Mavericks have painfully obvious next move after guard’s breakout

With how well Ryan Nembhard has been playing for the Dallas Mavericks, their most obvious next step should be to clear up a 15-man roster spot and sign him to a standard contract. He’s been a revelation in the starting lineup, helping the Mavs to a 5-2 record as a member of the first five.

Dallas inked him to a two-way contract after the 2025 NBA Draft, and now, he looks like the type of player they will want to keep around alongside Cooper Flagg for the long haul. However, before they get too ahead of themselves, they need to make sure to take care of him past his current contract.

And that starts with waiving (or trading) someone else.

Mavericks need to upgrade Ryan Nembhard's contract

The Mavericks already have 15 players on their roster, so they won’t be able to upgrade Nembhard’s contract unless they waive one of those 15 guys, which is unfortunate, but a reality of the business.

However, a quick glance at the Mavericks’ roster shows that there aren’t many easy solutions to this problem. In fact, Dallas may have to make a trade if it wants to upgrade Nembhard’s contract.

The simplest solution would be to waive Dante Exum, who will be undergoing a second knee surgery, ending any chance he had at playing in the 2025-26 season.

Though it would be a tough pill to swallow, as Exum never even got a chance to play this season, it would be an easy way for Dallas to get Nembhard on the roster. And perhaps they could even offer Exum the ability to stick around, train in their facilities, and rehab with the team.

Outside of that, waiving anyone else seems unlikely. The only other guy on a one-year contract is Brandon Williams, and he’s played impactful minutes for Dallas this year.

However, if the Mavs don’t want to waive Exum, they could potentially make a trade to ship out someone like D’Angelo Russell or Caleb Martin in order to make space for Nembhard.

If they moved any of those guys (or even two of them) to another team that had enough cap space (or a TPE) to take them in, then it would accomplish the same goal as waiving a player, which is to open up a roster spot.

No matter what way the situation is spun, the Mavs need to open a roster spot for Nembhard. He’s been that good, and getting him on the 15-man roster should be the team’s top priority.