The Dallas Mavericks and Dante Exum have agreed to a one-year deal, per ESPN’s Shams Charania. Exum will now return to the team he has spent the last two seasons with, and the move further bolsters Dallas’ guard depth ahead of next season.
Exum will return for a third season in Dallas after he first joined the team in 2023. Prior to that, he spent time with the Utah Jazz, and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA, and he also spent two seasons in the EuroLeague before making his NBA return upon landing in Dallas.
In two seasons with Dallas, Exum has given the team quality minutes, averaging 8.0 points per game while shooting 51 percent from the field and 47 percent from three-point range. With Kyrie Irving slated to miss significant time next season due to an ACL tear, Exum should provide the team with a security blanket in his absence.
Signing Exum continues Dallas’ early trend of making additions in the backcourt. The team also signed D’Angelo Russell to a two-year, $13 million deal on Tuesday. The pair will now share ball-handling duties to start next season as Irving recovers from his injury.
Despite trading Luka Doncic at last season’s trade deadline, Dallas is still gearing up to make a run at the championship next season. Led by Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson, Cooper Flagg, and Kyrie Irving upon his return, the team has the star power, and the depth to be a serious threat in the Western Conference.