DALLAS, TX -- The Mavericks are just making moves all over the place. In a good way. GM Donnie Nelson has now agreed to re-sign 35 year-old small forward Richard Jefferson.
Jefferson is in his last few seasons playing for an NBA team, and because of his age and decrease in production, he will be paid just the veteran minimum. This is good for the Mavericks' budget, as they just agreed on a contract with DeAndre Jordan worth $80 million over four seasons.
Richard Jefferson has had a long and illustrious NBA career as a 6'7" small forward. The Houston Rockets drafted him out of Arizona with the 13th pick in 2001, and since then, Jefferson has gone on to command a superstar role in New Jersey with the Nets, participate in the 2003 slam dunk contest, appear in two NBA Finals, and play for six wonderful organizations.
After starting his career with the Nets from 2001 to 2008, Jefferson has been somewhat of a journeyman, going from Milwaukee to San Antonio to Golden State to Utah and now to Dallas, where he signed a separate one-year deal last offseason. He holds career averages of 13.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Despite playing off the bench for the Warriors from 2011 to 2013, Jefferson managed to earn a starting role for the Jazz in '13-'14 and then a significant reserve role in Dallas for '14-'15 and now '15-'16.
With Chandler Parsons the obvious start at the 3, Jefferson will come off the bench to provide depth and needed reserve scoring for Dallas, as well as mentorship and leadership in the locker rooms. The Los Angeles native has a career field goal percentage of 46.5% and a three-point conversion rate of 38.0%.
The Mavericks went bold this offseason, and they may not be done. Certainly, adding DeAndre Jordan was a key move, and now they may be on their way to getting J.J. Barea back, a man who could replace Rajon Rondo at the point. Wesley Matthews is headed to Dallas too.
Note: The veteran-minimum salary for 2015-2016 is $1,499,187. Official terms of the deal have not come out, but that is what the full picture is looking like right now.