Mavericks sign Marquese Chriss as a replacement player

In another attempt to bolster their decimated lineup, the Dallas Mavericks have signed former Portland Trailblazers forward Marquese Chriss. The Mavericks are signing Chriss with their hardship exception. The news was first reported by Chris Haynes of Yahoo! Sports, and confirmed by ESPN’s Tim MacMahon.

Chriss, 24, comes to the Mavericks as a bit of a journeyman in his short career. He’s played with the Phoenix Suns, Cleveland Cavaliers, Houston Rockets, and Golden State Warriors in his six seasons. He was most recently on the Trailblazers as a training camp invite.

The 6’9” forward has career averages of 8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists, and 0.8 blocks per game. He’s shot 45% overall and 28% from deep, so he won’t be the cure for the Mavericks’ shooting woes.

Mavericks fans will probably best remember Chriss for shoving Luka Doncic during a regular season game with the Warriors a couple years ago.

Chriss, drafted eight overall by the Sacramento Kings in 2016, made the NBA All-Rookie 2nd Team in 2017. He posted a career-high 9.3 points per game with the Warriors in 2019-20.

The Mavericks are bringing on Chriss to deal with the absences of Reggie Bullock, Josh Green, and Maxi Kleber, who are all in the Covid-19 health and safety protocols. The NBA is requiring teams with at least two players in health and safety protocols to sign replacement players.

Teams can sign one replacement player if two players are in protocols. That number increases by one for each additional player who tests positive for COVID-19. Teams can sign a maximum of four replacement players.