Mavericks' chance to bring Ryan Nembhard home faces two major obstacles

Ryan Nembhard is poised to hit free agency, as the Charlotte Hornets plan to waive him after acquiring him in a trade with the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday. The deal sends former Dallas Maverick Dorian Finney-Smith to the Hawks, but rather than holding onto Nembhard, Charlotte would rather move on.

Dallas doesn't have the roster space for Ryan Nembhard

This move gives the chance for Dallas to sign Nembhard ahead of training camp, which begins later this week, but there are multiple clear obstacles keeping this fairytale ending to the offseason from happening. The Mavericks' 15-man roster is already full, and Nembhard is drawing interest elsewhere.

After buying out Klay Thompson, Dallas is at the NBA's limit of 15 players on standard contracts. Teams can only carry 15 players on standard deals going into the regular season, and with Thompson gone, the Mavs are right at that limit.

This means that Dallas would have to waive someone if they wanted to bring Nembhard back after trading him earlier this summer. Making another cut to create a roster spot seems unlikely at this point in the offseason, meaning that Nembhard's only logical path to the team would be on a two-way contract.

Unfortunately for Nembhard, their two-way spots are filled as well. John Poulakidas, Tobi Lawal, and Jett Howard occupy Dallas' three two-way spots, leaving no roster spot for Nembhard.

Other teams want to sign him

The Mavericks could explore extending him a training-camp invite to fight for a roster spot with an Exhibit 10 deal, but this wouldn't make sense for Nembhard. His rookie season in Dallas proved that he is worth a two-way contract with someone, and the interest is already starting to flow in.

According to NBA insider Marc Stein, multiple teams are showing interest in Nembhard (assuming the Hornets waive him). The Denver Nuggets are one of these teams, and if other teams are already in the mix for Nembhard, the Mavs' chances of signing him are slim to none.

They don't have the roster space to bring him on, and cutting a player this late into the offseason would be a risky move. Dallas' roster seems set ahead of the preseason, which begins in less than three weeks, and Mavs fans who are hoping for Nembhard to come home must realize that this move is a pipe dream.

There have been no rumors indicating that Dallas is interested in signing Nembhard, and their circumstances make such a move almost impossible right now.

The only thing that would make a reunion realistic is if Dallas was ready to waive someone, and that seems improbable. Combine this with the fact that Nembhard is drawing interest on the open market, and this shows that the Mavericks' road to getting him back is not very realistic.

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