Dallas Mavericks Rumors: Quincy Acy Returns To Organization, Dirk Nowitzki’s Health, And Andrew Bogut Is Trade Candidate

Quincy Acy is back with the Dallas Mavericks organization.

Acy has been kind of a journeyman since coming into the league in 2012, bouncing from organization to organization. The six-foot-seven combo forward was selected in the second round of the 2012 draft by the Toronto Raptors, where he spent a little more than a year. He also has played for the Sacramento Kings (twice) and the New York Knicks before signing a one-year, non-guaranteed contract this summer with the Mavericks.

Acy made the team out of training camp. The 26-year-old saw sparse action with the Mavericks, averaging 2.2 points along with 1.3 rebounds over eight minutes of action in six games. He shot just 29.4 percent from the floor and 12.5 percent from beyond the arc.

Dallas, dealing with several injuries to its guards, released Acy on November 18 in order to sign free agent guard Jonathan Gibson. At the time, Mavs owner Mark Cuban expressed his disappointment to the Star-Telegram about waiving Acy.

“Horrible, horrible, horrible. We tried to get a medical exception — we didn’t have enough guys injured.”

In 225 career NBA games, Acy has averaged 4.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in 15.1 minutes.

A couple of days ago, Marc Stein of ESPN reported that Acy entered into D-League player pool and that the Los Angeles D-Fenders had first dibs on nabbing him, although he added that the Texas Legends, the Mavericks’ affiliate, was looking to make a trade. That is indeed what happened yesterday. The D-Fenders claimed Acy and then sent him, along with a 2017 third-round draft pick, to the Legends in exchange for the returning player rights to Jamil Wilson and a first-round draft pick in 2017, per the D-League.

Wilson is currently playing for the Italian club Auxilium Pallacanestro Torino. The six-foot-seven forward averaged 15 points and six rebounds in 48 games for the Legends last season.

Acy is expected to suit up for the Legends (2-3) when they meet the Greensboro Swarm in Frisco, Texas, on December 1. Acy joins Mavs’ training camp invitees Kyle Collinsworth, C.J. Williams, Keith Hornsby, Jameel Warney, and Jaleel Cousins with the Legends. Warney, Williams, Collinsworth, and Cousins are Mavs’ affiliate players. Dallas 2015 second round selection Satnam Singh is also with the Legends as are former NBA players Andre Dawkins and Manny Harris.

Harris leads seven Legends’ players in double-figures with 28.5 points a game. Warney (17.8 points, 8.5 rebounds), Williams (14.3), Patrick Miller (13.8), Courtney Fells (12.5), and Dawkins (11.5) are also averaging double figures. 2016 second-draft pick A.J. Hammons, on assignment from the Mavs, has put up 12.0 points along with 5.0 caroms over 15.5 minutes of action in two games.

In other Mavs news, Eddie Sefko of the Dallas Morning News believes that Dirk Nowitzki will be back for another season with the Mavs next year, even though he has struggled with an Achilles injury. In a question-and-answer column, Sefko says the 38-year-old still has a strong desire to play and likely won’t walk away from the $25 million team option next season.

Nowitzki has appeared in just five games this year. He missed eight games between November 6-21 before returning for two games — Los Angeles Clippers and Cleveland Cavaliers. Nowitzki then missed Sunday’s game.

Dallas coach Rick Carlisle told ESPN that sitting Nowitzki against the Pelicans was just precautionary and that he hopes that the seven-foot power forward will be fully healthy at some point in December.

“This is part of the recovery. It’s part of getting him better. We’re going to take it incrementally. It’s not like there’s any big setback. It’s just not the right thing to play him tonight.”

Nowitzki is averaging 12.2 points and 6.4 rebounds while shooting 35.8 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from beyond the arc. He has three double-figure scoring games.

In the same piece, Sefko said that center Andrew Bogut may not be with the team the whole season. Bogut, who was traded by Golden State this offseason, is in the final season of his contract. The seven-foot center has started all 13 games he has appeared in this year, averaging 3.8 points and 10.5 rebounds in 25.5 minutes of action while shooting 42.5 percent from the floor. He has seven double-digit rebound performances.

In a separate piece, Sefko said that rookies Gibson and Hammons are the most likely players to be released if Dallas needs to open a roster spot. Gibson has shown that he can score, averaging 10.5 points as he is shooting 42.9 percent from the floor and 34.8 percent from beyond the arc. He has three double-digit scoring efforts, scoring a season-high 26 points against the Orlando Magic on November 19 as he made eight of 16 shots, including five of six on three-point attempts. Gibson only played three minutes against New Orleans on Sunday.

Hammons has played very sparingly, averaging 1.3 points over 3.4 minutes in seven contests. He will likely spend a lot of time traveling between the Mavs and Legends this year.

Gibson is making $469,943 this year, although his salary doesn’t guarantee until January 10, 2017. Hammons is making $650,000 this year, and his salary is guaranteed for the next three years.

Carlisle seems to like undrafted rookie forward Dorian Finney-Smith, who has made eight starts and is averaging 4.0 points a game. Twenty-three-year-old rookie Nicolas Brussino is only making $543,471 this year, but he has potential. The other possible option is seven-foot-two center Salah Mejri.

Mejri has become frustrated over his lack of playing time, however, he has reiterated that winning is the number one priority, according to FanSided.

“It’s frustrating and not easy to deal with it, but I have no other solution,” Mejri said. “It’s not about me playing or not, it’s about the team winning.”

Mejri earned a roster spot over veteran Samuel Dalembert in training camp last year due to his athleticism and defensive ability. The 30-year-old has appeared in 12 games thus far, averaging 3.0 points and 3.5 rebounds in 10.9 minutes per game. He tallied eight points and grabbed 11 rebounds against the Los Angeles Clippers on November 21 in his most extensive action of the season.

Mejri started six of the 34 games he appeared in last season, producing 3.7 points and 3.6 rebounds along with 1.1 blocks in 11.7 minutes. He is making $874,634 this year and has two more seasons on his contract though next year’s $1.01 million salary is non-guaranteed.

[Featured Image by Kita Wright/AP Images]