Dallas Mavericks Waive Dwight Powell After 12 Seasons As Roster Decision Ends Tenure
DALLAS — The Dallas Mavericks are waiving center Dwight Powell, sources told Dallas Sports Journal, ahead of Monday’s deadline for NBA teams to set their regular-season rosters. Powell re-signed with Dallas on Sept. 25 on a one-year, minimum-salary contract that was partially guaranteed for $1M.
The move leaves the Mavericks with 15 players on standard contracts, all of them fully guaranteed. Powell was the only one of Dallas’ 16 players on standard deals without a fully guaranteed salary, and his partial guarantee would have risen to $1.5M if he had been on the opening-night roster.
If no team claims him, Powell will clear waivers Wednesday, the same day Dallas opens the regular season at the Houston Rockets.
Keeping Powell would have required Dallas to trade or waive a player with a guaranteed salary. Jake Fischer of The Stein Line reported last week that the Mavericks were exploring ways to keep him, which could have meant parting with second-year center Moussa Cissé. Dallas matched a New York Knicks offer sheet for Cissé in restricted free agency in July, and his $2.2M salary became fully guaranteed when the Mavericks kept him past Oct. 1.
Dwight Powell Spent 12 Seasons With The Dallas Mavericks
Dallas acquired Powell in a December 2014 trade with the Boston Celtics, about a month after he made his NBA debut with Boston. He played 763 regular-season games for the Mavericks and made 266 starts.
In a Dallas uniform, Powell averaged 6.5 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 1.0 assist while shooting 60.5% from the field. His 12 seasons with the franchise are tied with Derek Harper and Brad Davis for second-most in team history. Dirk Nowitzki holds the record with 21.
Powell, 35, played all 82 games in 2021-22 and started 71 of them. That spring, he started all 18 of Dallas’ playoff games during its run to the Western Conference finals. He appeared in 13 more playoff games in 2024, when the Mavericks reached the NBA Finals.
Last season, he appeared in 63 games and made 12 starts. He averaged 3.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 14.3 minutes and shot 64.4% from the field.
Dusty May Praised Dwight Powell Before The Roster Decision
Marc Stein of The Stein Line reported in late July that Powell had been hoping to play at least one more season. On the morning of media day, when Dallas re-signed him, Stein reported that the team had not ruled out creating a roster spot for him. Powell later waived his right to block trades if Dallas kept him, Stein reported.
In Macao, Powell played 15 minutes and finished with 3 points and 5 rebounds in Dallas’ 132-115 preseason win over Houston on Oct. 11.
Mavericks coach Dusty May said earlier in camp that Powell makes everyone around him better by connecting, screening, and doing the dirty work.
“Dwight has been very valuable so far to us,” May said Thursday. “I think it’s evident that when he is on the floor, we function well. It’s been a joy to get to know him and be around him. I try to stay out of that fray, deciding those types of things, but Dwight, he’s been very, very good for us.”
On Saturday, Dallas waived guards John Poulakidas and Seth Lundy. The Mavericks carry two players on two-way contracts, Jett Howard and Tobi Lawal, with one two-way spot open.
Dallas opens the regular season Wednesday at Houston, with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m. CT.
