Mavericks Agree To Two-Year Contract With Mahinmi

Eddie Sefko reports that the Mavericks have agreed to a two-year deal with free agent Ian Mahinmi starting at the league minimum of $850,000. Mahinmi claimed that playing with Rodrigue Beaubois was a big factor for him.

Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle likes the player.

“He’s a young, athletic big guy that we like as a prospect,” Carlisle said. “He can help us a little now and we think he can get better.”

Fisher: Mahinmi 'Is In Dallas This Very Moment,' Will Sign With Mavs For Full Bi-Annual Exception

Mike Fisher of DallasBasketball.com reports that Ian Mahinmi, “likely” the newest Maverick, has arrived in Dallas and hopes to join its summer-league team in Las Vegas tomorrow:

Sources tell DallasBasketball.com that the Mavs are “finishing up the paperwork’’ on Mahinmi, who will receive a two-year contract at the BAE-level of $1.9 million annually.

Fisher warns us not to think of Mahinmi as the immediate backup to Brendan Haywood. “This is ‘upside’ stuff,” he says. As such, his signing “in no way precludes the Mavs’ many other pursuits and discussions about players, which include Miami’s Udonis Haslem and Minnesota’s Al Jefferson.”

Mahinmi has played only 32 games over three NBA seasons, missing the 2008/09 campaign entirely. According to basketball-reference.com, his career averages are 3.8 points, 1.8 rebounds, and 0.4 blocks in 5.9 minutes per game, and he posts a career 61.2% shooting mark from the field. Last month, Tom Ziller of NBA FanHouse explained that Mahinmi’s impressive track record in the NBA D-League means “grabbing the Frenchman could wind up looking like the summer’s most prescient move.”

Report: Mavericks May Sign Center

Eddie Sefko of DallasNews.com quotes a source that says that the Dallas Mavericks are close to signing backup center Ian Mahinmi of the San Antonio Spurs. 

Mahinmi (6-11) played 26 games for the Spurs last season and is an unrestricted free agent. He averaged 3.9 points and 2.0 rebounds in six minutes per game last season. Several NBA sources said the 25-year-old Frenchman is ready to make a significant improvement moving forward.

As the report indicates, Dallas will likely use one of their smaller exceptions - possibly their bi-annual - to sign Mahinmi. This means that they will still have their full midlevel exception available, as well as all of their roster assets. The largest of those is Erick Dampier's non-guaranteed $13 million contract for the upcoming season.  

Mark Cuban and Donnie Nelson have said in the past three days that backup center and backup power forward are currently their top priorities in free agency.