, the momentum.”
The newly extended forward has increased his assist numbers to 4.6 per game over his last five, and his playing style has been infectious among his teammates. However, he knows that his role will change again once Stephen Curry returns.
After receiving his three-year extension, Santos hopes to be an inspiration for other Brazilian players looking to make it in the NBA, Dalton Johnson writes for NBC Sports Bay Area.
“I’m the only one here, so I’m the biggest example when you look at basketball and the NBA being the biggest level you can get to. Everybody is looking at me as an example,” Santos said. “For me, it’s just trying to be a great guy and show that the work ethic is the most important thing. That’s what got me here in this position.”
Head coach Steve Kerr praised Santos following the announcement of the deal.
“He’s been such an important player for us, but also just an incredible development story. Second-round pick and spent his entire first year in Santa Cruz,” Kerr said. “He’s become one of our most important players. We’re all so thrilled for him. He’s excited, it’s a great day.”
Curry reiterated that sentiment, according to NBC Sports Bay Area’ Eden Collier.
“He was so happy to just be on an NBA team at one point,” Curry said. “And now to being a big part of our rotation, really developing and becoming an impactful player on both ends of the floor and being rewarded with that type of security — coming where he came from, it’s a big deal, it’s a big celebration today for him.”
We have more from the Warriors:
- Reacting to the news that Curry will miss at least the next five games with his lingering knee injury, Johnson suggests for NBC Sports Bay Area that it might make sense to shut the star point guard down until the play-in tournament. Given the 4.5-game gap between the Warriors and No. 6 Lakers and the 7.5-game gap that separates Golden State from the No. 11 Grizzlies, caution should be the name of the game when it comes to bringing Curry back, Johnson argues. “It’s just something that you don’t want to have lingering because it can get worse,” Curry said when asked about the injury.
- When Al Horford left the Celtics for the Warriors this offseason, the sense was that he was leaving a team in a gap year for a potential contender. So far, the opposite has been true in terms of the two teams’ relative success levels, and Horford’s integration with the team has required a bit of a learning curve, Gary Washburn writes for the Boston Globe. “I think that the difference is in different places you look for different things,” Horford said. “So in Boston, we ran a lot of pick-and-rolls, and then some isolations, and then we got to moving the ball. And here with the Warriors, we try to get the ball to Draymond (Green), or get the ball in the post, and then play more in the perimeter, play splits and cut to the basket and things like that. And then when Steph is on the court, obviously all that ties in together. So there’s some pick and roll, but then there’s a lot of off-the-ball movement.”
- Kerr is realistic about the Warriors’ chances of earning a top-six spot in the West to avoid the play-in tournament, NBC Sports Bay Area’s Joaquin Ruiz writes. “It’s a lot to make up with 22 games left,” Kerr said. “We don’t even talk about it. It’s not anything that is worth discussing because we just have to try to go out and win and see what happens.“
Stephen Curry To Be Reevaluated in 10 Days
Warriors guard Stephen Curry will be reevaluated in 10 days as he seeks to return from the right knee injury that has kept him sidelined since January 30, ESPN’s Anthony Slater reports (Twitter link). That means that Curry will miss at least five more games in addition to the 10 he has already missed.
It’s essentially the same update the Warriors provided on February 19 when they announced that an MRI on Curry’s troublesome knee revealed no structural damage but that he would miss at least five games and would be reevaluated in 10 days. Today marked 10 days since that announcement.
Curry is dealing with patellofemoral pain syndrome, colloquially known as runner’s knee. He has referred to it as an “unpredictable” issue.
Head coach Steve Kerr previously stated that the team has no interest in shutting Curry down for the season. Golden State is currently the eighth seed in the Western Conference.
Curry is averaging 27.2 points and 4.8 assists per game this season despite averaging just 31.3 minutes per night, one of the lowest marks of his career. He’ll fall shy of the 65-game minimum for end-of-season awards, meaning he’ll miss out on All-NBA honors for just the second time in the past 13 years.
Curry will remain sidelined for at least the team’s upcoming games against the Clippers (Monday), Rockets (Thursday), Thunder (Saturday), Jazz (March 9), and Bulls (March 10).
Knicks Notes: Towns, McBride, Diawara, Contender Status
While the Knicks have had a relatively successful season to this point, Karl-Anthony Towns‘ role in coach Mike Brown‘s offensive scheme has been a nagging issue all season long, writes The New York Post’s Stefan Bondy (subscription required). The responsibilities allocated to Towns have often appeared the least stratified and have been partially to blame for the big man putting up the lowest scoring total of his career since his rookie season, though the decline in his shooting percentages also falls on his shoulders.
Bondy believes that both Towns and Brown must shoulder the burden of fixing Towns’ offensive output, especially in regard to his number of field goal attempts, which are the lowest of his career. For the Knicks to be as effective as they can be, Towns needs to be a consistently major part of the offensive attack, and Bondy writes that there are too many games where that’s not the case.
Towns had the added distraction of being in and out of trade rumors, especially surrounding Giannis Antetokounmpo, since last summer, but he’s trying his best to block out the noise, Steve Popper writes for Newsday.
“I continue to worry about what’s the task at hand,” Towns said. “That’s being the best player I can be for my brothers and my teammates here in New York, continue to go out there and impact winning. I keep saying that all the time. I know you guys think it’s redundant, but it’s true. It’s how I approach the year, the season. Every game is about can I impact winning the most.”
We have more from the Knicks:
- There’s still no specific return timeline for Miles McBride, who has been out since late January and underwent surgery for a sports hernia in early February, Bondy writes. “It’s going to be a process coming back,” McBride said. “I’m feeling the love from the whole organization. They want me back but they want me back right. So that’s the main thing.” McBride is having the best season of his career and is a key part of the Knicks’ improved depth this season, so his healthy return will be important, but it likely won’t be happening soon. “It’s really a slow process,” he said. “So I’m starting to do some form shooting (shooting without jumping). And I’m starting to do a few strengthening exercises for the area I was injured.”
- Mohamed Diawara has exceeded expectations as a rookie, but he got his first taste of how tough the league is when he was temporarily bumped from his usual spot in the rotation as Brown looked to see what newcomer Jeremy Sochan could bring off the bench. While that was a humbling moment, the first-year forward didn’t let it change his approach, according to Bondy. Brown is aware of how such a change could impact a young player and has tried to mitigate its effects. “Yes, it can [hurt his confidence],” Brown said. “But that’s my job more than anybody else’s is to make sure I communicate with him and anybody else when that happens. There’s a part of me — and I could be wrong about this — but there’s a part of me that doesn’t think so because I started him. And I thought it would rattle him. It doesn’t rattle him.” Diawara responded well against the Bucks on Friday as he was once again back in his customary spot in the rotation, Bondy notes in a separate piece. He had 10 points and led the team in plus-minus. Against the Spurs on Sunday, he put up 14 points in a blowout win.
- While there have been some questions about the ceiling of a Knicks team that has repeatedly lost to the East-leading Pistons, they looked like contenders on Sunday vs. the Spurs, Jared Schwartz writes for the Post. New York was able to snap San Antonio’s 11-game winning streak thanks to a strong outing from Mikal Bridges and smart defense from OG Anunoby and Towns on Victor Wembanyama, forcing him into seven turnovers and limiting him to just two points in the fourth quarter. “We started taking the right shots,” Brown said. “I told our guys ‘let that thing fly.’ Once we started letting it fly, good things started to happen.”
Pelicans Notes: Bey, Fears, Murphy, Zion, Alvarado
The NBA doesn’t have a comeback player of the year award like the NFL, but if it did, Saddiq Bey would be among the frontrunners, says Rod Walker of NOLA.com.
The Pelicans wing missed the entire 2024/25 while recovering from a torn ACL, but he has been highly productive in his first season in New Orleans, averaging 17.4 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists on .455/.355/.853 shooting splits in 54 appearances, including 46 starts (30.8 minutes per game).
Bey scored a season-high 42 points (on 14-of-20 shooting) in Thursday’s victory at Utah. He also contributed seven assists and five rebounds in 34 minutes.
As Walker writes, Bey was something of an afterthought in the offseason trade that sent Jordan Poole to New Orleans and CJ McCollum to Washington. But the 26-year-old has been one of the Pelicans’ best players this season, which interim head coach James Borrego admits he “didn’t envision” entering ’25/26.
“He deserves the credit because he works on it every day,” Borrego said. “He does not take a day for granted. I think all of us should learn from Saddiq. He values every day. Every day he gets to walk into an NBA gym, he values it. And he treats it with great care and respect. … He’s really elevated this program.”
Here’s more from New Orleans:
- Borrego praised Jeremiah Fears after the rookie guard recorded his second career double-double in Saturday’s victory in Utah, according to Walker. “His poise, his play-making settled us,” said Borrego. “His pace. You felt him early. Especially when he rebounds like that, we’re gone. To rebound like that at his size and position just fuels our offense. And he continues to grow defensively, making havoc plays out there. I see a focused young man. I thought he was fantastic tonight.” Fears, the seventh overall pick in last year’s draft, finished with 18 points, a career-high 11 rebounds, and five assists in 34 minutes off the bench.
- The Pelicans will get their leading scorer back on Sunday, as Trey Murphy III has been upgraded to available for tonight’s game at the Clippers after missing five straight games with a right shoulder contusion (press release link). Forward Zion Williamson, who exited Saturday’s game in the second quarter with a right ankle injury and didn’t return, is questionable Sunday on the second of a back-to-back.
- In an interview with William Guillory of The Athletic, Jose Alvarado said it was “bittersweet” to be traded to his hometown Knicks ahead of the deadline. The former Pelicans guard also detailed his close bond with New Orleans and its fans. “They felt the love that I had for the city and it was real love,” Alvarado told The Athletic. “There was nothing fake about it. New Orleans will always be home to me. I always said New Orleans is a gritty, tough city and you can never knock them down. We saw Mother Nature, whoever, try to bring New Orleans down and they always rise back up with their head high. I just think that’s how I carry myself, also, and they saw that in me. Obviously, where I grew up is very different from New Orleans, but I feel like my mindset is very similar to a lot of people from there. They saw how I play and how much passion I show every time I’m out there. That’s how they want somebody to represent the city. They showed me genuine love and I always tried to show the same thing to them.”
Northwest Notes: Jokic, Dort, SGA, Avdija, K. George
Thunder wing Luguentz Dort was ejected in the fourth quarter of Oklahoma City’s overtime victory over Denver on Friday for sticking out his right leg and tripping Nikola Jokic (Twitter video link via ESPN). The Nuggets‘ superstar big man angrily confronted and chest-bumped Dort, who backed away as his teammate Jaylin Williams intervened.
“Unnecessary move and a necessary reaction,” Jokic said, per Bennett Durando of The Denver Post. “There is no such thing — I think there’s not supposed to be those things on a basketball floor. So it was just an unnecessary move (by Dort) and a necessary reaction by me.”
As Durando writes, Dort was initially called for a common foul, but it was upgraded to a flagrant foul 2 upon review. Jokic and Williams both received offsetting unsportsmanlike technicals for their part in the altercation.
“Lu Dort was assessed a flagrant foul penalty (level) two because we deemed his contact on Jokic to be unnecessary and excessive with a high potential for injury,” crew chief James Williams said in a pool report. “And also because the contact led to an altercation that did not dissolve.”
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault noted it was a physical game between the Northwest Division rivals, who faced off in the Western Conference semifinals last year. Oklahoma City won that series in seven games en route to the championship.
“If you were watching the game, I think you could see very clearly, very early that it was a chippy game,” Daigneault said, according to Durando. “These are two teams that played each other in a seven-game series. We’re in the same division. We’ve played each other 100 times. They know our playbook. We know their playbook. It just is what it is. … I know Lu. I know Jokic. I know J-Will. I don’t think anybody was trying to hurt anybody. They’re just great competitors. It just boiled over. I think it was nothing more than that.
“I will say this. If a player (for us), if J-Will is running up the floor and gets tripped, we expect a flagrant two from this point forward. That’s all. If that’s the precedent, if that becomes a malicious play and flagrant two is the line in the sand on that, we would expect that if it’s J-Will. We would expect that if it’s anybody.”
When asked if he was suggesting that Dort was only ejected because Jokic — a three-time MVP — was the player fouled, Daigneault demurred.
“I’m not going to answer the question like that. I said what I needed to say about it,” Daigneault replied.
On Sunday, Nuggets head coach David Adelman addressed the incident, as Durando relays (via Twitter).
“For Dort to take that shot — and then I guess it wasn’t that big of a deal from their standpoint, how they looked at it — is ridiculous,” Adelman said as part of a larger quote. “That was malicious. It was a cheap shot. Lu Dort’s a great player, and that’s not what I’ve seen him do before. But at some point, you have to stand up for yourself, and the team does as well.”
We have more from around the Northwest:
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander returned to action on Friday after missing nine games with an abdominal strain, recording 36 points, nine assists, three rebounds, two steals and two blocks in 34 minutes. However, the Thunder superstar couldn’t play in overtime due to a minutes restriction, writes Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman (subscriber link). Daigneault let the Canadian guard know it advance that it was possible he might be forced to miss a potential extra period. “They kind of had no choice because if they tried that on the fly, I wasn’t gonna go,” Gilgeous-Alexander said with a laugh. “They had to get ahead of it, for sure. But with that being said, it is the right decision to make. If I re-injure this injury, all of it and everything that we’ve done up to this point doesn’t matter. So that’s first and foremost.”
- Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija will miss his fourth straight game on Sunday in Atlanta because of low back injury management (Twitter link). The first-time All-Star first experienced the back issue in early January and aggravated the injury just 59 seconds into a February 22 game at Phoenix.
- Third-year guard Keyonte George was back in the Jazz‘s starting lineup for Saturday’s loss to New Orleans, writes Kevin Reynolds of The Salt Lake Tribune. George, who had missed the last six games because of a right ankle sprain, said he felt good in his return but will be on a restriction of approximately 20-to-24 minutes for the time being. “Feet are the most precious thing for any athlete. So I want to make sure I feel good, not feeling off balance or nothing like that,” said George, who also dealt with a left ankle sprain last month. “Just want to be cautious with the ankle injuries and stuff like that.”
Timberwolves Sign Zyon Pullin To Two-Way Contract
2:00 pm: Pullin’s two-way deal is official, per NBA.com’s transaction log.
10:48 am: The Timberwolves intend to sign free agent guard Zyon Pullin to a two-way contract, league sources tell Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).
Pullin has been a standout performer for Minnesota’s G League affiliate in Iowa. In 14 total games in 2025/26, the 24-year-old has averaged 23.8 points, 5.8 assists and 3.2 rebounds in 35.3 minutes per contest, with an excellent .557/.448/.841 shooting line.
Pullin played for UC Riverside from 2019-23 before transferring to Florida for his super-senior year. He was an All-SEC honoree with the Gators 2023/24 after averaging 15.5 points, 4.9 assists, 3.9 rebounds, and 0.9 steals per contest in 33 games (27 starts), with a shooting line of .444/.449/.847.
After going undrafted in 2024, Pullin quickly signed a two-way contract with Miami, but he was waived less than a month later. He opened last season in the G League with the Heat’s affiliate team, then finished 2024/25 on a two-way deal with Memphis.
Pullin signed an Exhibit 10 deal with Minnesota in September and spent training camp and the preseason with the club prior to being waived before the regular season began.
The Timberwolves opened up a two-way spot on Saturday when they waived Jules Bernard, so no corresponding move will be necessary to add Pullin. The California native will be eligible to be active for up to 12 of Minnesota’s final 22 games.
Celtics Notes: Queta, Scheierman, Tatum, Vucevic
Celtics starting center Neemias Queta recently detailed his journey as the NBA’s first (and only) player from Portugal in an interview with Marc J. Spears of Andscape. Queta’s parents moved to Portugal from their native Guinea-Bissau due to the civil war that took place in the West African country in the late 1990s, Spears writes.
Queta has never been to Guinea-Bissau or to Africa, but he hopes to visit his parents’ home country with his mother “in the next couple of years.”
“They were in kind of like a refugee type of situation. It was more trying to get to that safe place and Port Portugal welcomed them,” Queta said.
The 26-year-old big man, who was born in Lisbon and grew up 20 miles outside of Portugal’s capital, didn’t start playing basketball until he was 10 years old, per Spears, and only had one full scholarship offer (from Utah State) in the United States in 2018. After he spent three years with the Aggies, Sacramento selected Queta 39th overall in the 2021 draft.
Queta spent two years with the Kings on two-way contracts, but was waived in the 2023 offseason. The Celtics signed him to a two-way deal a few days later, and after being converted at the end of the 2023/24 season, he signed a multiyear standard contract in the summer of 2024. Boston holds a $2.7MM team option on Queta for 2026/27.
“It’s a lot of love. Being the face of the NBA for Portugal is pretty good for me,” Queta said. “It’s a blessing that I don’t take lightly. I just want to be out here and just do the best I can so I can put the best version of our culture on the map.”
Here’s more on the Celtics, who are currently 39-20, the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference:
- Second-year guard Baylor Scheierman is questionable for Sunday’s game vs. Philadelphia due to a left thumb fracture, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. Scheierman, who is left-handed, appeared to suffer the injury when he collided with Egor Demin in the second quarter of Friday’s win over Brooklyn, according to Chris Forsberg of NBC Sports Boston (Twitter video link). The 25-year-old wing was able to stay in the game another 13 minutes after having his thumb taped, Forsberg adds. Scheierman has been productive in 13 games (27.1 MPG) as a starter this season, Forsberg notes (via Twitter), averaging 8.7 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 2.5 APG and 1.1 SPG while shooting 36.8% on threes and playing solid defense. Scheierman, the 30th overall pick in the 2024 draft, has started Boston’s last eight games.
- There had been speculation that Jayson Tatum might return to action on March 1, but that won’t be the case, as the star forward has been ruled out against the 76ers as he continues to work his way back from a torn Achilles tendon, per Souichi Terada of MassLive.com.
- The Celtics are focused on self-improvement and integrating trade deadline acquisition Nikola Vucevic as they look to make another deep playoff run, writes Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe (subscriber link). The 35-year-old center had his best game with Boston during Friday’s lopsided victory, recording 28 points (on 9-of-13 shooting), 11 rebounds and four assists in just 25 minutes. “I’m still getting used to the new offense and all my teammates and learning their tendencies,” Vucevic said. “At times I think I do overthink a little bit, which makes me kind of hesitant and takes away my aggressiveness. I feel like [Friday] I was able to put a little more together and play off my teammates. I just have to find the right balance of being aggressive, use my instincts but make it fit with what we want to run.”
Mavericks Sign Tyler Smith, Waive Miles Kelly
The Mavericks have signed free agent forward Tyler Smith to a two-way contract, per a team press release (Twitter link). In a related move, guard Miles Kelly has been waived.
Smith, 21, was the 33rd overall pick in the 2024 draft and spent his rookie season with the Bucks. However, he played a very limited role in Milwaukee, logging just 122 total minutes across 23 NBA appearances.
Smith played more regularly in the G League, averaging 25.1 minutes per contest across 25 outings for the Wisconsin Herd, but he didn’t put up big numbers for the Bucks’ NBAGL affiliate, averaging 10.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game with a .415/.327/.824 shooting line.
The victim of a roster crunch in Milwaukee, Smith was waived by the Bucks in October and entered the G League draft, where he was selected second overall by the Osceola Magic. The 6’9″ forward was subsequently traded to the Capital City Go-Go, Washington’s affiliate, appearing in eight games before his rights were acquired by the Rio Grande Valley Vipers.
Smith signed a two-way contract with the Rockets in early December, but he didn’t appear in any NBA games prior to being cut in early January before his deal became guaranteed for the rest of the season. He has played 19 regular season games (27.0 MPG) with the Vipers, averaging 15.8 PPG, 5.1 RPG, 1.1 SPG and 1.1 BPG on .509/.391/.690 shooting.
Kelly, a 6’4″ shooting guard, spent his first three college seasons at Georgia Tech prior to transferring to Auburn in 2024/25. He went undrafted in June and quickly signed a two-way deal with Dallas.
Kelly has played a modest NBA role for the Mavs, averaging 3.1 points and 1.7 rebounds in 9.6 minutes per game across 14 appearances. The 23-year-old has spent much of 2025/26 in the G League with the Texas Legends, appearing in 26 games (32.5 MPG) and averaging 19.9 PPG, 5.0 RPG, 2.4 APG and 0.9 SPG while shooting 37.1% from three-point range on high volume (9.1 attempts).
As we noted in another story, Dallas has also finalized a two-way deal with John Poulakidas, a sharpshooting wing who had been playing for the San Diego Clippers.
John Poulakidas Signs Two-Way Deal With Mavericks
11:31 am: Poulakidas’ two-way deal is official, per the Mavs (Twitter link).
7:42 am: Free agent wing John Poulakidas will sign a two-way contract with the Mavericks, reports Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (via Twitter).
Poulakidas went undrafted in 2025 after playing four years of college basketball for Yale. He averaged 19.4 points and 3.3 rebounds in 27 games as a senior last season and shot 40.2% from three-point range during his college career.
A 6’6″ shooting guard, Poulakidas signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Clippers in the fall, was waived before the regular season began, and has spent the 2025/26 campaign in the G League with the San Diego Clippers.
The 22-year-old got off to a relatively slow start in the NBAGL, making 13 Tip-Off Tournament appearances and averaging 8.4 points and 2.2 rebounds in 19.8 minutes per game while shooting 38.5% from deep. Poulakidas has played a larger role for San Diego since the regular season began, averaging 14.7 PPG and 3.8 RPG in 27 games (30.9 MPG) and shooting 47.3% from long distance on high volume.
Dallas will have an open two-way spot once the team officially converts Ryan Nembhard to a two-year standard contract. Assuming his deal is finalized in the next three days, Poulakidas will be eligible to be active for up to 12 regular season games for the Mavericks.