Mavericks just gambled on a 7-foot-5 big who they should've given up on long ago

As media day is a little under three weeks away, Dallas Mavericks fans have been itching for some sort of news, as the Mavericks' offseason is practically wrapped up and the organization is enjoying its final weeks of free time ahead of a lengthy 82-game season. However, some minor news did come out yesterday in the form of Dallas re-signing 7-foot-5 big Jamarion Sharp to an Exhibit 10 deal.

This is the second season in a row the Mavericks have opted to sign Sharp to a training camp deal, as he played all of last season with Dallas' G League affiliate in the Texas Legends. Sharp was also on Dallas' Summer League roster in both of these past two years, and while he showcased some slight improvement in terms of his conditioning and lateral quickness, he hasn't quite reached the level fans are hoping for in terms of how NBA-ready he is.

At only 24 years old, Sharp still has a great chance to make an impression on Dallas' staff this training camp, but the clock is starting to tick in terms of his NBA chances. Sharp has proven to be an elite rim protector in spurts, but his coordination and intensity must improve if he has any chance of being an NBA center. It seems likely Dallas will be bringing in Sharp to try and compete for the final two-way spot alongside Matthew Cleveland and Moussa Cisse, but Dallas honestly would've been better off signing another wing to an E-10 instead of Sharp, as Sharp is somewhat of a known commodity after having been in the organization for two seasons now.

Mavericks continue to whiff by trying the Jamarion Sharp experiment

As aforementioned, Sharp's potential is through the roof because of his size, but he's built too wiry and must put on more size to not get bullied at the NBA level, as fans and analysts have seen his rim protection diminish when having to guard stronger players at the rim. For Sharp being as slim-built as he is, he has to compensate in other areas, such as his lateral quickness and perimeter defense, just like Victor Wembanyama has done, but Sharp isn't close to as fluid an athlete as Wembanyama is, despite being the same height.

If Sharp has performed notably better at Summer League, it'd be without question that he should get Dallas' final two-way slot, especially because of his potential at his size, but he's extremely one-dimensional as a situational rim protector at the moment. Sharp didn't start playing basketball till later in his life compared to most NBA players, and this can be seen heavily in his offensive game, as he struggles as a finisher against stronger players and doesn't always have great positioning on the offensive side of the ball.

For fans' sake, they should be hopeful Sharp continued to work on his game after Summer League and looks more polished than he ever has heading into training camp, but recent history suggests this probably won't be the case, and he'll likely find himself on the Legends or another G League squad this upcoming season.

Someone like Maxwell Lewis or Jordan Hall would've been far more polished candidates to bring into Dallas' training camp, given their Summer League performances for the Mavericks, and they'd also have a better chance at cracking the roster, considering Dallas needs wings more than they need bigs. Either of those guys could still get offered a training camp invite, but it's becoming increasingly unlikely that will happen with media day fast approaching, and fans will have to hope Sharp can prove the consensus on himself wrong.