Naji Marshall’s new extension with Dallas is built to keep the Mavericks flexible.
The three-year deal, first announced on Sunday, will pay Marshall $18.2MM in 2027/28, then step down to $17.3MM in 2028/29 and $16.7MM in 2029/30, according to Marc Stein of The Stein Line. Because the contract declines each season, Marshall will stay trade-eligible, Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron noted. Raises above five percent would have triggered a six-month trade restriction.
That detail matters for a Mavericks roster that has more forwards than guards right now. It also adds another layer to the way Dallas has handled Marshall, who just turned a strong 2024/25 season into long-term security.
Marshall’s rise fits a familiar Dallas pattern. Eddie Sefko of NBA.com wrote that the Mavericks have repeatedly found value with undrafted players, pointing to names like J.J.
Barea, Wesley Mathews, and Avery Johnson. Marshall now belongs in that conversation, though Sefko noted that to match some of those success stories, he still has to end his postseason dry spell with the team.
Team president Masai Ujiri praised Marshall’s path and what he brings on the floor. “ Naji has earned this opportunity through the way he approaches the game every day,” Ujiri said.
“ He’s a competitive player who impacts winning in a variety of ways. His versatility, toughness and willingness to embrace every challenge make him an important part of what we’re building.”
Elsewhere in the Southwest Division, the Spurs are sending a sizable group to France to train with Victor Wembanyama before camp. Eurohoops reported that the trip will include about eight or ten people, and team CEO RC Buford said the gathering will be more varied than just a standard teammate run-through.
“ Our coaches and players are going to be here together next week, doing some work in Paris,” Buford said. “ They’re coming over to see Victor, about eight or ten of them.”
And at Kansas, the school has brought in Rockets senior team counsel Sam Strantz as its Executive Director of Front Office Strategy and Operations. ESPN’s Pete Thamel described the position as “essentially a centralized general manager” role. Strantz had been with Houston since 2024.
In Other News...
Wembanyama Has Spurs Fans Dreaming Bigger Than Just Stardom
Victor Wembanyama keeps turning the spotlight into something bigger for San Antonio. Fresh off a season that saw him lead the Spurs to the NBA Finals, win Defensive Player of the Year and finish as an MVP finalist, he has now been named the cover athlete for the standard edition of NBA 2K27. Add in CBS Sports placing him No. 2 on its list of the leagues faces, behind only LeBron James, and the message is hard to miss: the Spurs star is no longer just a building block, he is becoming one of the leagues defining names.
For Spurs fans, the appeal goes beyond the accolades and the marketing. Wembanyama already has the rsum of a franchise centerpiece, but the conversation around him is starting to sound like something larger, the kind of status reserved for players who shape the leagues image as much as its standings. San Antonio has spent years waiting for a player who could restore that kind of gravitational pull, and Wembanyamas latest honors only sharpen the question of how far this rise can go. [Read more 🡒]
Spurs Face Early Jayden Quaintance Decision That Could Shape His Rookie Year
Jayden Quaintances rookie year has already turned into a roster-management puzzle for the Spurs. The first-round pick is coming off knee surgery, and the expectation is that he will be sidelined for about six months, which puts his availability for next season in serious doubt before it even begins. For a team trying to map out its frontcourt rotation, that creates an early choice about how to handle a young big man whose development may matter just as much as his health.
San Antonio can afford to be patient, especially with other center options in the mix in Tarris Reed Jr. and Luke Kornet. The bigger question is whether the Spurs see more value in keeping Quaintance completely out for the season or finding a way to ease him back once he is cleared so he can get real game reps somewhere in the system. However they answer it, the decision will say a lot about how the Spurs want to balance long-term development against the realities of a season that starts without him. [Read more 🡒]