Meet Yogi Ferrell. He’s on a 10-day contract with the Dallas Mavericks and he outplayed Damian Lillard on Friday.
Meet Yogi Ferrell, who signed a 10-day contract with the Mavericks and outplayed Damian Lillard
YOGI IS THE TRUTH. And now, the Mavericks are making sure he stays with them past this year.
Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports
That’s right. Ferrell dropped a game-high 32 points on 11-of-17 shooting with nine threes. Nine threes. Damian Lillard only scored just 13 points on 4-of-20 shooting.
Here’s the last shot Ferrell hit.
The Dallas Mavericks signed Ferrell last Saturday in desperation. Another 10-day contract player, Pierre Jackson, went down with a hamstring injury, and the Mavericks already were depleted at guard. Deron Williams has missed four straight games with a toe injury, J.J. Barea is continuing to miss time with a calf injury — the third time he’s hurt it this season — and on Friday, Devin Harris missed the game with illness, too.
Dallas had to have another guard. They opted for Ferrell, who had spent time with the Brooklyn Nets earlier this season but ultimately was cut. He spent his college years at Indiana, where he was a solid guard with a great three-point shot. It’s still a bit surprising he went undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft — if you had to speculate, you’d probably look at his height and average athleticism.
But in Dallas, it looks like the Mavericks have found something with Ferrell. And they’ve moved quickly to lock him up with a two-year contract, according to Yahoo! Sports’ Shams Charania.
He played his first game on Saturday, scoring nine points and dishing seven assists in the Mavericks first win in San Antonio since 2011. The next day, Ferrell helped Dallas take care of Cleveland at home — also their first win against LeBron James since 2011. His outing against Philadelphia on Wednesday wasn’t great, shooting 3-of-13, but what Ferrell did against Portland on national television more than makes up for it.
It’s safe to say Mavericks fans love him.
HE DID THE MJ SHRUG.
Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has said the team plans to keep him for the rest of the season and they’ve reportedly followed through on that promise. Though he’s still on a 10-day contract, they better. Dallas still hasn’t lost a game since Ferrell joined the team. At this rate, it doesn’t look like that will ever change.
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