By Arthur Hill | at July 27, 2026 11:00 am
There doesn’t appear to be room on a crowded Mavericks roster to bring back free agents Dwight Powell and Brandon Williams, according to Mike Curtis of the Dallas Morning News (subscriber link). Masai Ujiri has quickly placed his stamp on the organization since taking over as team president, bringing in nine new players through the draft, free agency and trades. Dallas currently has 16 players with standard contracts, one more than the league maximum for the start of the season.
Powell is by far the longest-tenured Maverick, spending the past 12 years with the team after being acquired from Boston during his rookie season. He exercised his player option last summer, but had a relatively minor role, appearing in 63 games and averaging 3.3 points and 4.1 rebounds in 14.3 minutes per night. Curtis notes that re-signing a 35-year-old center wouldn’t fit Ujiri’s “future-based” philosophy of roster building, and he has already added Santi Aldama as a potential stretch five and re-signed Moussa Cisse to back up Dereck Lively II and Daniel Gafford.
Williams turned in the best season of his career in 2025/26, averaging 13 points 2.9 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 66 games. However, his role will likely be taken by first-round pick Sergio de Larrea, who was impressive at the Las Vegas Summer League, and Marcus Sasser, who was acquired from Detroit in a six-team deal.
There’s more on the Mavericks:
**Kyrie Irving**‘s name has popped up in trade speculation this summer, but Marc Stein of The Stein Line (subscription required) hears that Dallas has no plans to make him available. The organization wants to see how the 34-year-old point guard meshes with Rookie of the Year Cooper Flagg and the rest of the team when he returns from the knee surgery that has sidelined him since March of 2025.
Patrick Engelbrecht, who worked with Ujiri in Toronto as director of global scouting and international affairs, recently joined the Mavericks’ front office, Stein adds.
Former Charlotte, Toronto and Milwaukee assistant Nate Mitchell is a “prime candidate” to take over as head coach of the Mavs’ G League affiliate, the Texas Legends, Stein tweets.
Zaccharie Risacher, the top pick in the 2024 draft, has a chance for a fresh start after being traded earlier this month. Christian Clark, Jason Jones and Law Murray of The Athletic discuss whether the move from Atlanta to Dallas can revive his career and debate whether it’s too early to consider Risacher to be a “bust.”
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