Veteran center Dwight Powell agrees to three-year deal to return to Dallas Mavericks

Dwight Powell will remain the Mavericks’ longest-tenured player after NBA free agency settles.

Powell, who has played the last eight-plus seasons in Dallas, has verbally agreed to a three-year, $12-million contract to remain with the franchise he joined in 2014 as a rookie addition in the trade for the Boston Celtics’ Rajon Rondo, a person familiar with the negotiations confirmed Saturday.

Powell will take a significant pay cut after earning $11.1 million each of the last three seasons. But his return will provide the Mavericks with veteran continuity and mentorship as the team looks to remake its frontcourt rotation.

NBA rules prohibit teams and players from officially signing and announcing new contracts until the free agency moratorium lifts July 6.

Powell has drawn Mavericks fans’ ire for years because of his limited defense and rebounding and the front office’s recent failed attempts to replace him as the starting center.

But the 31-year-old Powell is one of two teammates who have played in Dallas through the entirety of Luka Doncic’s five-season tenure. His steady leadership, community service and durability before and after returning from January 2020 Achilles surgery have garnered him respect in the locker room.

Last season, Powell averaged 6.7 points and 4.1 rebounds in 19.2 minutes a game while shooting a career-best 72.3% from the floor.

That shooting efficiency ranked fourth among all NBA players who appeared in at least four games.

He has also developed elite pick-and-roll synergy with Doncic, and Powell’s points per possession (1.47) and frequency (28.9%) in the pick-and-roll last season ranked him among the league’s most productive and efficient roll men.

The Mavericks’ efforts to replace Powell as the starting center after their 2022 run to the Western Conference finals ended in a failed taxpayer mid-level exception signing (JaVale McGee) and a one-year trade rental (Christian Wood).

Though Powell’s new contract doesn’t signal longevity as a starter, he could play a key role in helping acclimate first-round rookie center Dereck Lively II (the No. 12 overall pick), whom the Mavericks envision owning that spot in the future.

During a press conference Monday introducing Lively and fellow first-round rookie Olivier-Maxence Prosper, coach Jason Kidd highlighted the need for them to learn from veteran teammates about how Doncic and returning free agent Kyrie Irving play and what they see on the floor.

“[To] be able to talk to these other guys about our star players and what they like and what they don’t like,” Kidd said, “the foundation is being built.”

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