Center Samuel Dalembert has agreed to a one-year deal for the veteran's minimum to return to the Dallas Mavericks, according to league sources.
Dalembert, 34, will split time at center with Zaza Pachulia, who the Mavs acquired from the Milwaukee Bucks for a future second-round pick after DeAndre Jordan reneged on his verbal commitment to to sign with Dallas and returned to the Los Angeles Clippers.
Sources told ESPN.com's Marc Stein that the Mavericks are also closing in on a three-year deal with Tunisian center Salah Mejri (formerly of Real Madrid in Spain) and remain interested in veteran free agent JaVale McGee if McGee can shake his recent health woes.
The Mavs, sources say, are planning to bring more than 15 guaranteed contracts to training camp and thus eating some guaranteed money if necessary in hopes of assembling the best platoon of centers it can to complement star forward Dirk Nowitzki. After trading earlier this month for Pachulia, ‎Dallas has struck deals with Dalembert and summer league sensation Maurice NDour and hope to soon complete its deal with Mejri.
Dalembert was out of the league after being waived in January by the New York Knicks, his sixth team in six seasons. He averaged 4.0 points and 5.3 rebounds per game in his brief stint with the Knicks after being part of the package the Mavs sent to New York in the Tyson Chandler trade.
Dalembert was Dallas' primary starting center in 2013-14, averaging 6.6 points, 6.8 rebounds and 1.2 blocks in 20.2 minutes per game for a 49-win team that pushed the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs to seven games in the first round of the playoffs.
YahooSports.com first reported Dalembert's deal with the Mavs.
