Dallas Mavericks Blog – Page 50 – NBA Blog

Dallas Mavericks re-sign Brandan Wright

The Dallas Mavericks announced today they have re-signed forward/center Brandan Wright.

Wright has not done much in the NBA yet and is considered backup material to come off the bench and provide frontcourt depth.

Wright (6-10, 210) joined the Mavericks via free agency on December 9, 2011. In two seasons with Dallas, Wright has played in 113 games and elevated his game in 2012-13 when he averaged 8.5 points, 4.1 rebounds, 1.2 blocks and 18.0 minutes per game while shooting .597 from the field.

Wright was an early-entry candidate into the 2007 NBA Draft and was the eighth overall pick by the Charlotte Bobcats. Wright was acquired by Golden State in a draft-day trade in exchange for Jason Richardson and the draft rights to Jermareo Davidson. He has played in 277 games (47 starts) with Golden State, New Jersey and Dallas and holds career averages of 6.6 points, 3.4 rebounds, 1.0 block and 14.9 minutes per game.

Wright was a standout at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he started all 37 games as a freshman and was named Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year and All-ACC Second Team.

A native of Nashville, Tenn., Wright was a two-time Parade All-American and was the first athlete in the state to ever earn “Mr. Tennessee” honors three times. He also led Brentwood Academy to four consecutive state championships.

Dallas Mavericks sign second round draft pick Ricky Ledo

The Dallas Mavericks announced today they have signed second round pick Ricky Ledo.

The Mavericks acquired the draft rights to 43rd overall pick from the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for a 2014 second round pick that was originally sent to the Mavericks from Boston (via Brooklyn) in a deal that also included the draft rights to 16th overall pick Lucas Nogueira.

Ledo (6-7, 195) attended Providence University where he was ruled ineligible by the NCAA, but continued to practice with the Friars.

Before arriving in Providence, Ledo was a Jordan All-American at South Kent (Conn.) High School where he averaged 23.4 points and 6.2 rebounds in his senior season. Scout.com ranked him as the No. 5 shooting guard and No. 17 overall prospect after his senior season of high school.

Nick Young says Mavs and Kings had interest in him

He said he had sparked interest from both the Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings. But Young viewed Dallas’ eventual acquisition in guard Monta Ellis and Sacramento’s reported interest in him as signals that neither partnership would work.

“I didn’t want to sit around and wait on what was going to happen,” Young said. “I felt like this would be a good opportunity.”

He has plenty of good reasons to feel that way.

The Lakers hope Young’s scoring mentality will help absorb Kobe Bryant’s possible absence to open the season stemmed from his torn left Achilles tendon. On a team full of veteran-laden players with little speed, Young’s freakish athleticism and age (28) suddenly makes this team more capable of running Mike D’Antoni’s system at a faster pace. And Young said he “definitely” saw the Lakers waiving Metta World Peace through the amnesty provision as a clear sign they want him to have a significant role.

Reported by Mark Medina of the Los Angeles Daily News (Blog)

Dallas Mavs sign Monta Ellis

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed free agent guard Monta Ellis. According to multiple reports, it is a a three-year deal worth over $25 million.

Ellis (6-3, 185) is an eight-year veteran guard with career averages of 19.4 points, 4.7 assists, 3.7 rebounds, 1.7 steals and 36.0 minutes in 516 games (437 starts) with Golden State and Milwaukee. In 2007, he was named the NBA’s Most Improved Player and has since averaged 19 points or more in each of the past six seasons.

According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas, “the Mavs are optimistic that Ellis will benefit from playing with pass-first point guard Jose Calderon and Nowitzki, whose shooting ability creates space for teammates.”

2009-10 was a breakout season for Ellis when he averaged 25.5 points, 5.3 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 2.2 steals in 41.4 minutes per game with Golden State. On March 13, 2012, Ellis was traded to Milwaukee, along with Ekpe Udoh and Kwame Brown, in exchange for Andrew Bogut and Stephen Jackson ending his nearly seven-year tenure with the Warriors.

Last season, Ellis started all 82 games for Milwaukee and averaged 19.2 points, 6.0 assists, 3.9 rebounds and 2.1 steals in 37.5 minutes per contest.

The Jackson, Miss., native, jumped directly to the NBA Draft from Lanier High School where he was named 2005 Parade Magazine High School Player of the Year and USA Today All-American. The Warriors selected him with the 40th overall pick in the 2005 NBA Draft.

Mavs set to welcome new GM

The Mavericks missed out on the Dwight Howard sweepstakes, but they’ve just snagged a key member of the welcoming party that brought Howard to Houston.

Gersson Rosas, the Rockets’ executive vice president of basketball operations, has agreed to become the Mavericks’ new general manager, owner Mark Cuban confirmed.

Rosas will take the title from Donnie Nelson, who will retain his role as president of basketball operations.

“We try to take pride in being one of the most technologically advanced teams out there in all of professional sports, not just the NBA,” Cuban told “ESPN” KESN-FM (103.3).

Reported by Corbett Smith of the Dallas Morning News (Blog)

Mavericks trade Nick Calathes draft rights to Grizzlies

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have traded the draft rights to guard Nick Calathes to Memphis in exchange for a 2016 second round draft pick.

Calathes (6-6, 213) posted 12.6 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.2 assists on .547 shooting in 14 games for Lokomotiv Kuban of the Russian Professional Basketball League (PBL) and averaged 13.9 points, 4.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists on .555 shooting in 30 games in the VTB United League. Calathes was named the 2012-13 EuroCup MVP after recording 12.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.7 assists on .521 shooting in 17 games during the EuroCup competition.

The 24-year-old played his first three professional seasons in Greece for Panathinaikos Athens, helping guide the club to back-to-back Greek League Championships in 2010 and 2011 as well as a Greek League Finals appearance in 2012.

Drafted by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the second round (45th overall) of the 2009 NBA Draft, Calathes’ draft rights were traded to Dallas on draft night for a 2010 second round draft pick.

A two-time Florida Mr. Basketball, the Winter Park, Fla. native played two seasons at the University of Florida, where he was named SEC Co-Freshman of the Year in 2008 and selected First Team All-SEC as a sophomore in 2009.

Memphis originally traded a protected 2016 second round draft pick to the Denver Nuggets for Steven Hunter and a 2010 first round draft pick on Aug. 7, 2009. Denver later sent the pick to Dallas as part of a trade for Corey Brewer and Rudy Fernandez on Dec. 13, 2011.

From Israel to the NBA and Mavericks for Gal Mekel

As far back as Gal Mekel can remember, he was always a basketball junkie.

“Basketball was my first love,” said Mekel, who was born and raised in Israel. “I started [playing] when I was 5 on the court right next to my house, and I started with a serious team when I was 6 of 7.

“When you grow up you have posters of Michael Jordan and everybody on your wall. It’s a dream of everybody.”

And it’s a dream for Mekel, a 25-year-old free-agent point guard who signed a three-year, $2.3 million contract with the Dallas Mavericks earlier this month.

When the regular season starts, Mekel will join Houston’s Omri Casspi as the only players from Israel to play in the NBA.

Reported by Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Gal Mekel has confidence after Vegas league

Shane Larkin’s ankle injury moved Gal Mekel into a more prominent role in the summer league and ended up giving Mekel the opportunity to be the most consistent player on the floor for the Mavs.

He finished the summer league by averaging 9.7 points and 5.0 assists while shooting 45.1 percent from the field and 37.5 percent from 3-point range. Not bad, considering the Mavs ended the summer league playing four games in four days.

“For me, I think it was a great week the first time getting to know the NBA game,” Mekel said. “I think I played pretty good for the first time.

Prior to the summer league team leaving for Las Vegas, Mekel, 25, was considered a unique prospect because no one really knew what kind of game he had. Fresh off a title and MVP award in Israel, the guard’s resume impressed his coach.

Reported by Bryan Gutierrez of ESPN Dallas

Ricky Ledo ready to prove himself

By making a trade to acquire the 43rd overall pick in the 2013 draft, the Dallas Mavericks made Providence shooting guard Ricky Ledo their guy.

“We specifically grabbed that pick for Ricky Ledo and we feel pretty good about him,” president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson said.

Ledo, 20, is considered to have big upside, but there is a reason he was available in the second round. He never played for Providence. After moving from high school to high school, the guard sat out his freshman year as a partial academic qualifier before declaring for this year’s draft.

“Certainly, he needs to mature and needs time, but we really feel good about him,” Nelson said.

Reported by Bryan Gutierrez, special to ESPN Dallas

Dallas Mavericks rookie Shane Larkin out 3 months after ankle surgery

Dallas Mavericks 2013 first-round draft pick Shane Larkin underwent surgery today to repair a fractured right ankle. The surgery was performed by team physician Dr. T.O. Souryal and Dr. Richard Levy at Texas Sports Medicine. The recovery time is approximately three months.

Dallas acquired the draft rights to Larkin, the18th overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, from Atlanta in a draft night deal that sent Jared Cunningham and the draft rights to the 16th overall pick Lucas Nogueira to the Hawks.

Larkin (5-11, 176) led the Miami Hurricanes to the Atlantic Coast Conference regular season and postseason championships last season en route to being named the ACC Player of the Year, ACC Tournament MVP, Lute Olsen National Player of the Year and Second Team All-American by Associated Press.

The 5-11 point guard averaged 14.5 points, 4.6 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 2.0 steals in 36 games as a sophomore in 2012-13. He led his team in points, assists and steals while placing in the ACC’s Top 10 in assists, steals, minutes and three-point field goals.