Dwight Powell gives up trade veto as he fights for a Mavericks roster spot, Marc Stein reports

Dwight Powell will let Dallas trade him later this season, giving up the veto power his contract carries, provided he makes the Dallas Mavericks‘ regular-season roster, Marc Stein reported in his newsletter late Sunday. Under that arrangement, the club could move him once December 25 passes.

The move is aimed squarely at the cut-down decision Dallas faces before opening night. Powell returned on a one-year contract in late September, and because he re-signed on a one-year deal, league rules would normally give him the power to veto any trade for the season. Giving that up makes him easier to keep, since the front office would no longer be locked into his contract for the full year.

A crowded roster

Powell’s spot has looked shaky since the Mavericks guaranteed the roughly $2.2 million salary of center Moussa Cisse, which Stein reported earlier this month. With 15 other players already on standard contracts, Dallas needs a trade or a waiver before the regular season if it wants to carry the 35-year-old.

Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported when Powell signed that the deal was worth $3.88 million with a partial guarantee, though not every outlet described the guarantee the same way, and the team did not release terms.

On the court, Powell has made his case. Stein wrote that he has been one of the steadier big men in the Mavericks’ exhibition games and has drawn praise from head coach Dusty May. In Sunday’s 132-115 win over the Houston Rockets in Macao, he scored three points with five rebounds and two assists in about 15 minutes, finishing plus-14 off the bench. The Game Center has the full box score.

A long run in Dallas

Powell is the longest-tenured Maverick and has spent more than a decade with the franchise. Last season he appeared in 63 games, averaging 3.3 points and 4.1 rebounds while shooting 64.4 percent from the field.

Neither the Mavericks nor Powell’s camp has commented on Stein’s report, and it is not known which player Dallas would release or trade to make room if it keeps him.

What comes next

The Mavericks return home to face the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday, October 14, at 8 p.m. ET (Game Center). Dallas opens the regular season at Houston on October 21.