Free agent small forward Naji Marshall has agreed to a three-year contract worth $27 million with the Dallas Mavericks , sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski on Sunday night.
Marshall just completed his fourth season with the New Orleans Pelicans , having worked his way up from a two-way contract to a full four-year deal in his first season. Now, Marshall gets stability with a multiyear deal from Dallas.
The addition of Marshall likely signals the end of Derrick Jones Jr .’s tenure in Dallas. Mavs general manager Nico Harrison had said after the season that re-signing the starting small forward was the team’s offseason “priority 1A and 1B,” but Dallas pivoted to use a significant part of its nontaxpayer midlevel exception on Marshall.
Sources said Jones’ decision to change representation Wednesday, leaving his longtime agent Aaron Turner for Rich Paul’s Klutch Sports, factored into the Mavs’ decision to prioritize Marshall. The National Basketball Players’ Association guidelines state that a player must wait 15 days to officially change his representation, meaning Paul is not able to negotiate on Jones’ behalf until several days after the NBA’s free agency moratorium ends.