Yogi Ferrell, Mavericks Reportedly Agree to 2-Year, $5.3 Million Contract
July 19, 2018
The Dallas Mavericks are going to keep Yogi Ferrell after agreeing to a new contract with the third-year shooting guard.
Per Yahoo Sports' Shams Charania, Ferrell's deal with the Mavs will pay him $5.3 million over two years and promises him a role as the backup shooting guard at the start of next season.
Retaining Ferrell comes after the Mavs made their big free-agent splash by agreeing to a one-year deal with center DeAndre Jordan.
Ferrell has had a unique career trajectory after going undrafted out of Indiana in 2016. He joined the Brooklyn Nets and regularly split his time with the NBA squad and the Long Island Nets of the G League.
After playing just 10 games for the Nets, Ferrell was waived. The 25-year-old signed a 10-day contract with the Mavs on January 28, 2017, and quickly established himself as a key piece of the offense, averaging 11.3 points and 4.3 assists in 36 games to finish the season.
In the fourth game of Ferrell's initial deal, he dropped 32 points on 11-of-17 shooting in a 108-104 win over the Portland Trail Blazers. That performance made him the third undrafted rookie in NBA history to score at least 30 points within the first 15 games of his career.
Mavs owner Mark Cuban highlighted one area in which he wanted to see Ferrell improve prior to the start of last season, via NBA.com's Ian Thomsen:
“He's still got to learn how to play point guard. At Indiana he was the scorer—he would dominate the ball, he had to do everything. Now he's going through that adjustment of when to keep it, when to pass, how to create, how to find guys. But you're seeing here he's gotten a lot better. He's looking to score a lot less and making everybody else better.”
Ferrell continued to be a valuable role player for the Mavericks during the 2017-18 season. He appeared in all 82 games, averaging 10.2 points and 2.5 assists. Distributing the basketball still wasn't his strong suit, but with first-round pick Luka Doncic on the roster, he doesn't have to worry about that as much.
Mavs head coach Rick Carlisle will have to decide Ferrell's ultimate role with him back in the fold, but he's developed into an efficient scorer off the bench. This has the potential to be an under-the-radar signing for a Dallas team still rebuilding its roster after winning a combined 57 games over the past two seasons.