Dallas Mavericks rumors: Team interested in Jerami Grant

The Dallas Mavericks had a historic offense in the 2019-2020 season, but they were a middling defensive team. Their goal was to finish inside the top ten in defensive rating, but Dallas wound up 18th. The Mavs want to jump into title contention and improving their defense is the key to making it happen.

There is plenty of uncertainty heading into the offseason. Transactions are still frozen as the league and player’s association sort out the cap figures for next season. The novel coronavirus put a massive dent in the NBA’s revenues, and the two sides are trying to determine how to move forward.

The Mavericks figure to be light on cap space but have the draft, trades, and the mid-level exception at their disposal to improve their roster. The rumor mill picked back up on Oct. 15. Let us take a closer look at the latest.

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Dallas Mavericks rumors: Team wants to sign Jerami Grant

Shams Charania of The Athletic wrote a piece detailing all the latest news and rumors from around the league (subscription require). In it, he mentions the Mavericks as one of four teams that have “interest” in Jerami Grant.

This should come as no surprise. When news broke he was opting out, there were already rumblings of Dallas being interested in the unrestricted free agent.

The 26-year-old is a versatile two-way forward that can defend well both in the paint and on the perimeter. In the Nuggets three playoff series, Grant was the team’s primary defender on Donovan Mitchell, Kawhi Leonard, and LeBron James. He fills a need for the Mavs, who struggle to slow down elite scorers.

Grant also averaged 12.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.0 block in 29.8 minutes per game on 48.9 percent shooting from the field and 39.1 percent on his threes over the last two seasons combined. He would be a fantastic role player on the Mavericks.

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