Surprise player will be in Mavericks' rotation that isn't even on their roster yet

While the Dallas Mavericks have a myriad of questions to address heading into next season, the depth of their center rotation is not one of those questions. After nailing down Daniel Gafford on a three-year $54 million extension this summer, Dallas rolls into next season with the trio of Anthony Davis, Dereck Lively II, and Gafford as an elite big man rotation.

However, the fourth big man in that rotation, Dwight Powell, may be hard pressed to see the floor next season when Dallas is fully healthy, but he could definitely get some run if just one of those three bigs goes down with any sort of injury during the season, but a younger big man could be a better option than Powell next season.

Dallas was able to mitigate some of their injuries at the center position by bringing in Kai Jones on a two-way contract last season, as Jones was wildly efficient from the field and brought great verticality and effort to the Mavericks during his short stint in Dallas last season. For this reason, many fans are puzzled as to why Jones hasn't signed with another team in the league at this point in free agency, though it must be noted that parity and overall talent are at an all-time high in the league right now. With that being said, Dallas needs to find a way to bring back Jones next season, as their center rotation may not be as secure as they think, given Lively II and Davis' injury histories.

Mavericks could easily finagle Jones back onto the roster

The Mavericks have technically filled out all of their 15-man roster spots, and Jones wouldn't be eligible to sign another two-way deal at this point of his career, meaning that Dallas would have to cut or trade multiple players to get bring him back, and they'd likely start this process by signing him to an Exhibit-10 deal so they can see how he fares in training camp and preseason before making any formal decisions.

Jones was trending on an elite upward trajectory toward the end of last season with the Mavericks, so Dallas should do anything in their power to bring him back on some sort of deal, as he'd be a far more reliable fourth big in Dallas' rotation compared to Powell and is only 24 years old still, meaning he's presumably a young enough piece to fit the Cooper Flagg timeline as well.

Jones would be a great long-term investment for the Mavericks, especially since Lively II is the only other big on the roster that hasn't reached his prime yet and has had shaky injury luck up to this point in his career, but the Mavericks will have to do some clear maneuvering to make this happen after Dante Exum agreed to a one-year deal to return to the team, as that puts Dallas at 16 standard contracts on their cap sheet for next season.

Mavericks fans have long known a salary dump trade is going to be coming to completely ratify the Exum signing, but this is a fluid situation with the Mavericks technically having until training camp ends to officially condense their roster back down to 15 players, but given how Jones competed toward the end of last year, don't be surprised if Jones lands one of those 15 spots in some capacity if he finds himself in Dallas' training camp already.