The Dallas Mavericks are using the waive and stretch provision on 2023 first-round pick Olivier Maxence-Prosper, per ESPN’s Shams Charania, making the 22-year-old forward a free agent for next season. ‘O-Max’ isn’t a massive name you’d recognize, but being a former first-round pick garners enough attention to make you wonder why the Mavericks dumped him just two years after acquiring him in the 2023 draft.
Let’s break down why the Mavericks made this move and what it means for them going forward.
Why did the Mavericks waive Maxence-Prosper?
This primarily concerns Kyrie Irving’s status for next season. With the All-Star guard sidelined for at least half of next season due to an ACL tear, the Mavericks will need all the help they can get in the backcourt until he returns. They signed D’Angelo Russell in the summer as their big free agency pickup, who will immediately slot in as the starting point guard in Irving’s absence.
But when looking at the bench for Dallas, it doesn’t have a reliable backup guard to eat up those second-unit minutes. There’s Jaden Hardy, who has struggled to find consistent minutes in Jason Kidd’s lineup for years now, and is naturally more of a shooting guard than someone who can orchestrate the offense. Beyond that, there’s the undersized Brandon Williams, who had a few breakout performances last season, most notably a 17-point, five-assist outing in the Mavericks’ play-in win against the Kings. Williams showed promise in bursts, but was a two-way player in each of the last two seasons, so relying on him significantly out of the gate may be a big gamble for a Mavericks team with high expectations.
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That’s where Dante Exum comes in. The 2014 lottery pick has spent the last two seasons with the Mavericks and has become an important piece off the bench for Dallas in the reserve point guard spot. He’s a more established player, provides size and defense in a backcourt that severely needs it, and can set up the offense while also getting you a few baskets a night. Waiving O-Max opens up a roster spot for Dallas to re-sign Exum, something they’ve long been rumored to do since free agency opened earlier this summer. The Mavs were hoping to find a trade to move O-Max or Hardy first, but with the deadline to use the waive and stretch provision being 5 p.m. ET on Aug. 29, Dallas had no other option.
Choosing to waive Maxence-Prosper over Hardy became a decision born from Dallas’ current circumstance. If the Mavericks had more quality backcourt depth, they probably would have kept O-Max and waived Hardy, just for the simple fact that Maxence-Prosper’s size makes him the more versatile player, specifically on defense. At 6-foot-8, he can slide between both forward positions, and while his offensive game is limited, if he had been given more opportunities, he surely would have developed that part of his game. Hardy is a liability defensively, but can score in bunches when he gets hot.
There’s also the fact that the Mavericks now suddenly have an influx of forwards with the No. 1 overall pick in this year’s draft, Cooper Flagg, being added to a rotation that already features P.J. Washington, Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson, Naji Marshall and Caleb Martin. O-Max is the odd man out, so this decision makes sense.
What does this mean financially for Dallas?
Waiving and stretching the remaining $3 million owed to O-Max means Dallas will be paying him about $1 million over the next three years. That puts Dallas roughly $3.6 million under the second tax apron, when they were previously $1.6 million below it before waiving him. That now gives the Mavericks enough wiggle room to sign Exum without going above the second apron and triggering the penalties that come along with that.
It may not seem like much, but Exum was making $3 million last season with the Mavericks, so freeing up that extra money will ensure Dallas isn’t forcing him to take a pay cut to remain with the team. Had the Mavericks waived Hardy instead, it would’ve provided more cap relief upfront, as he’s guaranteed $12 million over the next two years with a team option on the third year. But Dallas would’ve been paying that over five years instead of three, and roughly $1.5 million more than what they’ll be paying Maxence-Prosper.
It’s not the most ideal situation to shortchange your future financially, especially when nearly every team in the league is trying to find even the smallest amount of cap relief to avoid the second tax apron. This may be an issue for Dallas a year or two from now, but it’s a move they had to make in order to ensure they have reliable backcourt depth for next season.