Davis Bertans is still here

Season in review

It was easy to forget Davis Bertan was on the Dallas Mavericks roster this year, but despite two separate long stretches of missed games, he managed to make an impact, leading the team in the following categories:

1. Reddest hair
2. Most Amish-Looking
3. Skinniest Legs
4. Dollars paid per point scored (I didn’t actually check this for every player but Davis was paid $77,849.90 for each of his 206 points this year and it’s hard to imagine anyone beating that)
5. Most Latvian

He played the fewest minutes per game of his career, averaging just under 11 minutes while playing the fewest number of regular season games in his career (just 45). He did manage to shoot the ball well, 39% from three, but over all it had to be a disappointing year for Bertans.

Best game

Looking back, it seems like whenever Bertans played, he would come into the game and immediately shoot 3 or 4 from deep in the first 15 seconds. Sometimes, two would go in and I would think “Bertans should play more.” Sometimes none would go in and I would think “Bertans should be in jail.” There was very little in-between. He’s either the best shooter alive or completely useless.

On December 19th he went 6 of 9 from three in just over 16 minutes in a loss to the Wolves, so let’s go with that game as his best. As you can tell, it made a huge impression on me.

Contract Status

The Mavericks are tied to Bertans for 2 more years with $17 million fully guaranteed next year and a $16 million player option in the 2024-25 season. In 2024-25, only $5 million is guaranteed unless he plays 75% of regular season games in 2023-24, in which case it all becomes guaranteed. Basically, his contract is identical to my contract with Mavs Moneyball. There’s a reason his contract is cited as among the worst in the league.

Looking Ahead

There’s just no way he’s on the roster next year. I don’t think his contract is trade-able unless it’s salary matching in a bigger deal, which I’m skeptical the Mavericks will be able to pull off. It seems most likely they stretch and waive him, meaning they’d pay him $4.4 million per year for the next 5 years.

However, remember that this team continues to find the stupidest way to do absolutely everything, so we should fully expect them to play him exactly 75% of the games this season so that his contract becomes fully guaranteed and they’re forced to keep him around on the bench for another year. They’ll then sign him to a long-term extension and allow him to kill one fan at every home game with the assistance of Mavs Man.

Grade D+

Again, he was paid $77,849.90 for every point he scored this year. That ain’t good, so neither is this grade. The Mavericks have too many players on the roster that just straight up don’t contribute much, and if they don’t find a way to fix that soon, it’s gonna be big trouble. Bertans is a perfect example, so hopefully they stumble into some rare competence and take their medicine by stretching or waiving him now and finding a better use for that roster spot.