The Mavericks cut off the forward star with an extended clause, but they are still facing some trouble?

According to the authoritative ESPN reporter Shams Charania, the Dallas Mavericks cut off forward star Olivier Maxence-Prosper with extended terms. According to HoopsHype reporter Michael Scotto, he is expected to attract the attention of multiple NBA teams after Prospe has gone through the clarification period and becomes a free agent. The Mavericks have been trying to send Prospe away before, but they are not willing to take one of the only two second round picks left in their hands to clear Prospe's contract. The final deal was also unsuccessful. In order to reduce their salary, they could only cut Prospe through extended terms. His salary worth $3.1 million next season will occupy the Mavericks' salary cap of about $1 million each year in the next three years.

Prospe was born in July 2002. He is 23 years old, 203cm tall and weighs 97kg. He is a forward player from Marquette University selected by the Mavericks in the 2023 NBA Draft in the 24th pick in the first round. In the NBA regular season last season, Prospe played 52 games in 82 games, averaging 11.2 minutes per game, with averaging 3.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.5 steals and 0.1 blocks, and 0.3 turnovers and 0.5 fouls. His shooting percentage was 40.2%, a three-point shooting percentage of 23.5%, and a free throw shooting percentage of 64.5%. Prospe actually got a lot of playing time last season, but his progress is indeed limited, and he has indeed not shown his due potential. In this case, if the Mavericks have to choose a player and are cut, Prospe is indeed an indisputable candidate.

According to previous news, the Mavericks have been trying to send Prospe away, in order to free up space for salary for the signing of former backcourt player Dante Exum. Now that Prospe has been cut with an extended clause, the team has indeed freed up the salary space to sign Exam. However, it is worth noting that even after the layoff of Prospe, the Mavericks' current lineup still includes 15 players holding standard contracts. In other words, if they want to sign Exam, they also need to find a way to cut another player before the regular season starts.

From the perspective of salary space, the Mavericks can of course choose to cut off Brandon Williams, whose contract is only partially guaranteed. The price required to operate this way is actually very small. But Williams' performance last season is obvious to all. He is fully capable of becoming an important rotation player on the team. It is unreasonable to give up such a player for nothing. Of course, the Mavericks can also consider sending Jaden Hardy away. The question is that even Prospe can't send him away. How can the Mavericks find a way to send Hardy away, who has a larger contract amount? There shouldn't be many people who believe that Hardy has a market trend, right?