Kessler Edwards Rumors | Hoops Rumors

Stein’s Latest: Mavericks, Luka, Edwards, Knicks, Kessler, Budenholzer

March 3rd, 2025 at 12:40pm CST by Luke Adams

Sam Amick of The Athletic reported last week that the Mavericks reached out to the Timberwolves to inquire about a possible Luka Doncic/Anthony Edwards swap earlier this season before pivoting to the Lakers and Anthony Davis. Veteran Milwaukee-area reporter Gery Woelfel has reported that the Mavs made a similar inquiry with the Bucks about Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Addressing those rumors, NBA insider Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link) says he has consistently heard that the Mavericks only discussed Doncic by name with one team: the Lakers.

While Dallas did talk to Minnesota and Milwaukee, according to Stein, those discussions have been described to him as “very brief in nature and intentionally broad and vague,” with no conversations about Doncic specifically.

Here are a few more items of interest from Stein:

Following the expiration of Moses Brown‘s 10-day contract, the Mavericks can’t fill the 15th spot on their standard roster until April 10 due to their hard cap. Promoting two-way player Kessler Edwards, who has played a rotation role in recent weeks and can only be active for 10 more NBA games, is one option Dallas is considering for that final week of the season, league sources tell Stein. However, the team’s decision will depend in part on its health and roster needs as of April 10, Stein notes. While the Mavs have a serious frontcourt shortage right now due to injuries, that may not be the case in five-and-a-half weeks.
The Knicks were “right there” with the Lakers before the trade deadline in trying to pry third-year center Walker Kessler away from the Jazz, league sources tell Stein, who says Utah made it clear to both clubs that it didn’t want to seriously entertain pitches for Kessler during the season. The big man will be eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2025 offseason.
Although Stein can’t confirm if Mike Budenholzer‘s job in Phoenix is any actual jeopardy, he says the topic has generated “heightened whispering and curiosity” in coaching circles. The Suns parted ways with Monty Williams in 2023 when he still had three years and $20MM+ left on his contract and let go of Frank Vogel in 2024 just one year into his five-season, $31MM deal. Budenholzer reportedly received a five-year contract worth in excess of $50MM when he was hired by Phoenix last May. His Suns have a 28-33 record and are four games back of the final play-in spot in the West.
In case you missed it, Stein also reported that the Wizards gave real consideration to the idea of reacquiring Bradley Beal from the Suns prior to last month’s trade deadline. However, the teams couldn’t agree to terms and it seems unlikely that Beal would have waived his no-trade clause to return to D.C. anyway.

Southwest Notes: Zion, Mavericks, Popovich, Spurs

February 28th, 2025 at 7:54pm CST by Luke Adams

With Brandon Ingram no longer on the roster and Dejounte Murray out with a long-term injury, Zion Williamson will have to shoulder more leadership responsibilities for the Pelicans both on and off the court, says William Guillory of The Athletic. While there have been questions in the past about Williamson’s conditioning habits and the way he has communicated with the organization, he has earned rave reviews for the work he has put in behind the scenes this season, according to Guillory.

“I feel like he’s been a lot more locked in. He’s been taking it really seriously. You see a different look in his eye,” teammate Trey Murphy said. “He’s just ready to build and keep building chemistry and figure out what we’re doing.”

The former No. 1 overall pick led New Orleans to its third straight win on Thursday by recording the first triple-double of his career, with 27 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds, as David Brandt of The Associated Press details. New Orleans outscored Phoenix by 17 points during Williamson’s 31 minutes on the court.

“It’s a reminder to the NBA, to the fans, to everybody,” Pelicans head coach Willie Green said after the victory. “This is who he can be, night in and night out. That’s what we’re all striving to accomplish as a group. We’re striving to get our best player on the floor.”

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd has his work cut out for him with his top three big men injured, Moses Brown‘s 10-day contract close to expiring, Dwight Powell on a restriction of 10-12 minutes per game, and Kessler Edwards just 10 appearances away from his limit of 50 active games, writes Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. Brown – who had 20 points and 11 rebounds in Thursday’s win over Chicago – can’t be re-signed until April 10 once his 10-day deal expires due to Dallas’ hard cap situation, which will also prevent the team from promoting Edwards to the 15-man roster until the final week of the season.
The Dallas Morning News staff takes a closer look at what we know so far about the possibility of a new arena for the Mavericks, including the city of Irving’s efforts to lure the Mavs out of Dallas.
Appearing on ESPN’s NBA Today on Thursday (YouTube link), Shams Charania of ESPN provided a few more details on the first in-person meeting between Gregg Popovich and his players since the Spurs head coach suffered a stroke in the fall. Charania says that “tears were shed” during the meeting and notes that Popovich hasn’t given up hope of resuming his coaching career, even though he won’t be back this season.

Mavericks Notes: Irving, Kidd, Davis, Simmons

February 14th, 2025 at 3:11pm CST by Luke Adams

Faced with a fan backlash following last week’s Luka Doncic trade and dealing with a series of injuries that have decimated their frontcourt, the Mavericks could have gone into a tailspin heading into the All-Star break.

Instead, Dallas has won four of its past five games, including a shorthanded home victory over Miami on Thursday that saw the club run out a starting five of Spencer Dinwiddie, Dante Exum, Max Christie, Olivier-Maxence Prosper, and Kessler Edwards. All five players scored in double figures, as Exum led the way with 27 points on 11-of-13 shooting.

“No one is pouting. Everyone is playing,” head coach Jason Kidd said after Thursday’s win, per Christian Clark of The Athletic. “Big win before the break. Now we can rest, regroup and get ready for the second half.”

Kyrie Irving had to sit out Thursday’s game – the second of a back-to-back set – due to a right shoulder injury, but he has been playing through a back issue and is averaging a team-high 36.6 minutes per game on the season. His resiliency and leadership has trickled down to the rest of the roster, Clark writes.

“He sets a standard,” Edwards said. “If he sees any of us slacking, he holds us to that. He also has a great personality. It’s light in the locker room around him, so it’s great.”

Here’s more on the Mavs:

The Mavericks and Kidd won’t be fined for the head coach’s decision to skip Monday’s post-game press conference, according to NBA insider Marc Stein, who notes (via Twitter) that the league typically responds to first-time violations of that rule with a warning rather than handing out a fine.
The Mavericks haven’t issued a formal update on Anthony Davis‘ projected recovery timetable from an adductor strain since he was injured in his first game with his new team on Saturday. As Stein writes in a story for his Substack, the lack of a publicly shared timeline is thought to be by design, with the hope being that Davis can take a non-surgical treatment path to recovery. As he reported earlier this week, Stein says there’s optimism that surgery can be avoided, but cautions that it hasn’t been entirely ruled out at this point.
Within that same Substack story, Stein reports that the Mavericks would have had interest in entering the bidding for Ben Simmons on the buyout market, but their hard-cap restrictions prevented them from emerging as a serious suitor. The prorated veteran’s minimum deal that Simmons got from the Clippers carries a cap hit of approximately $756K, whereas Dallas is only operating about $171K below its first-apron hard cap.

Mavs’ Gafford Expected To Miss Six Weeks With MCL Sprain

February 13th, 2025 at 10:44pm CST by Luke Adams

Mavericks center Daniel Gafford has been diagnosed with a Grade 3 MCL sprain in his right knee and is expected to be sidelined for six weeks, sources tell Shams Charania and Tim MacMahon of ESPN.

Gafford sustained the injury on Monday and the Mavericks announced on Tuesday that he would be out for at least two weeks, at which point he’d be reevaluated. Tonight’s reporting from Charania and MacMahon suggests the prognosis is worse than that initial update suggested.

It’s a disaster for the Mavericks, who had already expected to be without Dereck Lively until at least late March or April due to a stress fracture in his right ankle. And while the team has yet to issue a formal update on Anthony Davis‘ adductor strain, the belief is that the injury will keep Davis on the shelf until sometime in March.

That means Dallas will be without its top three big men until well beyond the All-Star break. Reserve center Dwight Powell also hasn’t played in a game since January 17 due to a hip strain, further depleting the club’s depth up front.

The Mavs do have an open 15-man roster spot, but they’re only operating about $171K below their first-apron hard cap, limiting their ability to actually fill that spot.

Essentially, Dallas can only fit 14 days of a prorated veteran’s minimum deal under that hard cap, so the team will have to wait until at least March 31 to finalize a rest-of-season contract. The other option would be to make a 10-day signing sooner rather than later, then (once that deal expires) leave the 15th spot open until the final few days of the season.

The good news for the Mavs is that they’ve actually won their last two games since Gafford went down, defeating Golden State on Wednesday and Miami on Thursday. That victory over the Heat came with Kyrie Irving (right shoulder soreness), Klay Thompson (left foot sprain), and P.J. Washington (right ankle sprain) also unavailable due to injuries, so the team will head into the All-Star break on a positive note.

Kessler Edwards, a 6’7″ forward, has started at center in each of the past two games. He had 15 points and nine rebounds and was a team-best +10 in 40 minutes of action on Thursday.

Mavs Notes: Kyrie, Davis, Milic, Front Office

February 13th, 2025 at 8:09am CST by Luke Adams

It was a chaotic return home on Monday for the Mavericks — the team ejected several fans who expressed their displeasure about the Luka Doncic trade, lost a one-point thriller in overtime, and saw head coach Jason Kidd skip out on his post-game media session.

That context made Kyrie Irving‘s performance on Wednesday all the more impressive. As Tim MacMahon of ESPN writes, Irving racked up 42 points on 15-of-25 shooting and drew a crucial offensive foul on Jimmy Butler with 17 seconds left in the game, leading Dallas to a much-needed win over Golden State and giving the home fans a feel-good moment.

“That was special,” Klay Thompson said after the victory over his former team. “That was incredible — 42 and the defensive stop of the night. Yeah, that was incredible. Needed it bad, especially when I didn’t have my best shooting night. That’s our point guard, man. That was ridiculous.”

The shorthanded Mavericks – who had to start 6’7″ forward Kessler Edwards at center due to injuries to Dereck Lively, Daniel Gafford, Dwight Powell, and newly acquired star Anthony Davis – were going up against a Warriors club that had won back-to-back road games since Butler’s debut. Irving said the home crowd helped give the home team the spark it needed to pull out the win.

“Anytime you’re in a game like tonight and you’re looking for that energy, you look into the crowd, our fans, and you could drive yourself off that or get amplified, electrified off of that energy that’s in the crowd,” Irving said. “And it makes a big difference for us in in our home stadium. We got to protect it — our arena — and I feel like our fans know that. We’re obviously dealing with something unique, but at the same time we have to put our best foot forward.”

Here’s more on the Mavericks:

Although the Mavericks have yet to make an official announcement on how Davis’ adductor strain will be treated and how much time he might miss, NBA insider Marc Stein (Twitter links) hears there has been “tangible optimism” in Dallas that the injury won’t require surgery. One source close to the situation tells Stein that the Mavs are still evaluating Davis’ recovery timeline and “will be cautious” about targeting a return date.
Marko Milic, who joined the Mavericks’ coaching staff in a player development role during the 2022 offseason, has stepped down from his role, sources tell Stein (Twitter link). According to Stein, Milic – who was the first Slovenian to play in the NBA – decided not to remain with the team following the Doncic trade.
Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal (Substack link) calls out the Mavericks’ leaders for a lack of transparency and accountability, noting that the team still hasn’t publicly commented on its Caleb Martin trade, which needed to be amended to send a second-round pick to Dallas due to concerns about Martin’s physical. The front office also hasn’t responded to Doncic’s assertion that he “absolutely” didn’t give the team any indication he wouldn’t have signed a super-max extension offer during the 2025 offseason, Afseth adds.

Mavs Center Daniel Gafford To Miss At Least Two Weeks

February 11th, 2025 at 6:05pm CST by Dana Gauruder

The injury news just keeps getting worse for the Mavericks.

Center Daniel Gafford sustained a right knee sprain on Monday against the Kings and will be reevaluated within two weeks, the team’s PR department tweets. Gafford has started 28 of 51 games this season, averaging 12.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 21.9 minutes per game.

Dallas’ frontcourt has been decimated in recent weeks. Dereck Lively (right ankle stress fracture) could miss the remainder of the regular season and Dwight Powell (right hip strain) hasn’t played since Jan. 17.

Perennial All-Star Anthony Davis was injured in his Mavericks debut on Saturday. His left adductor strain will sideline him for multiple weeks. P.J. Washington is listed as questionable for Dallas’ game against Golden State on Wednesday due to a right ankle sprain, Grant Afseth of the Dallas Hoops Journal tweets.

Two-way player Kylor Kelley is the only other true big man on the roster. Forwards Kessler Edwards, Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Naji Marshall were utilized up front in small lineups after Gafford departed on Monday.

The Mavericks have an open roster spot, but are ineligible to sign a free agent to a rest-of-season contract due to their proximity to their first-apron hard cap. As we detailed on Monday, Dallas is about $171K below that hard cap and won’t be able to squeeze in a veteran rest-of-season signing until March 31.

The Mavs do have the ability to make one 10-day signing at any time, but that would leave the club just $51K shy of the first apron, unable to complete another deal until the season’s final week.

The All-Star break will buy the Mavericks a little time, but they’re likely to be in this predicament for at least a couple more weeks.

Mavs Notes: Edwards, Prosper, Klay, Hardy, Exum, Kleber

January 24th, 2025 at 5:13pm CST by Luke Adams

With the Mavericks missing several important contributors due to injuries, head coach Jason Kidd told reporters on Wednesday that the team’s “young players are going to get a lot of reps,” as Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News writes.

Kidd made good on that promise on Thursday. On the second end of a back-to-back set, facing the top-seeded Thunder in Oklahoma City, two-way player Kessler Edwards started and played a season-high 23 minutes, while second-year forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper saw 21 minutes off the bench.

Dallas was outscored by eight points with Prosper on the court and by seven points during Edwards’ minutes, but the duo helped keep the banged-up club in the game, combining for 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting, along with seven rebounds and a pair of steals. With veterans Kyrie Irving (24 points), P.J. Washington (22 points), and Spencer Dinwiddie (28 points) doing the rest of the heavy lifting, the Mavs picked up an impressive 121-115 victory.

“I thought this was a character win, maybe the best win of the season,” Kidd said, per Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com. “Shorthanded, next-man-up mentality.”

While the Thunder have looked like the class of the Western Conference this season, the Mavs seem to have their number. After knocking Oklahoma City out of the playoffs last spring, Dallas has gone 3-1 against the conference leaders this season. OKC is 35-5 against everyone else.

“To go against this team four times and come out 3-1, that’s where I feel like we laid our hat on,” Irving said, according to Sefko. “So we know we can play with the best. Now we got to build on that consistency. The last few games, we have not been as consistent as we’d like. (It was a) gutsy win.”

Here’s more on the Mavs:

Of Dallas’ many injured players, Klay Thompson (left ankle sprain) and Jaden Hardy (right ankle sprain) appear the closest to returning. They’ve been listed as questionable for Saturday’s game vs. Boston, tweets Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal. Naji Marshall (illness) and Dwight Powell (right hip strain) are still listed as out and will miss a third and fourth consecutive game, respectively, joining Luka Doncic, Dereck Lively, and Dante Exum on the injured list.
Although Exum has been shooting and ramping up his activity, his return is still a long ways off, Kidd said on Thursday (Twitter link via Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News). The veteran guard has been recovering from wrist surgery since October and has yet to make his season debut.
According to Kidd, the Mavericks’ training staff currently has big man Maxi Kleber on a restriction of 20 minutes per game. Kleber’s importance has increased with Lively on the shelf for the foreseeable future, but after dealing with an oblique issue near the start of the month, he hasn’t logged more than 20:14 in a game since January 7.

Mavericks Notes: Doncic, Marshall, Thompson, Kleber, Edwards

October 2nd, 2024 at 10:01pm CST by Arthur Hill

The left calf contusion that forced Mavericks star Luka Doncic to miss the second day of training camp is considered to be minor, writes Mike Curtis of The Dallas Morning News. The team will give Doncic a week to rest before reevaluating his condition, which means he’ll miss a “Fan Jam” open practice on Sunday as well as the preseason opener Monday against Memphis. Barring any unexpected complications, he should be back soon after that.

“He got hit in the calf,” coach Jason Kidd said. “Reported it tight yesterday so they went and got an MRI. We’ll reevaluate him in a week and see where he stands.”

Curtis recalls that Doncic suffered a strain in his left calf last October when the Mavs were in Spain. He was limited to five minutes in an exhibition matchup with Real Madrid, his former team, and sat out the last game of the preseason, but was ready for opening night.

Doncic’s teammates don’t seem concerned about having him miss a week or more of training camp.

“I don’t think it’s going to be hard because when he’s on the court, it’s easy to play with him,” P.J. Washington said. “For us, it’s just learning our spacing and learning where we need to be. He’s going to be Luka, so we’re not really worried about him. It’s just us getting in our right spots, making sure we know the plays and defenses and all of that type of stuff.”

Sources tell Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link) that there are no concerns about Doncic’s availability for the October 24 opener.

There’s more from Dallas:

The Mavericks signed Naji Marshall to be a defensive stopper after losing Derrick Jones in free agency, but Marshall may provide an offensive lift as well, Curtis states in a separate story. Klay Thompson was raving about Marshall’s shot-making after the first day of camp. “Naji played incredible,” Thompson said. “The guy was making floaters, pull-ups. I thought he played really well. I was impressed with Naji. He scored a couple of times on me. His jumper was fluid and his mid-range was nice.”
Thompson had to “get the nerves out” in his first day of training camp with a new team after spending 13 years with the Warriors, Curtis adds in another piece. “It feels like transferring schools,” he said, “but it’s a feeling you want to embrace because it’s so rare to get those butterflies as a player. It’s awesome.”
Maxi Kleber and Kessler Edwards were both held out of the start of camp, although Kidd didn’t provide a reason, according to Curtis. Kleber missed much of last season’s playoff run with a right shoulder AC joint separation.

Mavs Sign Kessler Edwards To Two-Way Deal, Waive Alex Fudge

August 8th, 2024 at 10:20am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Mavericks have officially signed Kessler Edwards to a two-way contract, according to a team press release. They have also waived two-way forward Alex Fudge.

The agreement with Edwards was reported last month. Edwards holds career averages of 3.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 11.9 minutes in 138 career games, 27 of which were starts, with the Nets and Kings. In 54 games for Sacramento last season, Edwards averaged 1.7 points and 5.1 minutes per game.

Edwards was eligible for restricted free agency this summer, but the Kings opted not to issue him a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Fudge signed a two-way deal with Dallas in early March but only appeared in two games. The 20-year-old small forward began the season on a two-way deal with the Lakers, seeing action in four games before being waived in early January. He also appeared in 27 G League games last season.

Fudge, 21, played college ball with LSU and Florida and went undrafted last year.

Having waived Fudge, the Mavericks have an open two-way spot. Guard Brandon Williams holds the other two-way spot.

Mavericks To Sign Kessler Edwards To Two-Way Contract

July 26th, 2024 at 1:40pm CST by Luke Adams

Free agent forward Kessler Edwards has agreed to a sign a two-way contract with the Mavericks, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).

Edwards, who will turn 24 in August, spent the last season-and-a-half in Sacramento and appeared in 54 games for the Kings last season. However, his role was extremely limited. He averaged just 5.1 minutes per game off the bench, often seeing action in garbage time.

The 6’8″ forward had his best season in the NBA as a rookie in 2022/23, when he averaged 5.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in 20.6 minutes per game across 48 outings (23 starts) for the Nets. He posted a .412/.353/.842 shooting line that season.

Edwards was eligible for restricted free agency this summer, but the Kings opted not to issue him a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent.

A former Pepperdine standout, Edwards will join Alex Fudge and Brandon Williams as Dallas’ players on two-way contracts.