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The Dallas Mavericks have signed restricted free agent Maxi Kleber to a long-term deal, and one that looks strikingly similar to the one they signed Seth Curry to earlier today.
The deal is reportedly for four years and, depending on which source you trust more, either $35 million or $33 million...
Source: The Mavs and Maxi Kleber have agreed on a four-year, $33 million deal.
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) July 1, 2019
Maxi Kleber and the Mavericks have agreed on a four-year, $35 million deal, league sources say
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 1, 2019
I’m going to go with Stein for now, just because he had this extra little bit of information:
The Mavericks' deal with Kleber includes a team option in Year 4, league sources say
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) July 1, 2019
The big German from Wurzburg (yup, that still feels weird) is just 27 years old. While he’s no Dirk Nowitzki, Maxi has shown himself to be a solid defender (1.9 blocks per 36 minutes last year) as well as an improving three-point shooter (35% last year, up from 31% his rookie season).
A “3 and D” big man is exactly what every team in the NBA is looking for these days, as offenses stretch out to the three-point line more often and unclog the lane, so Kleber’s lack of offense outside of spot-up shooting shouldn’t be a problem for the Mavericks in the coming years. And, with a team-friendly contract like this, Kleber can only be seen as an asset for Dallas.
One additional piece of good news here is that Maxi’s deal won’t keep the Mavericks from signing other free agents:
Mavs will use Maxi Kleber’s Early Bird rights, so this doesn’t impact their $22.4M cap room. If anything, it could actually increase their room slightly, to $22.6M, since they no longer need to keep his qualifying offer.https://t.co/03JYyypSCg
— Albert Nahmad (@AlbertNahmad) July 1, 2019