John Poulakidas gave the Dallas Mavericks exactly what they were missing late last season: real movement on the perimeter and a shot that kept defenses honest.
Dallas was one of the NBA’s worst three-point shooting teams a year ago, but after signing Poulakidas to a two-way contract, the rookie quickly carved out a role. He appeared in 13 games to close the season and fired away 77 three-point attempts, knocking down 31 of them for a 40.3% clip. On a percentage basis, that ranked third on the team behind Max Christie and Marvin Bagley III, with Bagley’s numbers coming mostly on wide-open looks and a limited volume of shots.
That stretch was enough for the Mavericks to keep him around. Poulakidas is back on another two-way deal, and he is the only player the team carried over on the same type of contract.
Dallas has shuffled the rest of that group. Moussa Cisse hit restricted free agency, and the Mavericks matched the New York Knicks’ offer sheet for a partially guaranteed standard contract. Tyler Smith was waived after a rough NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, which opened the door for second-round pick Tobi Lawal and former lottery pick Jett Howard to take the two remaining two-way spots.
Even with that NBA opportunity in place, Poulakidas may not be tied to the league for the long haul.
Per EuroHoops.net, Greek powerhouses Olympiacos and Panathinaikos are both pursuing him for next season. Poulakidas has Greek roots through his grandparents, and the expectation is that he’ll spend this season with Dallas before potentially heading overseas for a larger payday next year.
The Mavericks originally landed him from the San Diego Clippers, the G-League affiliate of the LA Clippers. Before that, he played his full four-year college career at Yale and finished his senior season atop the Ivy League scoring race at 19.4 points per game.
There had also been early offseason chatter that Poulakidas might leave for Europe sooner, which would have opened another two-way slot for second-round pick Vsevolod Ishchenko. That never materialized.
Ishchenko flashed some promising moments in Summer League, but he remains under contract with his Russian team, and NBA rules do not allow a buyout of an international deal in order to sign a player to a two-way contract. That would have created another complication, since Ishchenko would have had to repay his full salary.
For now, Ishchenko is staying in Russia for the season, where he can keep developing his raw game. And if Poulakidas does head to Greece next year, the Mavericks can revisit the path to bringing Ishchenko over.
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