Free-agent center Samuel Dalembert has signed a two-year, $7.5 million deal with the Dallas Mavericks, Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski reported Thursday afternoon. The deal includes a partial guarantee for the 2014-15 season, Wojnarowski tweeted.
NBA free agency: Samuel Dalembert to get 2-year, $7.5 million deal with Mavericks, per report
After swinging and missing on its first two center pursuits, Dallas landed one Thursday.
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The Mavericks signed the 11-year veteran after publicly courting and failing to sign free-agent big men Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum. Dalembert played on the Milwaukee Bucks last season after being traded in the offseason from the Houston Rockets, but his playing time in Milwaukee dwindled to 16.3 minutes per game — his lowest since playing 5.2 minutes per game as a rookie in 2000-01 — with the emergence of Bucks center Larry Sanders.
Dalembert finished last season with 6.7 points and 5.9 rebounds per game.
If the Mavericks don’t pursue any other centers, Dalembert appears to be the Mavericks’ starter in 2013-14. Elton Brand signed a free-agent deal with the Atlanta Hawks, and 2012 second-round pick Bernard James, who averaged 9.9 minutes per game last season, left the Mavericks’ summer league team on Tuesday under mysterious circumstances into which Mark Cuban would not delve, Dwain Price of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reported Thursday.
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