Free agent guard Dante Exum is signing a one-year contract to return to Dallas, ESPN reported on Wednesday, as the Mavericks are quickly adding depth to the position while nine-time All-Star Kyrie Irving recovers from a knee injury.
Dallas also is bringing in point guard D’Angelo Russell on a two-year contract worth $13 million, ESPN reported on Monday. Irving is recovering from an ACL tear he suffered in March, and Russell may be asked to start at point guard until Irving is healthy early in 2026.
Exum has dealt with injuries, too, needing wrist surgery in October 2024 and also breaking his hand last season. Exum, who will be 30 on July 13, also sustained foot and knee injuries in the 2023-24 season, and he missed the entire 2015-16 season with a knee injury.
He played in 20 games (13 starts) last season for Dallas and averaged 8.7 points, 1.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 18.6 minutes. In two seasons with the Mavericks, Exum has averaged 8.0 points, 2.4 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 19.5 minutes in 75 games (30 starts).
The native of Australia was selected fifth overall in the 2014 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz, where he played from 2014 to 2019. He spent parts of two seasons with the Cleveland Cavaliers (2019-21) before playing two years in Europe.
For his NBA career, Exum averages 6.2 points, 1.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 18.8 minutes in 320 games (102 starts).
–The Charlotte Hornets are signing veteran guard Spencer Dinwiddie to a one-year contract, ESPN reported.
Dinwiddie, 32, averaged 11 points, 2.6 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 27.0 minutes in 79 games (30 starts) for the Dallas Mavericks last season.
For his career, Dinwiddie is averaging 13.0 points, 3.0 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 27.7 minutes in 621 regular-season games (345 starts) for the Detroit Pistons (2014-16), Brooklyn Nets (2016-21, 2023-24), Washington Wizards (2021-22), Los Angeles Lakers (2024) and Mavericks (2022-23, 2024-25).
The Pistons selected Dinwiddie in the second round of the 2014 NBA Draft out of Colorado.
–The Philadelphia 76ers signed forward Trendon Watford and did not disclose contract terms.
Watford, 24, averaged career highs with 10.2 points, 2.6 assists and 20.8 minutes while pulling down 3.6 rebounds a game last season in 44 contests (six starts) for the Brooklyn Nets.
He is averaging 7.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 17.6 minutes in 217 games (30 starts) for the Portland Trail Blazers (2021-23) and Nets (2023-25). Portland signed Watford as an undrafted free agent out of LSU before the 2021-22 season.
According to the 76ers, Watford is one of five players in the league who has shot at least 52 percent from the field with at least 210 games played and a minimum of 650 field goals made (651 of 1,251, 52.0 percent).
–The Miami Heat signed undrafted free agent center Vladislav Goldin to two-way contract and did not disclose contract terms.
Goldin, a native of Russia, played one season at Michigan as a graduate student and earned All-Big Ten honors after averaging a team-high 16.6 points along with 7.0 rebounds, 1.1 assists and 27.5 minutes in starting all 37 games.
A finalist for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award as the nation’s top center, the 7-foot-1 Goldin was the Big Ten Tournament Most Outstanding Player as the Wolverines won the title and advanced to NCAA Tournament’s Sweet 16.
Goldin previously played at Texas Tech (2020-21) and Florida Atlantic (2021-24), helping the Owls to the Final Four in 2023.
–Field Level Media
