Report: Mavericks Sign Former Louisville G Carlik Jones to 10-Day Hardship Deal

The former Cardinals standout could finally be in line to make his NBA debut.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It looks like former Louisville men's basketball standout Carlik Jones could be finally getting the opportunity to make his NBA debut

According to Stadium's Shams Charania, the Dallas Mavericks have signed Jones to a 10-day hardship exception. In essence, this is a standard 10-day deal that allows teams to exceed the 15-man roster limit in times of "extreme hardship", such as the current resurgence of COVID-19 across the NBA.

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound guard signed an undrafted free agent deal with Dallas after going unselected in the 2021 NBA Draft, but was waived just before the start of the season. He was then signed by the Mavericks' G-League affiliate, the Texas Legends, and has averaged 20.2 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.7 assists over 10 games in the G-League.

During his lone season at Louisville, Jones was one of the best players in the Atlantic Coast Conference. He averaged 16.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game, while shooting 40.2% from the field and 32.1% on three-point attempts. He was only player in the ACC to rank among the top six in scoring, assists, assists/turnovers ratio and free throw percentage.

Jones was named a First Team All-ACC selection, becoming the third Cardinal to be receive the honor, joining Nwora in 2020 and Donovan Mitchell in 2017. He received the third-highest votes and finished tied for second in the conference player of the year vote.

Prior to joining Louisville, the Cincinnati native was regarded as the top graduate transfer during the 2020 offseason. He averaged 20.0 points, 5.5 assists and 5.1 rebounds per game in his redshirt junior year at Radford, winning Big South Player of the Year.

(Photo of Carlik Jones via Dallas Mavericks)

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