Dallas Mavericks Blog – Page 51 – NBA Blog

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.

Wayne Ellington will sign with Dallas Mavericks

Wayne Ellington has become the third guard to join the Dallas Mavericks in free agency.

Ellington tweeted late Tuesday night that he had agreed to a contract with Dallas. The deal is reportedly for two years and $5 million.

The 6-foot-4 shooting guard split last season between Memphis and Cleveland. He was traded to the Grizzlies last summer and went to the Cavaliers midseason in a four-player deal.

Reported by the Associated Press

Dallas Mavericks bring back Devin Harris

The Dallas Mavericks added more potency to their point guard situation Saturday when they agreed to a three-year contract with Devin Harris worth more than $9 million.

Harris, 30, played for the Mavs from 2004 until they included him in a blockbuster trade with the New Jersey Nets on Feb. 19, 2008, that helped land Jason Kidd in Dallas. Harris also played for the Utah Jazz before last season, when he averaged 9.9 points and 3.4 assists while shooting 43.8 percent from the field in 24.5 minutes per game for the Atlanta Hawks.

While adding Harris to their roster is viewed as a bonus, the Mavs lost one of their own point guards Saturday when Darren Collison agreed to a two-year contract with the Los Angeles Clippers. In his lone season with the Mavs, Collison averaged 12 points and 5.1 assists per game.

Reported by Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Dallas Mavericks interested in Andrew Bynum

After moving on from Dwight Howard’s decision to head to Houston, the Mavericks have started to seriously pursue Andrew Bynum, sources told ESPN.com’s Marc Stein.

However, the Mavs will proceed with caution due to the knee condition that caused the 7-foot, 285-pound Bynum to miss all of his lone season with the Philadelphia 76ers.

According to the sources, the evaluation process of the 25-year-old Bynum’s problematic knees will be “exhaustive.”

The Mavs consider their medical staff, headlined by Team USA athletic trainer Casey Smith and Dr. T.O. Souryal, to be the best in the league.

Reported by Tim MacMahon of ESPN Dallas

Mavs move on after failing to land Dwight Howard

It’s Plan B again for the Dallas Mavericks in free agency.

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban tweeted Friday that it was ”time to get back to work” amid multiple media reports that Dallas was out of the running for free agent center Dwight Howard.

”The Mavs are back open for business,” Cuban wrote on Twitter.

It’s the second straight summer Dallas has missed on a big name in free agency after declining to bring back key pieces of the 2011 championship team in the name of salary cap space.

Reported by the Associated Press

Dwight Howard offered free chicken fingers for life if he signs with Mavs

Each NBA free agency period, some local businesses around the country come up with some fun offers to make at players in the hope of luring them to sign with the local team. Whether these offers actually ever get fulfilled, nobody knows. But they’re fun. Here’s the latest example:

A Dallas fried chicken joint is really trying to give Dwight Howard the finger, or in this case, fingers.

Raising Cane’s, a chicken finger chain, is offering a lifetime of free chicken fingers to Howard in exchange for his signature on a contract with the Mavericks.

“These next few days, Dwight Howard will be making arguably the most important career decision of his life,” Adam Reed the marketing manager at Raising Cane’s said in a press release obtained by the Dallas Morning News. “So we thought we’d make Dwight an offer he couldn’t refuse to up the ante for a Dallas-bound decision.”

Reported by Bernie Augustine of the New York Daily News