NBA Free Agency 2023: Dallas Mavericks agree to terms with Seth Curry, per reports

According to a report from ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Dallas Mavericks have agreed to terms with free-agent guard Seth Curry on a two-year contract. Per Tim MacMahon, Curry is being signed via Dallas’s bi-annual exception, meaning that he will be paid around $4 million each year of the deal.

Curry is a familiar face for Maverick fans, as he signed with the team in 2016 and played two seasons for Dallas. He then left for a short stint with the Portland Trail Blazers and returned to the Mavericks for the 2019-2020 campaign.

A 6’1” guard, Curry is coming off a season in Brooklyn that saw him play 61 games, averaging 9.2 points on .463/.405/.927 shooting splits. His value comes almost entirely from his elite shooting ability, as he’s knocked down an impressive 43.5% of his three pointers for his career. In his most recent stint with the Mavericks, Curry averaged 12.4 points per game and shot 45.2% from three.

This move is somewhat puzzling for Dallas, as all previous reporting indicated that the Mavericks were focused on using their limited offseason assets for badly needed frontcourt help. After securing Kyrie Irving to a three-year, $126 million deal, Dallas was projected to have the $12.4 million mid-level exception, the $3.9 million bi-annual exception, and minimum contacts at their disposal to make further upgrades to the roster. It seems a bit odd that Dallas used one of their exceptions on a player who does not fill a position of need.

Of course, this could mean that a trade is in the works. Tim Hardaway Jr.’s name was floated in a potential Deandre Ayton deal earlier this offseason, and the Mavericks could be planning to deal him for frontcourt help. But at the moment, this is pure speculation. Dallas may have just wanted to grab another shooter to play off Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. We will update the story here when more information becomes available.