Recently Cut Guard is Proving Dallas Mavericks Wrong

The Dallas Mavericks recently made a handful of moves that went under the radar, including re-shuffling their deck of players on two-way contracts. The one that made headlines was waiving Tyus Jones in order to sign Ryan Nembhard to a standard contract, which opened up one spot.

They also ended up waiving Miles Kelly, giving them two free two-way contracts, which were used on John Poulakidas and Tyler Smith. Poulakidas impressed in a win against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Daun, scoring 10 points, while Tyler Smith has played in just two games, scoring three points.

Meanwhile, Kelly has latched on to the Texas Legends, the G-League affiliate of the Mavericks, and he has been absolutely electric. He had 37 points on Monday against the San Diego Clippers and 45 points off the bench in an overtime win over the Salt Lake City Stars last Monday, showing that he can be a dynamic scorer for somebody.

When asked about being waived by the Mavs, he told Abby Jones of DLLS Sports, "I mean, there’s no sugar coating it. Definitely a chip on my shoulder [to be waived]. I can't even lie. So, just wanted to come out here and play basketball and rely on my work.”

Kelly went undrafted in the 2025 NBA Draft but was scooped up by the Mavs quickly on a two-way deal. He spent the first three years of his college career at Georgia Tech before finishing out at Auburn, which was one of the best teams in the country a year ago. He averaged 11.3 PPG while shooting 37.8% from three for the Tigers, which was good enough to get him a shot in the NBA.

In 14 games with the Dallas Mavericks, Kelly averaged 3.1 PPG, scoring a season-high 9 points twice. The three-point shot didn't quite translate to the NBA, though, as he shot just 30.3% on 33 attempts. It's not a huge sample size, but the Mavs also saw him every day in practice.

Feb 5, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Miles Kelly (14) celebrates making a three point basket against the San Antonio Spurs during the second half at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Mavericks Still Have Quality Two-Way Players

Dallas still has a few players who could develop into rotation-level players, mainly Moussa Cisse. There has been a lot of debate over the last few weeks if the Mavs should've signed Cisse to the standard contract over Nembhard.

If the Mavs are planning to keep Cisse long-term, it's actually better to be done this way. They could sign him to a longer deal this summer, while Nembhard's standard deal was a two-year contract.

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