Dallas Mavericks trade Johnathan Motley, sign Ding Yanyuhang

As reported by Marc Stein of the New York Times, the Dallas Mavericks have decided to part ways with former two-way contract player, Johnathan Motley. In a follow-up move, the Mavs signed former Summer League favorite, Ding Yanyuhang. Both moves were interesting but make at least a little bit of sense.

Just a few hours after the Dallas Mavericks finally inked Dirk Nowitzki to his one-year, $5 million deal, the front office decided to do a few more things. the first move was trading away two-way contract player, Johnathan Motley, who was a fan-favorite in Dallas. Motley was traded to the Los Angeles Clippers along with the rights to an overseas player in exchange for another overseas player and some cash.

In a follow-up move, the Mavs agreed to a new two-way contract with Chinese-born Ding Yanyuhang. Ding was another fan-favorite from his time with the Mavs summer league team last year. Ding will join Kostas Antetokounmpo as both of the Mavs available two-way contracts.

The news was first announced by Marc Stein who used to cover the Dallas Mavericks more exclusively.

These moves are a bit surprising in that neither Motley nor Ding are going to make a huge impact on the teams they will play for next year. Motley showed a lot of potential in Dallas and could be a decent backup or third string center, but he is not a game-changer. Ding, on the other hand, is energetic and exciting on the court, but lacks the overall basketball skill that Motley brought.

The main reason for the move is likely depth. Dallas needed a little more wing depth going forward and Motley was not a part of the future plan by any means. It may not be a perfect move, but it was a sensible move for the current roster.

Another interesting thing about this move is that Dallas adds yet another foreign-born player to the team. Here is a running list of the foreign born Dallas Mavericks:

-Dirk Nowitzki, Germany

– J.J. Barea, Puerto Rico

– Dwight Powell, Canada

– Salah Mejri, Tunisia

– Maxi Kleber, Germany

– Luka Doncic, Slovenia

– Kostas Antetokounmpo, Greece

– Ryan Broekhoff, Australia

– Ding Yanyuhang, China

I’m not positive about it, but the Mavs probably have one of the most diverse rosters in the NBA and perhaps in NBA history. With at least one player from five different continents, with only South America being excluded from the list.

Next: Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki put pen to paper

All that aside, the addition of Ding Yanyuhang will bring a little more excitement to the Mavs. The loss of Motley is sad and he will be missed, but MFFL will support him and root for him no matter where he goes. We look forward to the newest addition to the roster and hope things will pan out for the youngster from China.