Dallas Mavericks sign Mike Miles Jr., Jordan Walker to contracts

After the dust settled following their most successful draft night in years, the Dallas Mavericks went to work in the undrafted free agent market. Almost immediately after the last pick was made, it was reported that Dallas had come to terms with TCU guard Mike Miles Jr. on a two- way contract.

Miles is a 20-year-old, 6’2 guard coming off a very productive junior season at TCU. He’s also a local kid, having attended Lancaster High School, just south of Dallas. A bucket getter, Miles averaged 17.9 points-per-game on .497/.362/.749 shooting splits. He is comfortable handling the ball and greatly improved his jumper in his final season in college. This is a great use of a two-way deal, a local product with high upside who should play a ton for the Legends and get his chance in the NBA.

Shortly after securing Miles, news broke that Dallas also signed guard Jordan “Jelly” Walker out of UAB to a one-year deal. At this time, it’s unclear what kind of contract Walker agreed to. It doesn’t look like it will be a two-way spot, but I would be surprised if this is guaranteed deal. It could be an Exhibit-10 contract, but it feels like that would have been reported initially. We’ll wait to see the details when they become available.

Walker is 23-years-old and transferred twice in college, starting his career at Seton Hall before moving to Tulane and then eventually UAB. He stands at a diminutive 5’11 and while he may be on the older side of the developmental curve, he’s another “pure hooper.” As a North Texas fan, I watched him torch the Mean Green defense and end their NCAA tournament dreams in the Conference USA tournament semifinal. He’s a strong ball handler and tough shot maker, averaging 20 points and nearly five assists per-game last year. He’s also incredibly cool. The man calls himself “Jelly,” how can he not be destined for greatness?

Miles and Walker project as similar kinds of players. Interestingly enough, they both seem to be cut from the same cloth as Jaden Hardy. That probably doesn’t mean anything in of itself. But if you wanted to speculate, you could wonder if adding two more undersized scoring guards and hoping one of them pans out means the front office recognizes that Hardy is one of their best trade chips. But that’s a reach at this juncture. For now, it will be fun to watch these guys play during Summer League on a Maverick roster that should turn heads.