When the Dallas Mavericks unveiled their 2026 NBA Summer League roster, the attention naturally went to the newer headliners: ninth-overall pick Morez Johnson Jr., 25th-overall pick Sergio De Larrea, and last season’s breakout undrafted rookie Ryan Nembhard. But the most seasoned name on the list may be the one with the clearest path to sticking around.
That player is Jaden Springer, the former Philadelphia 76ers first-round pick from the 2021 NBA Draft. Springer arrived in the league after one season at Tennessee, where he had come in as a five-star recruit in the 2020 class.
His offensive numbers at the college level never screamed future NBA star, but the 6-foot-4 guard carried enough promise that Philadelphia used a first-round pick on him. The NBA fit never fully clicked, though, and he appeared in only 50 games before being traded to the Boston Celtics in 2024.
Even so, Springer has kept himself in the conversation. He spent his early professional seasons on the edges of strong NBA rosters, but he was far more productive in the G League, where he averaged 14.8 points per game as a rookie, 18.7 as a sophomore, and 22.5 in his third pro season.
The production was there. The real issue was finding a team willing to give him a bigger lane.
What has kept Springer relevant is the part of his game that has traveled everywhere with him: defense. He came into the league with a reputation as a tough, physical stopper, and that label has stuck. While he was with Boston, Joe Mazzulla put it plainly: "He's just got an innate skill to impact the game with his physicality and his defense."
That skill set matters in Dallas. The Mavericks may not fit the usual definition of a cellar-dweller, but they do have a glaring weakness where Springer can help most.
Their perimeter defense was a problem, and beyond shooting, that side of the ball was one of the team’s biggest issues. No Dallas guard who played at least 1,000 minutes graded even league average defensively, and every one of them landed in just the 23rd percentile in defensive box plus/minus.
That opens the door for Springer. He brings the kind of disruptive edge Dallas has been missing, with career averages of 2.5 steals per 36 minutes and a career 1.7 defensive box plus/minus. He can defend multiple positions and uses his physicality and athleticism to make life difficult for opposing ball-handlers.
The Mavericks’ roster is close to full, but there is still a path here. Springer has a chance in Summer League to show Dallas exactly why his defense can matter, and why the upside that once made him a first-round pick still gives him a real shot at a contract.
In Other News...
Mavs Just Made A Trade That Could Reshape The Rest Of Summer
The Mavericks were pulled into one of those sprawling summer trades that can change the shape of a roster without even looking like a headline move at first glance. A six-team deal with Washington, the Clippers, Detroit, Milwaukee and Memphis sent Khris Middleton into a new chapter, while Dallas came away with Marcus Sasser from the Pistons as the kind of backcourt piece teams often chase when they are trying to add depth without blowing up their books.
For Dallas, the value of the transaction is not just in the names changing hands but in how it fits into the rest of the offseason puzzle. The Mavericks also moved other assets in the process, and the financial mechanics around Middletons sign-and-trade give them a little more flexibility to keep working the summer market. In a league where one transaction can ripple through several teams at once, this is the sort of deal that can quietly matter long after the initial shock wears off. [Read more 🡒]
Lakers Are Clearly Handing Luka What Mavericks Never Did
The Lakers moved quickly after LeBron James informed the team he plans to sign elsewhere for the 2026-27 season, closing the book on an eight-year run in Los Angeles. Almost immediately, the front office reshaped the roster around Luka Doncic, making a sign-and-trade deal for Walker Kessler and then adding Sandro Mamukelashvili, Quentin Grimes and Collin Sexton in short order.
For Dallas, the contrast is hard to miss. Doncic is no longer just the face of the Lakers, he is the player around whom the roster is being built, with reports indicating he had a real hand in the push for a starting center. The Mavericks spent years trying to convince him he could be the centerpiece of a contender, and now Los Angeles is showing exactly how far it is willing to go to make that feel true. [Read more 🡒]