Mavericks Notes: Thompson, Irving, Dead Money
Appearing on the Showtime With Michael Cooper Lakers Podcast (YouTube link), Mavericks wing Klay Thompson said Kyrie Irving is the “toughest guy” he’s ever guarded and has “no weaknesses in his game,” as Ashish Mathur of DallasHoopsJournal.com relays.
“It’s nice to be his teammate,” Thompson said of Irving. “You know, Kyrie and I had so many battles during those years at Golden State. We saw Cleveland four straight years in the Finals, three of them being with Kai.
“And I’ll never forget, I know you always used to check the best offensive player, and some nights there’s just nothing you could do when you’re guarding a guy like Michael (Jordan) or Larry (Bird) or Isiah (Thomas). Same thing with Kyrie.”
Here’s more on the Mavs:
- Irving, who tore the ACL in his left knee in early March, provided a minor injury update last week, saying he was “healing up great.” Overtime released a short video (Twitter link) on Sunday showing Irving practicing floaters and jump shots at the NBPA practice facility in New York (hat tip to Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal). Afseth notes that the nine-time All-Star appeared to be “moving comfortably on the court.”
- After waiving and stretching 2023 first-round pick Olivier-Maxence Prosper on Friday, Dallas will now carry a $3.2MM dead-money cap hit each of the next three years, tweets Keith Smith of Spotrac. Only about $1MM of that total came from stretching Prosper’s contract; the other $2.2MM is owed to JaVale McGee, who was cut by the Mavericks a couple years ago.
- In case you missed it, multiple reporters have indicated that P.J. Washington is likely to sign an extension with Dallas now that he’s officially eligible to do so, though the exact terms remain unclear.
And-Ones: Top Wings, Expectations, Hughes, G League Trade
LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Kawhi Leonard stand atop The Bounce’s ranking of the NBA’s top 40 wins, according to The Athletic’s Zach Harper, who classifies those three stars as all-time legends who are still elite. Harper’s second tier, comprised of All-NBA level performers, includes Jimmy Butler, Jaylen Brown, Paul George and Jalen Williams.
We have more from the basketball world:
- Which NBA teams will exceed their predicted win total? Which will fall below expectations? ESPN’s Tim Bontemps makes his selections on five teams for each side of the ledger, with the Thunder and Clippers among the clubs on the plus side and the Pistons and Mavericks that won’t reach their projected records.
- Former NBA player and coach Kim Hughes has died, according to an Instagram post from former NBA center Meyers Leonard. Hughes, 73, played in the ABA and NBA from 1975-81. Following his playing career, Hughes worked as a scout and assistant coach, most recently with the Trail Blazers through the 2014/15 season. He also had a 33-game stint as the Clippers‘ head coach during the 2009/10 season.
- The Noblesville Boom, the Pacers‘ NBA G League affiliate, recently acquired the returning player rights to forward Jalen Slawson from the Birmingham Squadron, the Pelicans‘ G League affiliate, in exchange for returning player rights to center Garrison Brooks, according to a team press release. Slawson played for the Osceola Magic last season, averaging 11.9 points, 7.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game. Brooks has played in Lithuania the past two seasons.
Mavericks Waive, Stretch Olivier-Maxence Prosper
9:00 pm: Prosper has been officially waived, according to NBA.com’s transaction log.
3:50 pm: The Mavericks are waiving former first-round pick Olivier-Maxence Prosper and using the stretch provision on his $3MM cap hit, reports Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).
According to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link), the 6’8″ forward is expected to draw interest as an unrestricted free agent when he hits the open market in a couple days.
Dallas was reportedly trying to trade Prosper ahead of the 4:00 pm CT deadline to use the stretch provision. However, the Mavs were said to be reluctant to part with one of their two remaining second-rounders to shed Prosper’s salary, and instead will stretch it over three years, with annual cap hits of about $1MM through 2027/28.
The Mavericks will automatically decline their $5.3MM team option on Prosper for ’26/27 by releasing him.
Dallas needed to open up room under the second tax apron — at which the team is hard-capped — to re-sign Dante Exum, whose minimum-salary contract can now be finalized after being agreed to on July 2. Exum will essentially replace Prosper as the 15th standard contract on the team’s roster.
The 24th overall pick in the 2023 draft, Prosper has played a very limited role during his first two years in Dallas, averaging 3.5 points and 2.2 rebounds in 10.0 minutes per game across 92 regular season outings, with a .396/.260/.658 shooting line.
Prosper, who is from Montreal, also played 25 G League games with the Texas Legends as a rookie in 2023/24. The 23-year-old averaged 18.3 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 2.0 APG and 0.9 SPG on .498/.418/.762 shooting.
Western Notes: Connelly, Washington, Jerome, Beal
Timberwolves president of basketball operations Tim Connelly had the ability to opt out of his contract with the team this offseason but chose not to do so, as Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic tweets.
When Connelly was hired by the Wolves in 2022, he received a five-year deal that included an opt-out clause after the second season. He and the team agreed in 2024 to push that opt-out back by a year with the ownership situation still up in the air, but now that Marc Lore and Alex Rodriguez have assumed majority control, Connelly decided not to take advantage of the clause this summer.
Since he’s still on his initial five-year deal, Connelly is under contract with the Wolves for two more seasons, Krawczynski notes. Assuming Lore and Rodriguez are satisfied with the job he has done, the veteran executive figures to be an extension candidate in 2026.
Here’s more from around the Western Conference:
- With P.J. Washington set to become extension-eligible on Friday, Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News weighs the pros and cons of a new deal for Washington from the Mavericks‘ perspective. Like NBA insider Marc Stein, Curtis has heard that an extension for Washington is likely, though he cautions that the exact terms of the deal remain unclear. Washington would be eligible to receive up to nearly $89MM over four years.
- The Grizzlies need elite shooting, two-way play-making, and swagger from newcomer Ty Jerome, according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal, who takes a closer look at the veteran guard to whom the team devoted its full room exception.
- Appearing on Shannon Sharpe’s Club Shay Shay podcast, Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue pointed out that Bradley Beal put up “unbelievable stats” for the Suns over the past two seasons but was “overshadowed” as the third option behind stars Kevin Durant and Devin Booker (hat tip to Duane Rankin of The Arizona Republic). “I think by coming here, I think it’s a fresh start and I think he’s going to be great for us,” Lue said of Beal, who signed with the Clippers after being bought out by Phoenix.
Mavs’ Jaden Hardy On Trade Block?
Following up on his report yesterday with colleague Marc Stein, Jake Fischer reiterates in his latest story for The Stein Line (Substack link) that the Mavericks are actively exploring ways to bring back Dante Exum. Dallas’ primary focus on that front, Fischer writes, has been trying to trade former first-round pick Olivier-Maxence Prosper.
However, Prosper isn’t the only player Dallas is open to moving. According to Fischer, Jaden Hardy is another candidate to be sent out in a deal, and resolution on the trade front is expected by tomorrow evening.
The reason for that specific timeline is because of the Friday 4:00pm CT deadline for waiving and stretching players — multiple sources have told Fischer the Mavs might be forced to go that route, as they’re reluctant to part with either of their two remaining second-round picks to shed salary and create a roster spot.
Fischer doesn’t state it outright, but Prosper figures be the main candidate to be stretched, as his $3MM contract for 2025/26 could be treated as expiring if his $5.3 team option for ’26/27 is declined. That would spread his $3MM cap hit across three seasons at approximately $1MM per year, opening up an extra $2MM in room below the 2025/26 second tax apron.
Dallas reached an agreement to re-sign Exum to a one-year deal way back in July 2, but the transaction still hasn’t been officially finalized. That’s because the Mavericks’ team salary for apron purposes currently sits at approximately $206.2MM, which is about $1.6MM below the second apron ($207,824,000).
The Mavericks hard-capped themselves at the second apron by using the taxpayer mid-level exception to sign D’Angelo Russell last month. That means their team salary can’t surpass $207,824,000 at any point for the rest of the 2025/26 league year. A minimum-salary deal for Exum would carry a $2,296,274 cap hit.
Hardy, 23, was the 37th pick of the 2022 draft after spending one season with the now-defunct G League Ignite. He inked a three-year, $18MM extension with Dallas last October — that deal begins in ’25/26 and includes a flat $6MM per year structure, with a team option in ’27/28.
The 6’4″ shooting guard made 57 appearances for the Mavs last season, averaging 8.7 points, 1.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists and 1.4 turnovers in 15.7 minutes per game. His shooting line was .435/.386/.698.
The Mavs are currently carrying 15 players on guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts for ’25/26, so moving off Prosper, Hardy or another player is also necessary to open up a spot for Exum on their projected 15-man regular season roster.
Mavs’ Kyrie Irving On ACL Recovery: ‘I’m Healing Up Great’
Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving, who tore his left ACL in early March, provided a minor update on his recovery process during a live Twitch stream earlier this week, as Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal relays.
“I was in the gym doing a little bit more,” Irving said (Twitter video link via All Things Mavs). “I won’t tell you exactly what I was doing because it’s all about incremental growth, but I can share with y’all (that) it was some good days in the gym. I’m healing up great. To this date (August 26), this will be five months post-surgery.”
Irving, 33, had taken on increased ball-handling and play-making responsibilities in the wake of the Mavericks’ Luka Doncic trade last season and was averaging 24.7 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game on .473/.401/.916 shooting through 50 outings when he went down with the season-ending injury.
Irving became eligible for free agency this offseason when he declined his $43MM option, but he didn’t seriously test the market, opting to sign a new three-year, $118.5MM deal to remain in Dallas.
Reporting back in April indicated that the Mavericks were optimistic about Irving’s chances of returning to the court sometime early in 2026, and president of basketball operations Nico Harrison suggested in July that the star guard is “ahead of schedule” in his rehab process.
However, Harrison has also made it clear that the team won’t rush Irving back to the court, and the nine-time All-Star has preached patience as well, cautioning in July that there’s no guarantee he’ll be 100% healthy before the end of the 2025/26 regular season.
“That doesn’t mean I won’t be back,” Irving said at the time. “It’s just — I don’t want to make any predictions on when I’m going to be back. I just want to be back 150,000% better.”
With Irving sidelined, the Mavs are expected to lean on guards D’Angelo Russell, Brandon Williams, Dante Exum, and Jaden Hardy, while frontcourt players like Anthony Davis and Cooper Flagg likely initiate the offense more frequently too.
Mavs Reportedly Shopping Olivier-Maxence Prosper
The Mavericks have intensified their efforts to open up room below a second-apron hard cap to sign free agent guard Dante Exum, according to NBA insiders Marc Stein and Jake Fischer, who report (via Twitter) that those efforts have centered around finding a new home via trade for forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper.
Dallas reached an agreement to re-sign Exum to a one-year deal way back in July 2, but the transaction still hasn’t been officially finalized. That’s because the Mavericks’ team salary for apron purposes currently sits at approximately $206.2MM, which is about $1.6MM below the second tax apron ($207,824,000).
The Mavs hard-capped themselves at the second apron by using the taxpayer mid-level exception to sign D’Angelo Russell last month. That means their team salary can’t surpass $207,824,000 at any point for the rest of the 2025/26 league year. A minimum-salary deal for Exum would carry a $2,296,274 cap hit.
With training camps still over a month from getting underway, there has been little urgency for the Mavs to resolve the apron crunch to this point. However, it sounds as if they’re ramping up their attempts to find a solution, and trading Prosper has long been considered a path they’ll explore.
The 24th overall pick in the 2023 draft, Prosper has played a very limited role during his first two years in Dallas, averaging 3.5 points and 2.2 rebounds in 10.0 minutes per game across 92 regular season outings, with a .396/.260/.658 shooting line. Given that he’s buried on the depth chart and isn’t owed any guaranteed money beyond his $3MM salary for 2025/26 (his deal includes a $5.3MM rookie scale team option for ’26/27), the 23-year-old is the team’s most obvious trade candidate to make room for Exum.
Dallas has the ability to send out up to nearly $8MM in cash in a trade, which would more than cover Prosper’s 2025/26 salary, but potential trade partners will likely be seeking a second-round draft pick in order to take on that $3MM cap hit. The most recent trade completed this summer, for example, saw the Heat send a future second-rounder to the Nets along with Haywood Highsmith and his $5.6MM expiring salary in order to get below the tax.
The Mavs only have two tradable second-round picks: Philadelphia’s 2030 selection and their own 2032 second-rounder. If they don’t want to give up any draft equity and can’t find a trade partner willing to accept cash, waiving and stretching Prosper’s $3MM salary would be an option, though it would have to be done by this Friday to ensure he clears waivers on August 31. That would spread his cap hit across three seasons at approximately $1MM per year, opening up an extra $2MM in room below the 2025/26 second apron.
The Mavs are currently carrying 15 players on guaranteed or partially guaranteed contracts for ’25/26, so moving off Prosper (or another player) is also necessary to open up a spot for Exum on their projected 15-man regular season roster.
Cuban Regrets Not Opening Bidding Process During Mavs’ Sale
Former Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban doesn’t regret his decision to sell a large portion of his stake in the team but wishes he’d have opened up the process, he stated during an interview on the DLLS podcast (hat tips to Jasmyn Wimbish of CBSSports.com and Tim Cato of AllDllls.com).
“I don’t regret selling the team, I regret how I did it,” Cuban said. “Would I still sell the team? Yes, for all the same reasons I’ve said 100 times. Would I do it the same way? Absolutely not. I would have put it out to bid, but I didn’t so it doesn’t matter.”
Mavericks are now primarily owned by Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont, her son-in-law and the team’s governor.
Dumont’s role as team governor wasn’t in Cuban’s plans. Cuban kept a 27% stake in the Mavericks intentionally, since a part owner needs at least a 15% stake to remain governor of the team. When the sale was made official, there was nothing to indicate Cuban would continue his role in running the team’s basketball operations. He blames the league for losing his governor title.
“I did have it in writing,” Cuban said. “… Like I said before, there was a clause in there that gave me the right to be in every meeting, every trade discussion, everything, and the NBA took that out.”
Commission Adam Silver denied earlier this year that it was a league decision.
“Any decision as to what Mark’s role would be in basketball operations was a function of an arrangement to be made between Mark Cuban and Patrick,” Silver said in March.
But Cuban reiterated during the podcast that the league was to blame.
“Who the hell do you think took it out?” Cuban said. “I’ve got a letter from my lawyer saying the NBA made us remove it.”
However, Cuban says he has a good relationship with Dumont.
“I still talk to (him) a fair amount,” Cuban said. “He does care. And he cares when we lose. He’s spending time to learn. He’s learn a ton in time. Now I can talk to him about analytics. I can talk to him about our roster.”
However, Cuban says he doesn’t stay in contact with general manager Nico Harrison, who made the controversial trade that sent fan favorite and franchise player Luka Doncic to the Lakers. Cuban made it known publicly shortly after the trade occurred that he had no say in the matter and was against the idea of dealing Doncic.
“We all were hurt when Luka got traded — me as much as anyone, because I felt like I let people down by not being there,” Cuban said. “But what’s done is done. And we got Cooper (Flagg) — the basketball gods were looking down on us and he’s the real deal.”
The entire interview with Cuban can be accessed here.
P.J. Washington Likely To Reach Extension With Mavericks
After Dallas unexpectedly earned the No. 1 pick and the ability to draft Cooper Flagg this spring, the team’s crowded frontcourt has been a popular topic of speculation. In Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, the recently extended Daniel Gafford, and Dwight Powell, the team has a number of talented big men. Add in Flagg, Naji Marshall and Caleb Martin as forwards who can play the four, and the rotation quickly fills up.
However, P.J. Washington shouldn’t be considered the odd man out, according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link). It’s a sentiment shared by general manager Nico Harrison, who has expressed enthusiasm this summer about the idea of Washington and Flagg sharing the floor together.
Washington will become extension-eligible this Friday, two years after he signed his current contract, for a four-year deal worth nearly $90MM, according to Stein, who hears from league sources that the two sides are expected to reach a deal.
Stein notes that the newly-27-year-old Washington has admirers around the league following a productive season-and-a-half in Dallas, including the 2024 Finals run in which he averaged 13.0 points and 6.6 rebounds per game and hit the clutch free throws that helped the Mavs advance to the Western Conference Finals.
However, due to extend-and-trade restrictions, any extension that includes a first-year raise exceeding 20%, has a subsequent raise exceeding 5%, or adds four new years to his deal would make Washington ineligible to be traded before the 2026 deadline, ensuring he plays out the season in Dallas.
Washington started all but one of his 57 games last year for the Mavs, averaging 14.7 points, a career-high 7.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 1.1 blocks per contest while shooting 38.1% from three.
Texas Notes: Irving, Mavericks’ Arena, Spurs’ Arena, Rockets
Appearing on the Mixed Signals podcast (Twitter link), former Mavericks owner Mark Cuban gave credit to an unexpected source for helping to bring Kyrie Irving to the team in a 2023 trade. Cuban said ESPN’s Shams Charania, who was with The Athletic at the time, played an important role in making the deal possible.
“He was a big help with us getting Kyrie when we traded for Kyrie,” Cuban said, “and for us extending him when we extended because he had a great relationship with Kyrie’s agent.”
Teams were reluctant to trade for Irving at the time due to his contract and his troubled reputation in Brooklyn. But he became a star again after coming to Dallas and helped the Mavs reach the 2024 NBA Finals. He’s currently recovering from a torn ACL with hopes of returning at some point this season.
Charania broke the news of Irving’s trade to Dallas, and Cuban stated that they often exchanged valuable information.
“The flip side of it was, he would help educate me about other things happening around the league,” Cuban added. “So, we had a great relationship. He knew when not to ask, and I knew when not to ask about other teams because he wouldn’t tell me. But there were certain things he would tell me as it related to players and what their interests were.”
There’s more from the Southwest Division:
- The City of Dallas hired a commercial real estate investment and development company to find a site for the Mavericks to build a new arena, according to Everton Bailey Jr. and Nick Wooten of The Dallas Morning News. The team’s lease at American Airlines Center will expire in 2031, and the new ownership group has expressed interest in a basketball-first facility.
- Spurs managing partner Peter Holt posted a message on NBA.com about a potential $1.3 billion project to build a new arena in downtown San Antonio. The team has pledged to commit $500MM and cover any unforeseen costs, while the city has agreed to provide up to $489MM. City council authorized the project earlier this week, but the final decision will be up to Bexar County voters in November. “This will be a true public-private partnership,” Holt wrote. “The arena will be publicly owned, funded by visitors, and built to revitalize our downtown, create jobs and give future generations a place to celebrate together.”
- The Austin Spurs, San Antonio’s G League affiliate, announced in a press release that they have agreed to a trade with the Iowa Wolves. Austin received the 13th pick in this year’s draft in exchange for the returning player rights of Luke Avdalovic, Justin Smith, a second-round pick in 2026 and a 2026 international draft selection.
- Rockets fans are very optimistic about the upcoming season, with nearly two-thirds expecting at least a spot in the Western Conference Finals, Kelly Iko of The Athletic states in sharing the results of a survey that attracted more than 700 responses. The trade for Kevin Durant drew an almost unanimously positive reaction, with 50.1% cautiously optimistic and 47% extremely excited.