Dallas Mavericks Blog – Page 51 – NBA 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.

Milwaukee Bucks sign guard O.J. Mayo

The Milwaukee Bucks have signed free-agent guard O.J. Mayo (6-4, 210), General Manager John Hammond announced today. According to the Associated Press, the Bucks agreed to terms on a three-year, $24 million contract with Mayo last week.

With Bucks guard Brandon Jennings exploring free agency and Monta Ellis agreeing to sign with the Dallas Mavericks, a guard like Mayo was a much-needed addition for Milwaukee.

Mayo, 25, spent the 2012-13 season with the Dallas Mavericks, where he averaged 15.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.1 steals in 35.5 minutes per game. He finished the season shooting 44.9 percent from the field and a career-best 40.7 percent from beyond the arc (26th in the NBA). Mayo scored in double figures on 63 occasions last season, including a career-high-tying 40 points in a win at Houston on Dec. 8.

Originally selected by the Minnesota Timberwolves with the third overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft, Mayo was dealt to Memphis on draft night and played his first four seasons with the Grizzlies before signing with Dallas as a free agent prior to the 2012-13 campaign. The USC product has appeared in 383 games in his five-year career, averaging 15.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.1 steals per contest. Mayo’s 383 games played are the fifth-most in the league since the start of the 2008-09 season, and he’s avoided missing a single game in four of his five seasons thus far.

Devin Harris to Mavs deal may be off

The Dallas Mavericks have been forced to amend their plan to bring back former Mavericks stalwart Devin Harris after X-rays unexpectedly revealed that Harris has a dislocated toe on his left foot, according to sources close to the situation.

The Mavericks remain interested in signing Harris, sources said, but the parties have mutually agreed to shelve the three-year deal worth in excess of $9 million that Harris agreed to over the weekend and was poised to sign this week.

Sources told ESPN.com that Harris is now likely to have surgery on the toe by month’s end to put him in line for a return to the court by the start of the NBA’s regular season.

Upon learning of Harris’ need for surgery, Dallas reached terms Friday on a three-year deal worth at least $25 million to sign Milwaukee Bucks free agent Monta Ellis.

Reported by Marc Stein of ESPN.com

Dallas Mavericks are signing Monta Ellis

The Dallas Mavericks continued to stack the deck in their backcourt Friday when they agreed to terms with Monta Ellis on a three-year contract worth close to $30 million.

Ellis becomes the fifth guard the Mavs have signed this off-season, joining Jose Calderon, Devin Harris, Gal Mekel and Ricky Ledo. They selected Shane Larkin in the first round of last month’s draft.

After losing out on Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum, Ellis is an ideal Plan C for the Mavs. He’s elusive, has a quick jumper and should allow the Mavs to play a more uptempo style.

Reported by Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Dallas Mavericks sign Jose Calderon

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed free agent point guard Jose Calderon. He is a pass-first, smart floor leader who doesn’t create much offense on his own, but distributes the ball nicely and makes good decisions.

Calderon (6-3, 211) joined the Toronto Raptors in 2005 after six seasons playing professionally in Spain. In eight NBA seasons with Toronto and Detroit, he holds career averages of 10.1 points and 7.2 assists while shooting .483 from the field, .399 from three-point range and .877 from the foul line. Calderon remains the Raptors franchise leader in assists and free throw percentage.

Last season, Calderon shot .461 (130-282) from behind-the-arc to lead the NBA in three-point shooting despite being traded to Detroit in a three-team deal that sent Rudy Gay and Hamed Haddadi to Toronto and Tayshaun Prince, Austin Daye and Ed Davis to Memphis.

The Villanueva de la Serena, Spain native experienced a great deal of success spending the early part of his career in Europe. Calderon made his Spanish league debut with Lucentum Alicante in 2000 before having his most successful run as a member of Tau Ceramica. With Tau Ceramica, Calderon won the 2004 King’s Cup and helped lead the squad to a second-place finish in the 2005 Euroleague Finals.

Dallas Mavericks sign guard Gal Mekel

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed free agent guard Gal Mekel (pronounced GAL MEK-el).

Mekel (6-3, 191) spent two seasons at Wichita State University (2006-07, 2007-08) before leaving school early and beginning his professional career in Europe. In his first season overseas, he was named the 2009 All-Israeli League Newcomer of the Year.

Last season, the point guard led Maccabi Haifa to an Israeli League Championship en route to claiming his second Most Valuable Player award. Mekel averaged 13.3 points, 5.4 assists, 2.6 rebounds, 1.4 steals and 32.3 minutes in 30 games while shooting .525 from the field and .779 from the free throw line.

The Petah Tikva, Israel native is just the second Israeli-born player to sign with an NBA team. He follows in the footsteps of veteran forward Omri Casspi.