Dwight Powell is firmly entrenching himself as a pillar of the Mavericks’ franchise.
The longest-tenured player on the roster, Powell will continue his run with the franchise with a new contract that has been widely reported to be for $12-million over three sesons.
Powell, a 6-10, 240-pound center, has been a focal point of the Mavericks’ rotation virtually from the start after joining the team in a midseason trade with Boston in 2015.
The product of Canada is coming off the final season of a three-year contract that paid him roughly $33-million over three years. He averaged 6.7 points and 4.1 rebounds in 76 games (64 starts). He averaged 19.4 minutes per game.
He has played 582 games for the Mavericks, tying him with Shawn Bradley for most games in franchise history.
Powell has become one of the most popular Mavericks in the locker room and in the community, where he has racked up a slew of honors for his commitment to the Dallas area and in his native area of Toronto.
Below is the official news release announcing Powell’s signing:
MAVERICKS RE-SIGN DWIGHT POWELL
The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have re-signed center Dwight Powell. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Powell (6-10, 240) holds career averages of 7.6 points (.599 FG%, .741 FT%), 4.5 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 19.0 minutes in 587 games (242 starts) with Boston and Dallas.
“Dwight has been one of the anchors of our team over the past nine seasons,” said Mavericks General Manager Nico Harrison. “His consistent effort, IQ and leadership ability – both on and off the court – will continue to be important to the success of our organization.”
Powell is the Mavericks’ all-time leader in career games shooting 100% from the field (102) and ranks third in franchise history in career field goal percentage (.599) (min. 500 FGA) behind Tyson Chandler (.660) and Brandan Wright (.644). He is also tied with Shawn Bradley for ninth on the Mavericks’ all-time games played list (582).
The 31-year-old has started 135 out of a possible 164 games over the past two seasons. Less than two years removed from suffering a torn right Achilles tendon, Powell played in a career-high 82 games in 2021-22, finishing as one of five players (Saddiq Bey, Kevon Looney, Mikal Bridges, Deni Avdija) to accomplish the feat. This past year, he shot a career-high 73.2% (197-269 FG) from the floor – the highest field goal percentage by a Maverick in a single season in franchise history (min. 200 FGA).
Powell has set a new career high in field goal percentage in eight of his first nine seasons (from .463 FG% as a rookie in 2014-15 to .732 FG% in 2022-23). He has led Dallas in dunks three times (2016-17, 2017-18, 2021-22) and finished no worse than second on the team in slams in each of the past eight seasons (2015-23).
The Toronto native was originally acquired by Dallas along with Rajon Rondo on Dec. 18, 2014, in a deal that sent Jae Crowder, Jameer Nelson, Wright, a 2015 first-round pick and a 2016 second-round pick to Boston.
Powell was drafted in the second round (45th overall pick) of the 2014 NBA Draft after a four-year career at Stanford. After earning Pac-10 All-Freshman Team honors for the Cardinal in 2011, he won an NIT championship with the program as a sophomore (2012) and was named the Pac-12 Most Improved Player as a junior (2013). Powell went on to earn First Team All-Pac 12 honors in each of his final two seasons at Stanford (2013, 2014).
Off the court, the longest-tenured Maverick has become a fixture in the Dallas community for his tireless work helping others. After losing his mother to breast cancer in 2012, Powell created the Dwight Powell Children and Family Support Fund in partnership with UT Southwestern Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center to help patients and their children cope with the hardships of cancer.
Powell was honored as the recipient of the NBA Cares 2019-20 End-of-Season Community Assist Award, becoming the first Maverick to win the award since it was first introduced in 2011-12. He was also named one of the 10 finalists for the season-long Community Assist Award in both 2018-19 and 2022-23.
Share and comment