Ranking every available free agent Mavericks have been linked to so far

2. Jaylen Nowell

The Dallas Mavericks' most recent free agent interest was in shooting guard Jaylen Nowell.

Nowell is one of the best remaining free agents on the market but the same question comes up for him that we asked about Terence Davis.

Does Dallas really need another offensive-minded guard?

The answer to that question is still no.

Nowell is an extremely talented scorer and makes some magical plays when the ball is in his hands, but the Mavs don't need another score-first guard. Last season for the Timberwolves, Nowell averaged 10.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 0.6 steals per game.

He is undeniably a great player to bring off the bench to be a spark plug and light up the scoreboard, but the Mavericks already have a fully capable second-year player who fills that role in Jaden Hardy. Signing Nowell could deter Hardy's development and cut his minutes down tremendously.

Nowell is also not the best defender, and the Mavs can't afford to have another guard that can't defend. They already have two offensive-minded guards off the bench in Hardy and Seth Curry, and they still haven't traded Tim Hardaway Jr.

Could Jaylen Nowell be a contributor for a contender?

Yes.

Do I think it will or should be the Dallas Mavericks with the way their roster is currently constructed?

No.

If they made some moves and lost some of their guards I could see them pursuing Nowell. But it doesn't make sense for them to sign him right now, regardless of how good of a player he is.

Editor's note: NBA Insider Marc Stein reported that he heard the Mavericks were not interested in Nowell in his latest episode of "Saturday Stein Line with Marc Stein." Everything is rumors at this point, but wanted to note this.