Free agent small forward Naji Marshall has agreed to a three-year contract worth $27 million with the Dallas Mavericks, sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Sunday night.
Marshall just completed his fourth season with the New Orleans Pelicans, having worked his way up from a two-way contract to a full four-year deal in his first season. Now, Marshall gets stability with a multiyear deal from Dallas.
The addition of Marshall likely signals the end of Derrick Jones Jr.’s tenure in Dallas. Mavs general manager Nico Harrison had said after the season that re-signing the starting small forward was the team’s offseason “priority 1A and 1B,” but Dallas pivoted to use a significant part of its nontaxpayer midlevel exception on Marshall.
Sources said Jones’ decision to change representation Wednesday, leaving his longtime agent Aaron Turner for Rich Paul’s Klutch Sports, factored into the Mavs’ decision to prioritize Marshall. The National Basketball Players Association guidelines state that a player must wait 15 days to officially change his representation, meaning Paul is not able to negotiate on Jones’ behalf until several days after the NBA’s free agency moratorium ends.
The Mavs are pursuing sign-and-trade options with the Golden State Warriors in an attempt to add Klay Thompson, sources said. Dallas has a $16.1 million trade exception from the deal the Mavs made to send Tim Hardaway Jr. and three second-round picks to the Detroit Pistons for Quentin Grimes.
However, the Mavs must stay under the salary cap’s first apron of $178.1 million, meaning that Dallas would have to shed approximately $13 million from its payroll to give Thompson a deal with a starting salary of $16.1 million, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks.
Marshall, a 6-foot-8 wing who can handle the ball and play shooting guard or either forward spot, worked his way into the Pelicans’ rotation over the past three seasons.
In 66 games last season, Marshall averaged 7.1 points and 3.6 rebounds while shooting a career high from the field (46.3%) and from 3-point range (38.7%). Marshall shot just 29% on 3-pointers in his first three seasons.
Marshall enjoyed his best season in New Orleans in 2022-23 when he averaged a career-best 9.1 points per game. In 21 games as a starter that season, Marshall averaged 14.8 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.
Defensively, Marshall will provide help for Luka Doncic and company. The Pelicans had a 106.8 defensive rating with Marshall on the floor and a 112.7 defensive rating when he was off.