Dallas Mavericks Call Up Johnathan Motley

The Dallas Mavericks have finally decided to bring up their other two-way contract in Johnathan Motley to their active roster.

The Dallas Mavericks only had one draft pick in the 2017 NBA Draft and they used that to select Dennis Smith Jr. with the 9th pick overall.

Instead of trading back into the draft at a later point, they elected to scour the undrafted market for talent that might have fallen through the cracks.

Enter Johnathan Motley.

Motley was ranked 39th on the DraftExpress pre-draft big board and was considered by some to be a first round pick in June. But due to a meniscus injury in college, some teams didn’t want to take the risk on draft night.

Since then, the 6’10” 230 pound big man signed a two-way contract with the Dallas Mavericks where he has spent the whole season with the G-League team in Frisco, the Texas Legends.

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For the Legends, Motley has appeared in 12 games where he is averaging over 22 points and 9.8 rebounds a game. He is a force down low while also showing that he can step out and hit shots from behind the arc.

As for where Motley will fit into the rotation, that is the question.

With Dirk at the starting five and the rookie, Maxi Kleber, performing so well, this will leave Motley fighting for minutes off the bench with Dwight Powell and Salah Mejri. One would assume that Mejri’s role will evaporate, but Powell vs. Motley off the bench will be something to watch for.

Since Motley is on a two-way contract, he has a limit of 45 days on the active roster.

One would think that if Dallas plans on bringing Motley in to join them on the road trip that he would have some sort of role in the rotation.

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With Motley excelling in the G-League, it is time for the Mavericks to see what they really have in the young big man out of Baylor.