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As the Dallas Mavericks front office continue their staring contest with Nerlens Noel and agent Happy Walters, they’ve made a few small moves to fill out their training camp roster. As reported Thursday evening by ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski:
Undrafted South Carolina guard PJ Dozier has agreed to a partially guaranteed deal with the Dallas Mavericks, league source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 27, 2017
The former South Carolina wing went undrafted last month, and spent the Las Vegas Summer League with the Los Angeles Lakers. He didn’t see much time on the floor, only appearing in two games before an injury sidelined him for the rest of the week.
Dozier was an effective shooting guard and leader for the South Carolina Gamecocks, particularly in the second of his two seasons there. Averaging 13.9 points, 4.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists in roughly 29 minutes per game, Dozier was a go-to player for a team that made a deep Final Four run in last season’s tournament.
Physically he has the build of an NBA wing, coming in at 6’6” and 200 pounds with a 6’11” wingspan. At 20 years old, he will continue to grow in to his frame, and his length is something every NBA team is looking for.
His biggest asset at this point is his tenacity and ability to guard multiple positions. He has active hands on the perimeter defensively, averaging nearly two steals per game. He has the size and length to overwhelm ball handlers, and is engaged off the ball to shut down other wings.
Offensively Dozier is definitely a work in progress, which explains why he went undrafted. His three-point shooting in particularly is weak (28.5-percent last season). But he is athletic and smooth in the open floor, patient in the half court, and can be a quality slasher.
Similarly to the Giann Clavell signing, the Mavericks are taking a look at a handful of wings in training camp to possibly fill the final roster spot, the final two-way contract, or maybe further down the road to play with the Texas Legends.
Dallas desperately needs more young wing depth to play alongside guys like Yogi Ferrell, Seth Curry and Dorian Finney-Smith. Whether any of these recent partially guaranteed players are the answer remains to be seen. But PJ Dozier will get the opportunity to prove to the Dallas Mavericks front office that he’s worth keeping around past training camp.
*All stats provided by draftexpress.com