Report: Mavericks to release Fisher and call up Douglas-Roberts
Derek Fisher's time in Dallas is reportedly up. (Glenn James/Getty Images)
By Ben Golliver
Derek Fisher is reportedly out in Dallas less than one month after he signed with the Mavericks.
The 38-year-old point guard suffered a knee injury during a Tuesday night win over the Sixers. ESPNDallas.com reports that Fisher cited that injury and "difficulty being away from his family" as reasons for the release.
The team and Fisher are parting company by mutual consent, team sources told ESPN.
In a statement he issued Saturday night to confirm the move, Fisher said: "In Tuesday's game against Philadelphia, I suffered an injury to my patellar tendon. The recovery time will be approximately two weeks. With this news and the difficulty I have been having being away from my family, I have asked the organization to waive me so I can return home.
ESPNDallas.com further reported that the Mavericks will fill Fisher's roster spot by adding Chris Douglas-Roberts, who played overseas during the 2011-12 season and has not appeared in an NBA game since he spent the 2010-11 season with the Bucks. Originally taken in the second-round of the 2008 NBA Draft, Douglas-Roberts was in camp with the Lakers earlier this season before settling in the D-League, where he has been playing for the Texas Legends. Douglas-Roberts holds career averages of 7.7 points and 2.2 rebounds per game in three seasons with the Nets and Bucks.
Fisher averaged 8.6 points, 3.6 assists and 1.7 rebounds in nine appearances for the Mavericks, who went 5-4 with him in the lineup. Coach Rick Carlisle started Fisher in place of Darren Collison, who has been struggling this season, and Fisher was averaging 25.4 minutes per game despite not catching on with an NBA team until late-November.
The Point Forward didn't expect much when Carlisle told reporters that the Mavericks would sign Fisher in November.
Honestly, he doesn’t have much left in the tank. He’s a low-risk, low-reward player whose best days are years behind him. His most valuable skill at this point is his ability to draw charges, which says a lot. Even his career 37.3 percent three-point shooting stroke deserted him last year, as it fell to 32.1 percent. You won’t find a better locker room guy. Just don’t ask for anything more.
His path from being a 5-time champion with the Lakers to an unrestricted free agent who wasn’t signed during the 2012 offseason was an interesting one. The Lakers traded him to the Rockets in advance of the 2012 trade deadline. The Rockets then bought Fisher out of the remainder of his contract, which ran through the 2012-13 season. Fisher later signed with the Thunder and played key postseason minutes for the Western Conference champions, until they were defeated by the Heat in the Finals. Oklahoma City got Eric Maynor back from a knee injury this summer, though, making Fisher redundant.
In Dallas, Fisher joined a backcourt that included Collison and O.J. Mayo. Reserve guards Dominique Jones, Jared Cunningham, Dahntay Jones, Vince Carter and Rodrigue Beaubois are also on the roster. The Mavericks released guard Delonte West in October after he was suspended on two occasions.
