Dwight Powell is expected to receive a formal invitation to the Dallas Mavericks’ training camp despite the team already having 15 players on standard NBA contracts, according to Marc Stein.
Powell was with the Mavericks this week at Kyrie Irving’s minicamp in Los Angeles as the team prepares for training camp.
Kevin Gray Jr. also reported that Powell was with the Mavericks in Santa Monica as Cooper Flagg, Irving, head coach Dusty May and the rest of the group prepared for training camp.
Powell, 35, became an unrestricted free agent after his three-year, $12 million contract with Dallas expired. He has spent 12 seasons with the Mavericks and has appeared in 768 regular-season games for the franchise.
Powell originally joined Dallas during the 2014-15 season after beginning his NBA career with the Boston Celtics. Since then, he has established himself as a long-term part of the Mavericks organization, making 266 starts while averaging 6.5 points and 4.2 rebounds in 17.5 minutes per game over his career.
He remained in the rotation last season, appearing in 63 games and starting 12. Powell averaged 3.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 14.3 minutes per game while shooting 64.4% from the field.
His role was smaller than during the middle portion of his Dallas career, when he averaged a career-high 10.6 points in 2018-19 and started 37 of 40 games during the 2019-20 season.
The Mavericks finished 26-56 last season and missed the playoffs, prompting a major shift toward a younger roster under May and president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri.
Dallas is now building around Flagg, who averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 4.5 assists in 70 games as a rookie and earned Rookie of the Year honors. The Mavericks also added Zaccharie Risacher in a trade with Atlanta, while drafting Morez Johnson Jr. at No. 9 and Sergio de Larrea at No. 25.
Several veterans have departed during the offseason, including Khris Middleton, Klay Thompson and Marvin Bagley III. Brandon Williams also left for the Golden State Warriors, while Powell remained unsigned after his contract expired.
Dallas currently has 15 standard contracts, meaning Powell’s training camp invitation would not guarantee him a roster spot. Instead, it would give the veteran an opportunity to compete for a place on a Mavericks team entering a new phase of its development.
