Bennedict Mathurin’s new deal with the Pelicans ended up coming in a bit lighter than first reported, but New Orleans still used a chunk of its non-taxpayer mid-level exception to get it done.
What had been reported last month as a two-year, $16MM contract is actually worth $15,375,000. Mathurin will make a guaranteed $7,500,000 in 2026/27, and the second season, 2027/28, is a player option worth $7,875,000.
That still leaves the Pelicans with almost exactly half of their mid-level exception untouched - $7,544,000, according to Yossi Gozlan of CapSheets. The catch is that New Orleans is sitting just $4.1MM below the luxury tax line and $5.7MM shy of its hard cap at the first apron, so if the club wants to use the rest of that exception during the preseason or regular season, it would need to clear a little salary first.
Elsewhere in the Southwest, Duke coach Jon Scheyer explained why he wasn’t tempted by NBA interest this summer, including reporting in June that the Mavericks wanted to speak with him about their head coaching vacancy. On the Glue Guys podcast, Scheyer said he’s not ready to walk away from the job he has now.
“I wouldn’t be able to live with myself, not seeing this thing through,” Scheyer said, per Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal. “I mean, that’s just the bottom line.
And I’m at a one-of-one place where not often you get your dream job when you’re 33. I’m really proud of the start we’ve gone off to and the continuation of what has been built here, but I think we got so much left to do.
I just think we have so much left to accomplish. This is where my family is.
This is home for me.”
Cooper Flagg’s trainer, Matt MacKenzie, also talked to Mark Medina of RG.org about how Flagg handled the offseason and what new Mavericks coach Dusty May expects from him moving forward. MacKenzie said May is looking for Flagg to be more than just a scorer.
“(May) has very high expectations for Cooper not only as a scorer, but as a complete player, as a play-maker and as somebody that plays both sides of the ball,” MacKenzie said.
And in Memphis, Isaiah Stewart says he’s embracing his next chapter even after being dealt from a 60-win Pistons team to a 25-win Grizzlies club this offseason. Speaking at a community event on Saturday, Stewart said his time in Detroit gave him something he can pass along to a young Memphis group.
“It’s an experience I can bring here to this group,” Stewart said, according to Damichael Cole of The Memphis Commercial Appeal. “And also just letting them know it’s about patience.
We have to stack days. It doesn’t happen overnight.”
In Other News...
Former Mavericks Assistant Unloads On Jason Kidd In Brutal Public Criticism
Jason Kidds time in Dallas ended shortly after Masai Ujiri took over as team president and began reshaping the organizations leadership, and the Mavericks have since moved on to Dusty May as their new head coach. But the departure is still reverberating in an awkward way, because a former member of the staff has now gone public with a harsh assessment of Kidds tenure.
Igor Kokoskov, who once served as a Mavericks assistant, recently criticized Kidd in an interview and went beyond basketball, bringing up both Kidds coaching approach and his off-court history. The comments add another layer to a split that had already turned messy, and they keep the focus on how much friction existed behind the scenes even after the on-court results had long stopped being the only issue. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Fans May Hate What This Three-Team Trade Really Means
The Mavericks are being linked to a proposed three-team shuffle that would give them a different kind of backcourt jolt while also reshaping the big-man picture for the other clubs involved. For Dallas, the appeal is clear enough on paper: a usable rotation guard in Malik Monk and extra draft capital, the kind of package front offices tend to circle when they want both immediate offense and a little flexibility down the road.
Sacramentos side of the idea is the one that stands out most for anyone following the West, because it would send one of its more recognizable pieces out in a move built around fit rather than splash. Utah would also play a key part in making the numbers work, and that is where the trade starts to feel less like a simple swap and more like a roster-balancing exercise that could leave fans of one team staring at the fine print for a while. [Read more 🡒]
Mavericks Fans Already Have One Big Morez Johnson Jr. Debate
Morez Johnson Jr. is already giving Mavericks fans plenty to argue about after the front office added him in the draft, a move that immediately sparked debate over how his game fits with the current roster. The conversation has centered on his position and his offensive skill set, with some supporters wondering whether he is the right kind of prospect to slot next to Cooper Flagg as Dallas tries to build something bigger.
From the teams perspective, though, the early reaction is not the whole story. The Mavericks are treating Johnson Jr. as a player whose value will be measured over time, not someone whose first season needs to settle every question right away. That leaves plenty of room for patience, but it also means the discussion around the pick is likely to linger well into the next chapter of his development. [Read more 🡒]