Derek Fisher Reportedly Being Released by Mavericks

The Dallas Mavericks will release veteran point guard Derek Fisher, and Chris Douglas-Roberts will take his place on the roster.

ESPN’s Marc Stein reported the news via Twitter:

"

ESPN link to Mavs' forthcoming release of Derek Fisher and D-League callup of Chris Douglas-Roberts to replace him: es.pn/UliR6Y

— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) December 22, 2012"

The 38-year-old injured his knee Tuesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers, and he did not play in the team’s two most recent games. He cited the injury as the reason for his release and made the following statement, via a separate report from Stein: 

"

In Tuesday's game against Philadelphia, I suffered an injury to my patellar tendon. The recovery time will be approximately two weeks. With this news and the difficulty I have been having being away from my family, I have asked the organization to waive me so I can return home.

"

The Mavericks signed Fisher as a free agent less than a month ago in order to add depth to an injury-plagued backcourt. In nine games for Dallas, Fisher averaged 8.6 points and 3.6 assists. 

The Mavericks are the third team Fisher played for in the past two seasons. After winning five championships in two different stints with the Los Angeles Lakers, he was traded from L.A. to the Houston Rockets in the middle of last season and eventually wound up with the Oklahoma City Thunder. 

Oklahoma City opted not to bring him back, and he was out of work until the Mavericks brought him in.

His replacement, Douglas-Roberts, was a standout at Memphis but has not seen action in the regular season since the 2010-11 season when he was with the Milwaukee Bucks. The Mavericks will hope he can provide athleticism and scoring on the wing, which Fisher could not offer.

Dallas is 12-15 this season without star power forward Dirk Nowitzki, whose return date is still uncertain, according to Mavs.com’s Earl K. Sneed. The team has had to explore creative options such as signing Fisher and switching to get by without its best player, and it can only hope that the roster tweaks will lead to wins while Nowitzki remains sidelined.