LOS ANGELES — The Dallas Mavericks are expected to give Dwight Powell a formal training camp invitation. League sources told Marc Stein of The Stein Line as much Saturday night, even though Dallas already has 15 players on standard NBA contracts.
Earlier this week, Powell was with the Mavericks at a minicamp in Los Angeles led by Kyrie Irving, according to Stein. The 35-year-old center has been an unrestricted free agent since his three-year, $12 million contract ran out after last season.
Dwight Powell Joins Dallas Mavericks Minicamp In Los Angeles
On Friday afternoon, the Mavericks posted photos of players working out together at the PLYRS UNTD Performance Center in Playa Vista. The building opened Aug. 4 as a training center open only to NBA players. Irving gave the National Basketball Players Association direct input on the renovation.
Irving tore the ACL in his left knee against the Sacramento Kings on March 3, 2025, and has not played in an NBA game since. Dallas ruled him out for the 2025-26 season on Feb. 18.
Media day is set for Sept. 25 at 10 a.m. CT, and training camp practices begin the following day. Most of the league holds media day Sept. 28. Dallas opens early because of the NBA China Games, where the Mavericks play the Houston Rockets at The Venetian Arena in Macao on Oct. 9 and Oct. 11.
Mavericks Already Carry 15 Standard Contracts
Back on July 27, Stein reported in The Stein Line that Dallas had 16 players on standard contracts, one above the in-season maximum. He wrote that Powell and his representatives had kept up a dialogue with the club “in hopes that he still factors into their plans somehow.”
“The 35-year-old, who became a Maverick in December 2014 as part of the Rajon Rondo trade, has been hoping to play at least one more season,” Stein wrote.
The count dropped to 15 on Aug. 21. That day, the Mavericks announced a contract buyout with Klay Thompson, who was due to make $17.5 million in the final season of his deal. Thompson signed with the Miami Heat after clearing waivers.
NBA teams can carry up to 21 players in the offseason. Only 15 can hold standard contracts once the regular season begins.
On Aug. 31, Khobi Price of the California Post named Powell the most significant free-agent big man available to the Los Angeles Lakers. At that point, Daniel Gafford, Dereck Lively II, Santi Aldama, Moussa Cisse, and rookie Morez Johnson Jr. filled out the Dallas frontcourt behind Cooper Flagg and P.J. Washington.
Masai Ujiri took over basketball operations May 4. Dallas had gone 26-56 and finished 12th in the Western Conference. The Mavericks hired Mavericks coach Dusty May on June 22, a day before the draft, and used the ninth overall pick on Johnson, who played for May at Michigan.
In December 2014, the Boston Celtics traded Powell to Dallas during his rookie season. He came out of Stanford as the 45th overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft.
Across 12 seasons, Powell played 763 games for the Mavericks and averaged 6.5 points and 4.3 rebounds in 17.6 minutes. He played all 82 games in 2021-22. He also set a franchise record by making 18 consecutive field goals over a four-game stretch.
On Jan. 21, 2020, Powell tore his right Achilles tendon in the first quarter of a home loss to the LA Clippers. He was back the following season. In 2024, he was on the Dallas team that reached the NBA Finals and lost to Boston in five games, and he was named to Canada’s roster for the Paris Olympics that summer.
Powell signed the three-year, $12 million deal in July 2023, and last summer he picked up a $4 million player option to stay for 2025-26. Last season, he appeared in 63 games with 12 starts and averaged 3.3 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.1 assists in 14.3 minutes on 64.4% shooting.
Oct. 21 is the regular-season opener in Houston. Tip-off against the Rockets is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT.
