The Mavericks have signed second-round pick Isaiah Roby to a four-year, $6.7MM contract, agent Zach Kurtin of Priority Sports tells ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).
As Marks details, the deal will be worth the minimum in years two through four, but it will have a $1.5MM cap hit in Roby’s rookie year. That $1.5MM cap charge represents the highest first-year salary in NBA history for a college player selected in the second round of the draft, according to Marks.
Although that’s a significant investment for the Mavs, they aren’t near the luxury-tax line and still had $1.8MM left on their mid-level exception. As such, it makes sense that they’d be willing to go a little higher in Roby’s first year in order to get him locked up for the next four. His second-year salary will also be guaranteed, while the third year will be non-guaranteed and the final season will be a team option, tweets Marks.
The No. 45 overall pick in June, Roby averaged 11.8 PPG and 6.9 RPG in his final season at Nebraska. The 6’8″ forward declared for the draft as an early entrant after his junior year, and his rights were acquired by the Mavs on draft night in a deal that sent No. 37 pick Deividas Sirvydis to Detroit.
Prior to signing Roby, the Mavericks had 13 players on guaranteed contracts on their books. Roby will be the 14th, while J.J. Barea – who has agreed to a new deal with Dallas but has yet to officially sign it – figures to be No. 15.