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The Dallas Mavericks have been busy with roster adjustments this week. Tyus Jones was waived, Ryan Nembhard was converted from a two-way contract to a standard contract, and Khris Middleton will officially be sticking around.
The Mavs weren’t done there. As reported by Mark Followill and others, three other players will be part of a shakeup on the fringes. Two-way player Miles Kelly has been waived, with John Poulakidas and Tyler Smith joining on two-way deals of their own.
Poulakidas is a 22-year old (turning 23 in April) out of Yale, who most recently played with the San Diego Clippers of the G-League. The 6’6” shooting guard tallied 14.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game with San Diego in 13 games. He connected on 38.5% of his three-point attempts during his G-League stint.
Smith is a 6’9” forward with a bit of NBA experience with the Milwaukee Bucks, the team that drafted him in the second round of the 2024 NBA Draft. He played sparingly for Milwaukee and their G-League affiliate The Herd as well as the Capital City Go-Go. At the NBA level, he was waived last October by the Bucks, signed a two-way contract with the Houston Rockets, and was subsequently waived by them in January which in turn opened the opportunity to come to Dallas on a two-way.
Departing is Miles Kelly, who played in 14 games with the Mavericks this season, averaging 3.1 points in just under 10 minutes per game.
While none of these moves will necessarily move the needle much, they at least show that Dallas is willing to take some chances on young talent to see what they may be able to bring at the NBA level. Poulakidas could be a nice sized guard that may be able to knock down shots, a big need for Dallas. Smith is the younger of the two additions, yet slightly more experienced and is an athletic big who at the very least can add some size and depth for the stretch run. Time will tell if either sticks around long term, but it is nice to see the Mavs taking a few flyers on young talent as opposed to just mailing it in.
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