Yogi Ferrell's Contract Option Reportedly Picked Up by Mavericks

Following an impressive rookie season, the Dallas Mavericks reportedly exercised their 2017-18 contract option on point guard Yogi Ferrell on Saturday.  

Tim MacMahon of ESPN reported the news, with Mike Fisher of DallasBasketball.com confirming the report and noting Ferrell will make $1.3 million.

The 24-year-old Ferrell emerged from out of nowhere to be a productive player for the Mavs in 2016-17 after they initially signed him to a 10-day contract in January.

The former Indiana University standout made an instant impact for Dallas and went on to enjoy one of the best rookie campaigns in the NBA despite appearing in just 46 games between the Mavericks and Brooklyn Nets.

As pointed out by Mavs play-by-play announcer Mark Followill, Ferrell had one of the most successful rookie seasons for the franchise over the past two decades:

In his 36 games for Dallas, Ferrell averaged 11.3 points, 4.3 assists and 2.8 rebounds per contest.

Ferrell was so solid that the Mavericks decided to waive veteran Deron Williams and give the rookie additional playing time.

Dallas signed Ferrell for the remainder of the season and gave itself the option to keep him for 2017-18 at a salary of just over $1.3 million, per Spotrac.

When asked about Ferrell's long-term potential at the end of the season, Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle tempered expectations to some degree, according to Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News: "Time will tell. I do like Yogi in our franchise, on our roster. He certainly has proven that he can be a rotation player in this league. We didn't have a good record. At this point in time, projecting exactly where he's going to be is not really fair. I love him as a competitor. He's grown each and every day, each and every game. I'm just really thrilled we have him here."

In contrast, Ferrell expressed his belief that he can be a starter moving forward: "I feel like, yeah, I am a starting point guard, and I'm going to play whatever role coach decides to put me in. I'm definitely just blessed to be here and glad to be here. I definitely want to be here for a very long time."

With the departure of Williams leaving an opportunity open at point guard, the Mavs had a decision to make on Ferrell.

Regardless of Ferrell's projected role moving forward, his minimum contract looked like fantastic value entering the offseason.

The Mavs front office agreed by picking up the option, which means he will have a season to prove that his rookie performance wasn't a fluke.

Even if Ferrell doesn't establish himself as a definitive starter, he provides great depth and an offensive spark for little investment.