The Mavericks may have found one of the quieter success stories of the 2026 NBA Draft in Vsevolod Ishchenko.
Dallas came out of the draft with four players the organization feels strongly about, and all four made noise during Summer League in Las Vegas. Morez Johnson Jr. and Sergio De Larrea grabbed most of the attention with their standout performances, but Ishchenko is the name drawing some of the most interesting buzz behind the scenes.
He didn’t arrive in Las Vegas with much of a national profile. Ishchenko had spent time in a smaller league in Russia and, by the numbers, wasn’t exactly lighting it up.
His Summer League stat line - 9.6 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and 3.0 APG - won’t jump off the page, either. But people around the league noticed plenty anyway.
The appeal was in the details. Ishchenko kept moving without the ball, got more comfortable as a scorer as the event went on, defended the other team’s best player at times, and showed he could put the ball on the floor. That package was enough to make believers out of more than a few observers.
Keith Smith of Spotrac, who does a strong job collecting Summer League intel, heard the same thing from multiple sources. One Mavericks executive told him, "Don’t sleep on Seva (Vsevolod Ishchenko)," and added, "It might be a year or so, but he’s a player too.” An overseas scout was just as direct, saying, "Ishchenko might end up being a really good player too,” Smith also said on his own that all of Dallas’ draft picks this year "looked really good."
For all the optimism, though, Ishchenko may not be in Dallas right away. The Mavericks are already at 16 roster spots, which means they would need to waive or trade someone just to get roster-compliant. Their two-way spots are filled, too.
One possible route would be waiving John Poulakidas from his two-way spot, but Ishchenko is under contract overseas, and NBA rules don’t allow a team to buy out a player’s overseas deal in order to place him on a two-way contract.
Ishchenko could buy out his own contract, but staying overseas for another season might be the smarter play. He may need more development, and a step up in competition would help if that can be arranged.
Dallas would clearly love to get him into its system, and a two-way deal would be an ideal setup for a player like him. For now, though, the rules may keep that from happening.
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