The Dallas Mavericks opened the week by making two roster calls that say plenty about where this new regime wants to go.
One was straightforward and cheap: Dallas exercised its team option on second-year guard Ryan Nembhard, locking him in for $2.150 million for the 2026-27 season. That makes him the least expensive player on the roster, but it also reflects how quickly he went from undrafted rookie to a real rotation piece.
Nembhard gave the Mavericks useful minutes right away. In his first NBA season, he averaged 6.6 points, 5.3 assists and 2.2 rebounds in 19.5 minutes per game. He hit double figures 11 times, including a career night on December 1, when he piled up 28 points, 10 assists and 3 rebounds in a 131-121 win over the Denver Nuggets.
He finished the season with one of the most eye-catching rookie performances in franchise history. In Dallas’ 149-128 victory over the Chicago Bulls on April 12, Nembhard handed out 23 assists, setting a Mavericks rookie record and finishing with the second-most assists in team history in a single game.
Nembhard is expected to suit up for the Mavericks at Summer League in Las Vegas after handling his duties with Team Canada.
Dallas’ other move was a little less certain on the surface, but still pointed in the same direction. According to The Dallas Morning News’ Mike Curtis, the Mavericks extended a qualifying offer to Moussa Cisse, making the second-year big man a restricted free agent. That gives Dallas the right to match any offer he gets elsewhere.
Cisse arrived as an undrafted free agent after the 2025 NBA Draft and eventually signed a two-way contract. The 23-year-old showed enough to keep attention on him, averaging 4.5 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 38 appearances as a rookie. He also logged 2+ blocks in 13 games.
His value could matter even more because the status of Daniel Gafford and Dereck Lively II remains uncertain.
The Mavericks have been active all offseason, hiring Masai Ujiri as team president and Dusty May from Michigan as head coach. With free agency approaching, more changes are still coming, and the focus is clear: build around Cooper Flagg and keep adding young, workable pieces around him.
In Other News...
Mavericks Suddenly Linked To A Trade Target Fans Have Been Waiting For
Free agency opens at 5 p.m. CST, and the Mavericks are still without a trade to their name as the market begins to take shape. Even so, Dallas has been connected to a guard upgrade that would fit the teams need for more backcourt help, with the kind of buzz that tends to follow once teams start lining up sign-and-trade ideas and draft-pick chatter around the edges of the negotiating window.
The intrigue is not just in the name or the position, but in how many different ways the talks could be structured if the Mavericks decide to push. Some of the frameworks being discussed would involve established rotation pieces and future assets, and there is also a local hook here for Dallas fans who have followed this players path closely from the start. For now, it is still the sort of rumor that can move quickly once the phone lines really open. [Read more 🡒]
Lakers Could Target Key Former Luka Teammate In New Dallas Twist
LeBron James decision to move on after the 2026-27 season has already changed the shape of the Lakers future, and it puts Luka Doncic at the center of everything they do next. With Los Angeles preparing to rebuild around Doncic, the search for familiar, complementary pieces is underway, and one name that has come up is P.J. Washington, the versatile forward who spent time alongside Doncic in Dallas.
Washington remains under contract with the Mavericks, so any move would depend on Dallas own plans as it retools around Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving. Still, the idea has some logic for the Lakers, who know Washington can fit in a supporting role and have seen him succeed in a Doncic-led system before. Whether Dallas is willing to make that kind of shift is the part that still hangs in the air. [Read more 🡒]