Former Mavericks failed project has quietly become a star on new team

Tyler Bey never worked out for the Dallas Mavericks, but he has quietly become a star overseas in the last few years. The last game that Bey played for Dallas, and the NBA as a whole, was on May 16, 2021, and he has brought the hype that Mavs fans once had for him to Homenetmen Beirut of the Lebanese Basketball League.

Bey signed with Homenetmen Beirut after playing two seasons in the Israeli Basketball Premier League and one season in the Philippine Basketball Association, and he has clearly found his way in the LBL.

In eight games for Homenetmen Beirut this season, Bey is averaging 23.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.8 steals per game while shooting 59 percent from the field, leading them to a 6-3 record. He is in the top five on his team in points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, and minutes per game, and Mavericks fans can only dream that he was this successful during his time in Dallas.

Tyler Bey became a star — just too late for Dallas

Bey was drafted with the No. 36 overall pick in the 2020 NBA Draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, and he was immediately traded to the Mavs as part of the Josh Richardson-Seth Curry trade on draft night. Mavericks fans were excited for Bey's potential, as the team was known for often trading its picks.

Dallas bringing in a young player through the draft was rare, and fans were eager to see if Bey could crack the rotation in his rookie season. The Mavericks hadn't drafted anyone the year prior, as their first-round pick was traded to the Atlanta Hawks as part of the Luka Doncic trade, and Bey would have the chance to prove he belonged in Dallas if he performed well and became a key piece of the young core alongside Doncic, Jalen Brunson, and Josh Green.

Fans were high on his defensive upside, as he won the Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year in his junior season as a Colorado Buffalo. Dallas needed defense badly, as they were the No. 18-ranked defense in the 2019-2020 season despite having the No. 1-ranked offense, and Bey looked like he was going to be an integral part of them becoming a more balanced unit.

Unfortunately for Bey, he never panned out as a Maverick.

After being robbed of playing in the NBA Summer League thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, Bey only played in 18 games as a Maverick and averaged 1.0 points per game in just 3.9 minutes per game. He never got much of a chance to be a difference-maker in Dallas, and he was out of the league after a G League stint with the Rio Grande Valley Vipers during the 2021-22 season.

After winning the G League Finals in 2022, Bey decided to take his talents overseas.

From that moment forward, he has turned his career around and become the star that Mavs fans hoped he would become in Dallas.

He was the top scorer in the Israeli Basketball Premier League in his first season with Ironi Ness Ziona B.C. (20.3 points per game), and has had successful seasons every year since. Now, he is dominating for Homenetmen Beirut and showing the exact skill set that he was supposed to bring as a Maverick.