The Dallas Mavericks will enter the 2025-26 season as one of the more exciting teams in the league. After picking No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg in this year’s draft and signing well-known players to contracts, it can make for a successful season.
Dallas decided to clear roster space and re-sign guard Dante Exum to a new deal after he became a reliable role player in the Mavericks’ rotation.
With this being said, Exum’s recall will make it difficult for some new faces to find playing time this upcoming season.
Dante Exum’s re-signing can make it difficult for Ryan Nembhard
After going undrafted in June’s draft, the Mavericks went on to pick up Ryan Nembhard out of Gonzaga and signed him to a two-way deal. His time with Dallas’ summer league team was impressive, leading to the team shutting him down after three games played this summer.
It will be interesting to see how head coach Jason Kidd implements Nembhard into the rotation, but after the Mavs re-signed Dante Exum, the undrafted rookie naturally sank further down in the depth chart.
Exum and Nembhard will join a dense rotation that already includes D’Angelo Russell and Brandon Williams. With Kyrie Irving set to return sometime during the season, Nembhard will likely end up at the bottom of the pole when it comes to minutes.
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“Even though Nembhard looks like he could develop into an elite game-changer one day, minutes are going to be tough to come by at first, and Exum just complicated the former Bulldog’s fast-track to minutes,” wrote FanSided’s Noah Weber.
Although Ryan Nembhard’s future looks promising, it will take a lot of factors going his way to secure a pivotal role with the Dallas Mavericks this season.
