All eyes will be on Cooper Flagg as the Dallas Mavericks kick off their Summer League slate, July 10 against Bronny James and the Los Angeles Lakers — and for good reason. Flagg was the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA Draft and looks ready to contribute immediately with a high skill level and excellent physical tools. There is even some talk of him playing as a 6-foot-9 point guard next season, as Kyrie Irving recovers from his torn ACL.
But Flagg isn't the only player on the Mavs' Summer League roster with NBA potential. The Dallas roster is essentially full right now, with 15 players under contract and two more on Two-Way Deals. They have one more sport open for another Two-Way Deal, but a strong Summer League performance could potentially unseat someone like reserve guard Brandon Williams, whose deal is not guaranteed.
Flagg is the main attraction, but here are the other players on the Mavs' Summer League squad who could potentially stick around.
Ryan Nembhard, G, Gonzaga
Nembhard, the younger brother of Pacers' guard Andrew Nembhard, went undrafted but was quickly snapped up by Dallas on a two-way deal. He was listed as the No. 49 prospect on our final pre-draft big board and plays very similarly to his brother. He's smaller, just 6-foot, and his size will be a limiting factor. But he's a relentlessly pesky defender at the point of attack, hit better than 40 percent of his 3s as a senior at Gonzaga and averaged 9.8 assists per game. Andrew joined the Pacers as a second-round pick and quickly made himself essential to their rotation. With Irving out, Ryan has a chance to do something similar for the Mavs, carving out a role with dogged defense, solid outside shooting and mistake-free facilitation.
Miles Kelly, G, Auburn
Kelly also landed a Two-Way deal and will certainly be around the team, even if most of his opportunities come in the G League. He doesn't have a lot of diversity in his game, but he's an excellent outside shooter, adept at spotting up and running off screens looking for space. Every team needs shooters and if Kelly demonstrates he can stretch the floor and defend credibly, he could find his way into some NBA minutes.
Matthew Cleveland, G, Miami
Cleveland is one of those players with intriguing tools, but potentially not enough pop to make use of them at the next level. He has good size and athleticism on the wing, and turned himself into a solid primary scorer at Miami, drilling pull-up jumpers and creating for himself in straight-line drives. His defense is suspect, and he's much better at finding his own shot than creating for others. But if he's making shots at Summer League and putting up decent scoring numbers, he could work his way into that last Two-Way contract slot, or potentially even more.
Maxwell Lewis, G, Lakers/Nets
Lewis was the No. 40 pick of the Lakers in the 2023 NBA Draft. He spent his first season in Los Angeles on a Two-Way Deal, and then was moved to the Nets in the middle of last season in the D'Angelo Russell trade. He's appeared in just 62 games across two seasons for a grand total of 430, mostly garbage-time, minutes. But he made 38 percent of his 50 3-point attempts with the Nets after the trade. He has excellent size on the wing and graduated from Pepperdine with a reputation as a versatile connector and secondary playmaker. He has more experience than almost anyone else on this Summer League roster and could be ready to take a step forward as a 3-and-D option on the wing.
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