Mavericks' Matt Cross signing just made their wing competition even more interesting

The Dallas Mavericks' preseason roster is officially filled with 21 players, as the team announced that they signed 6-foot-7 forward Matt Cross to a contract on Tuesday morning. This signing came at the perfect time, as Cross should have the chance to suit up for Dallas' final two preseason games against the New Orleans Pelicans and Atlanta Hawks this week, and the Mavericks' two-way competition on the wing just got kicked up a notch.

Matt Cross gives Dallas another two-way option

As things stand, the Mavs have all three of their two-way spots filled by John Poulakidas, Jett Howard, and Tobi Lawal. Seth Lundy and now Cross are both eligible for two-way contracts if Dallas would like to move off one of Howard, Lawal, or Poulakidas, and with how easy two-way deals are to get out of, some movement in this department is far from impossible.

All five of the aforementioned players play on the wing, and Dusty May could end up rolling with the best three as his two-way players. It seems highly unlikely that Dallas would move on from Lawal, as he was drafted by Masai Ujiri and Mike Schmitz earlier this summer, and they signed Howard as well.

Poulakidas is the only two-way player that the new front office didn't bring in, meaning that there's a chance that his spot on the roster isn't guaranteed. Combine this with the fact that he was a DNP-CD in the Mavs' second preseason game over the weekend, and the Mavs could have a roster battle on their hands for one spot between Poulakidas, Lundy, and Cross.

Cross brings a different skill set to the Mavericks

All three players are known for their 3-point shooting, but Cross offers a different skill set than Poulakidas and Lundy. He's a tenacious rebounder, plays with great energy, and provides the type of connectivity that any team would love to have alongside their superstar player. Cross is the type of player who can occasionally have a big game on the stat sheet, but most of his impact comes from making winning plays and playing as hard as he can during his minutes.

He averaged 6.1 points, 6.8 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 0.7 steals per game while shooting 50 percent from the field and 41.4 percent from downtown for the Texas Legends last season, and his familiarity with the organization is already there. Cross played a season for SMU before being signed to Dallas' Summer League team last summer, and now he has a chance to make things interesting with a pair of strong preseason performances.

His offensive rebounding, strength, motor, and physicality give the Mavs an archetype of player they don't really have, and his shooting out of the pick-and-pop combined with his awareness on the defensive end make him an intriguing piece at 25 years old.

Cross' spot on the regular-season roster is far from guaranteed, but Dallas' depth on the wing just got even better ahead of their final two preseason games. Competition should be high heading into these games, and if Cross shows out, he could find himself on an NBA roster for the first time in his career.

Add us as a preferred source on Google

Follow