Mavericks Make Surprising Move on Olivier-Maxence Prosper, Hinting at Game-Changing Dante Exum Deal

Kyrie Irving will miss most, if not all, of the coming season due to a torn ACL, which has Dallas wanting to bring in some point guard depth behind D’Angelo Russell. Specifically, the Mavericks plan to re-sign Dante Exum, who has been with the team for a couple of seasons but is now a free agent.

To make that happen, the Mavericks are waiving and stretching 2023 first-round pick Olivier-Maxence Prosper, a story broken by ESPN’s Shams Charania.Once Prosper clears waivers, expect the Mavericks to announce the deal with Exum.Losing Kyrie Irving for most, if not the entirety, of the upcoming season due to that dreaded torn ACL has thrown a curveball at Dallas, pushing them to scramble for some solid point guard reinforcements behind D’Angelo Russell. The plan? Bringing back Dante Exum, a familiar face who’s had a stint with the Mavericks before but now finds himself roaming free agency. To pull off this savvy move, Dallas is ready to part ways with 2023 first-round draft pick Olivier-Maxence Prosper by waiving and stretching his contract—a clever financial dance to free up the needed cap space. It wasn’t exactly a shocker for those watching the team’s salary cap hustle; being tight against the second apron meant the Mavs had to get creative, especially since a straight-up trade for Prosper wasn’t panning out without sweeteners. Once the waivers clear, expect that Exum handshake to be official, while Prosper steps into the free-agent market, having shown glimpses that might catch other teams’ eyes. LEARN MOREProsper becomes a free agent and has shown enough flashes in Dallas to garner interest from other NBA teams.This was not a surprise. Dallas is hard-capped at the second apron and was within .5 million of that line, it needed to clear cap space to sign Exum, even to a veteran minimum contract. The team had tried to trade Prosper, but other teams wanted a second-round pick attached to take on his million contract. Dallas could create enough space to sign Exum by waiving and stretching Prosper, spreading his million over three seasons on the books.