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.
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 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.
Mavericks Notes: Jones, Prosper, Broghamer, Handy, Russell
The Mavericks have shown interest in re-signing big man Kai Jones, according to Grant Afseth of DallasHoopsJournal.com, but they’ll have to perform some roster gymnastics to make that happen.
The Mavericks will have 16 players on standard contracts once they re-sign Dante Exum, who was a higher priority for Dallas’ front office than Jones. The former Hornets center appeared in a dozen games with Dallas after the Clippers waived him at the beginning of March.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper is considered to have the most tradable contract among the Mavericks’ expendable margin players, Afseth adds. He’s earning about $3MM in 2025/26 and isn’t owed any guaranteed money beyond the coming season.
We have more on the Mavericks:
- Josh Broghamer will coach the Mavs’ Summer League team, a roster that includes top pick Cooper Flagg, Afseth reports. Jared Dudley has coached the Summer League team in recent years, but appears on the verge of finding work elsewhere.
- Updating his own report that Phil Handy is a candidate for the Mavericks’ coaching staff, Marc Stein tweets that the Knicks also have interest in Handy for Mike Brown‘s new staff in New York. Handy worked for Brown with the Lakers and Cavaliers.
- After Stein mentioned Mike Penberthy as a potential target for the Mavericks’ staff on Wednesday, Afseth classifies the Mavs’ interest in the veteran assistant as “serious,” labeling him a strong candidate to join Jason Kidd‘s staff. Penberthy, who was an assistant alongside Kidd with the Lakers during their championship season, is known as a shooting coach and has earned praise from Mavericks star Anthony Davis for helping him improve as a shooter, Afseth adds.
- The Mavs were looking for a player to bridge the gap until Kyrie Irving returns from his knee injury and D’Angelo Russell can fit the bill, Christian Clark of The Athletic writes. Russell is coming off one of his worst seasons but he played well for the Lakers the previous year. Russell agreed to a two-year deal in the $12MM range, a very reasonable price for a rotation player.
Stein/Fischer’s Latest: Jerome, Finney-Smith, Turner, Russell, T. Jones, Paul
The Grizzlies appear to be the leaders in the race to sign free agent guard Ty Jerome, according to Marc Stein and Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Substack link). Jerome is coming off a breakout season, but his salary demands are too high for a Cleveland team on the brink of the second apron, so he’s considered a “lock” to leave in free agency. Stein previously mentioned Charlotte and Utah as other teams to watch for Jerome, but Memphis might be separating itself from the pack.
The main question, according to the authors, is how much the Grizzlies are willing to pay Jerome, who is believed to be seeking a deal starting around the $14.1MM non-taxpayer mid-level exception to Jerome. Memphis has been operating recently with the goal of creating enough financial flexibility to renegotiate and extend Jaren Jackson Jr. while matching any offers for restricted free agent forward Santi Aldama, so any offer for Jerome couldn’t get in the way of those goals.
League sources tell Stein and Fischer that the Grizzlies tried to find a taker for Cole Anthony over the weekend. Sending out Anthony’s $13.1MM contract could enable Memphis to acquire Jerome via sign-and-trade.
There’s more inside information from Stein and Fischer:
- As reported on Sunday, the Rockets appear to be the top threat to sign Dorian Finney-Smith away from the Lakers. Houston has the $14.1MM MLE available, but the authors hear that its offer may cover four years at a little less than the full amount. L.A. is still hoping to re-sign the 32-year-old forward, who was a part-time starter after being acquired from Brooklyn in December. Finney-Smith turned down a $15.4MM player option on Sunday, and Stein and Fischer report surprise throughout the league that his announcement wasn’t accompanied by a new deal with the Lakers.
- There’s “no tangible expectation” that Myles Turner will leave the Pacers in free agency, according to Stein and Fischer. There was some speculation that Indiana might reconsider a new deal with its starting center in the wake of Tyrese Haliburton‘s Achilles injury, but coach Rick Carlisle seemed to squash that when he said on a radio interview last week that re-signing Turner remains the team’s “No. 1 priority.”
- The Mavericks are expected to use their $5.7MM taxpayer MLE to sign Nets guard D’Angelo Russell to a two-year deal, Stein and Fischer add. Even with that addition, which would be the team’s 15th standard contract, they state that Dallas still hopes to open a roster spot to re-sign Dante Exum. The authors expect the Mavs to search for a team willing to take on Olivier-Maxence Prosper‘s $3MM contract for next season. The 2023 first-round pick has a $5.3MM team option for 2026/27, so it’s potentially a one-year commitment.
- The Magic‘s decision on Sunday to decline an $11MM option on Moritz Wagner and a $2.1MM option on Caleb Houstan could create an opportunity to sign free agent point guard Tyus Jones. If Jones leaves Phoenix, Stein and Fischer speculate it could lead to Chris Paul returning to the Suns, as they first reported on Sunday.
Mavericks Notes: Nelson, Doncic, Prosper, Wei
Former Mavericks head coach Don Nelson took a shot at the current organization for trading Luka Doncic, Joe Vardon of The Athletic writes. Nelson, who was named the recipient of this year’s Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award by the National Basketball Coaches Association on Sunday, commented on the controversial deal prior to Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
“It was a tremendous mistake by the Dallas franchise to trade him,” Nelson said.
Nelson, 85, was coach and GM of the Mavericks from 1997 to 2005. His son, former Mavs executive Donnie Nelson, was instrumental in the draft-day deal that brought Doncic to Dallas.
“I want everybody to know I’m wearing Luka’s shoes, his new shoes from Nike that just got on the market, and I wore them in protest for the trade from Dallas,” Nelson said.
Here’s more on the Mavericks:
- Second-year forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper underwent season-ending surgery on his right wrist in early March. Prosper offered an update to the Dallas Morning News’ Mike Curtis (Twitter link), saying he should be fully healthy in a few weeks. “Rehab is going great. The process is where it’s supposed to be and I’ll be back soon,” said Prosper, who posted averages of 3.9 PPG, 2.4 RPG, and 0.8 APG in 11.2 MPG across 52 appearances this season. Prosper is under contract for $3MM next season. Dallas will have to decide by October 31, 2025 whether or not to pick up his $5.26MM option for the 2026/27 season.
- Guard Lin Wei, one on the top scorers in China, has a workout scheduled with the Mavericks, according to Emiliano Carchia of Sportando. Lin Wei, who is draft-eligible this month, is averaging 21.6 points per game this season while shooting 34.4% from distance for Nanjing MK of the Chinese Basketball Association.
- In case you missed it, projected top pick Cooper Flagg will visit with the Mavericks brass on June 17. Get the details here.
Injury Notes: Washington, Ball, Thybulle, Kaminsky
Mavericks forward P.J. Washington is not listed on the injury report ahead of Sunday’s game vs. Philadelphia, so he appears on track to return after missing the past seven games with a right ankle sprain, tweets Christian Clark of The Athletic.
It’s certainly welcome news for Dallas, which has been absolutely devastated by injuries over the past several weeks. Even with Washington back, the Mavs will still be shorthanded, as Kyrie Irving (torn ACL), Olivier-Maxence Prosper (wrist surgery), Dante Exum (broken hand), Anthony Davis (left adductor strain), Dereck Lively (right ankle stress fracture) and Daniel Gafford (right knee sprain) are out.
Jaden Hardy is doubtful for Sunday’s game as he continues to deal with a right ankle sprain, while Kai Jones (left quad strain) and Caleb Martin (left hip strain) are questionable. Brandon Williams, who is on a two-way deal, is probable with left hamstring tightness, per the league’s official injury report.
Here are a few more injury notes from around the NBA:
- Bulls guard Lonzo Ball missed 15 games earlier in 2024/25 due to a right wrist injury. He reinjured the wrist at the end of February, causing him to miss the past seven games, and he’ll likely miss at least five more, as he didn’t travel with the team during its West Coast trip, writes Joe Cowley of The Chicago Sun-Times. “I haven’t heard anything about him being shut down,” head coach Billy Donovan said Saturday. “I think what he’s doing right now is just trying to get himself back to playing. Doctors aren’t saying, ‘Hey, listen, you gotta sit out.’ It’s just when he feels that he can do things on the court that he’s comfortable with. Like he can’t shoot right now, hasn’t been able to do that . . . passing and dribbling. Until that subsides, then he’ll be out, but I think he, in my conversations with him, it’s been everything to try to get back to playing. No one has said to me from above, ‘Hey, this goes on a little longer, we’re going to have him shut down.’ I have not heard that.”
- Trail Blazers wing Matisse Thybulle underwent a procedure in October, just before the start of the regular season, to address inflammation in his right knee. It wasn’t supposed to sideline him for a significant period, but he sustained a bad right ankle sprain in late November during his ramp-up process, which set back his recovery. “I’ve talked to so many people about it now, and the overarching sentiment is that with ankle sprains this bad, sometimes it’s better to just break it than to sprain it,” Thybulle said, per Sean Highkin of The Rose Garden Report (Substack link). “Because the recovery time with all the ligaments that were torn takes so long. With a bone, it can just heal back up and it’s just as strong. It was a whole process. And then to have it happen in conjunction with a different injury … You start with the knee, and then hurt the ankle as bad as I did, and have those things be married as one giant injury to be dealt with. It made it quite the process.” Thybulle was technically active for the first time this season on Wednesday vs. New York, but he didn’t end up playing. Head coach Chauncey Billups said the two-time All-Defensive member’s role is up in the air for the final 15 games of ’24/25, according to Highkin.
- Former NBA big man Frank Kaminsky, who spent training camp with Phoenix last fall before being cut, will miss the remainder of the NBA G League season, reports Blake Murphy of Sportsnet.ca (Twitter link). Kaminsky, who had been playing for the Raptors 905 until recently, is set to undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.
Mavs’ Prosper Expected To Require Season-Ending Wrist Surgery
The bad injury news keeps coming for the Mavericks, according to Shams Charania of ESPN, who reports (via Twitter) that second-year forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper has a significant right wrist injury and is expected to require season-ending surgery. Prosper has been diagnosed with ligament damage in that wrist, Charania adds (via Twitter).
The 24th overall pick in the 2023 draft, Prosper didn’t play major minutes in the first half of Dallas’ season, but has become a more frequent member of the rotation in recent weeks as the team’s injuries have piled up.
Since January 20, Prosper has appeared in all 21 of the Mavericks’ games and made four starts. During that stretch, the 22-year-old has averaged 5.9 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 17.0 minutes per night, with a .410/.207/.689 shooting line. For the season, he has registered 3.9 PPG, 2.4 RPG, and 0.8 APG in 11.2 MPG across 52 appearances.
Prosper is under contract for $3MM next season. Dallas will have to decide by October 31, 2025 whether or not to pick up his $5.26MM option for the 2026/27 season.
In addition to Prosper, the Mavericks’ injury list currently includes Anthony Davis (adductor strain), Kyrie Irving (ACL tear), Daniel Gafford (knee sprain), Jaden Hardy (ankle sprain), Dereck Lively (ankle stress fracture), P.J. Washington (ankle sprain), and Kai Jones (quad strain). Many of those players have already missed several weeks or will be out for an extended period going forward — or both.
[RELATED: Mavericks Issue Updates On Davis, Lively, Gafford]
The one piece of good news in Dallas is that Caleb Martin, acquired at last month’s trade deadline, has been cleared to make his Mavs debut on Friday vs. Memphis, according to head coach Jason Kidd (Twitter link via Christian Clark of The Athletic). Kidd said there are “no expectations” for Martin in his first game with his new team, tweets Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News.
“He’s going to (play) 15 minutes. The biggest expectation is to be healthy coming out of this,” Kidd said. “For his 15 minutes, we hope that it’s going to be a great experience.”
Mavericks guard Dante Exum will also be available on Friday after missing one game with a right foot contusion, Kidd confirmed.
Mavericks Notes: Irving, Kidd, Davis, Simmons
Faced with a fan backlash following last week’s Luka Doncic trade and dealing with a series of injuries that have decimated their frontcourt, the Mavericks could have gone into a tailspin heading into the All-Star break.
Instead, Dallas has won four of its past five games, including a shorthanded home victory over Miami on Thursday that saw the club run out a starting five of Spencer Dinwiddie, Dante Exum, Max Christie, Olivier-Maxence Prosper, and Kessler Edwards. All five players scored in double figures, as Exum led the way with 27 points on 11-of-13 shooting.
“No one is pouting. Everyone is playing,” head coach Jason Kidd said after Thursday’s win, per Christian Clark of The Athletic. “Big win before the break. Now we can rest, regroup and get ready for the second half.”
Kyrie Irving had to sit out Thursday’s game – the second of a back-to-back set – due to a right shoulder injury, but he has been playing through a back issue and is averaging a team-high 36.6 minutes per game on the season. His resiliency and leadership has trickled down to the rest of the roster, Clark writes.
“He sets a standard,” Edwards said. “If he sees any of us slacking, he holds us to that. He also has a great personality. It’s light in the locker room around him, so it’s great.”
Here’s more on the Mavs:
- The Mavericks and Kidd won’t be fined for the head coach’s decision to skip Monday’s post-game press conference, according to NBA insider Marc Stein, who notes (via Twitter) that the league typically responds to first-time violations of that rule with a warning rather than handing out a fine.
- The Mavericks haven’t issued a formal update on Anthony Davis‘ projected recovery timetable from an adductor strain since he was injured in his first game with his new team on Saturday. As Stein writes in a story for his Substack, the lack of a publicly shared timeline is thought to be by design, with the hope being that Davis can take a non-surgical treatment path to recovery. As he reported earlier this week, Stein says there’s optimism that surgery can be avoided, but cautions that it hasn’t been entirely ruled out at this point.
- Within that same Substack story, Stein reports that the Mavericks would have had interest in entering the bidding for Ben Simmons on the buyout market, but their hard-cap restrictions prevented them from emerging as a serious suitor. The prorated veteran’s minimum deal that Simmons got from the Clippers carries a cap hit of approximately $756K, whereas Dallas is only operating about $171K below its first-apron hard cap.
Mavs Center Daniel Gafford To Miss At Least Two Weeks
The injury news just keeps getting worse for the Mavericks.
Center Daniel Gafford sustained a right knee sprain on Monday against the Kings and will be reevaluated within two weeks, the team’s PR department tweets. Gafford has started 28 of 51 games this season, averaging 12.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 21.9 minutes per game.
Dallas’ frontcourt has been decimated in recent weeks. Dereck Lively (right ankle stress fracture) could miss the remainder of the regular season and Dwight Powell (right hip strain) hasn’t played since Jan. 17.
Perennial All-Star Anthony Davis was injured in his Mavericks debut on Saturday. His left adductor strain will sideline him for multiple weeks. P.J. Washington is listed as questionable for Dallas’ game against Golden State on Wednesday due to a right ankle sprain, Grant Afseth of the Dallas Hoops Journal tweets.
Two-way player Kylor Kelley is the only other true big man on the roster. Forwards Kessler Edwards, Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Naji Marshall were utilized up front in small lineups after Gafford departed on Monday.
The Mavericks have an open roster spot, but are ineligible to sign a free agent to a rest-of-season contract due to their proximity to their first-apron hard cap. As we detailed on Monday, Dallas is about $171K below that hard cap and won’t be able to squeeze in a veteran rest-of-season signing until March 31.
The Mavs do have the ability to make one 10-day signing at any time, but that would leave the club just $51K shy of the first apron, unable to complete another deal until the season’s final week.
The All-Star break will buy the Mavericks a little time, but they’re likely to be in this predicament for at least a couple more weeks.