How Taze Moore Earned Mavs Contract; Lakers, Blazers Interest
LAS VEGAS — The Dallas Mavericks are signing Taze Moore to an Exhibit 10 contract amid his strong play in Las Vegas. He is averaging 8.3 points, 4.8 rebounds, and 2.3 assists through four games.
"I'm trying to be willing to help everybody out and then just go a hundred miles an hour," Moore said after Thursday's practice. "If I have run through a wall, I will. I'm just trying to be the best player I can be for the team first and then myself second."
The willingness and motivation to play with a lot of energy on defense is a key reason for Moore being a coveted player. A source tells DallasBasketball.com that Moore had drawn interest from various NBA teams back in June. He participated in mini-camps with the Los Angeles Lakers and Portland Trail Blazers before playing for the Summer Mavs.
"I'm not going to have an easy journey," Moore said. "I'm not going to go out here and score 20 or 30 points. But one thing I can do is play defense, and I can play that at a high level."
"So I just try to guard the best guys or whoever they need me to guard," Moore explained. "I think that's what makes, that's what gets me on the floor, is my defense.
Summer Mavs coach Jared Dudley has been impressed with Moore's impact not only defense, but generally in making "winning" plays. Dudley described Moore as being the most surprising player since the start of Summer League camp.
"Taze Moore has been the biggest surprise of camp," Dudley said after Thursday's practice.
Dudley compared the impact that the 6-foot-5 Moore makes to that of athletic forward Derrick Jones Jr. of the Chicago Bulls. Both players make their impact with defensive versatility and have the athleticism to be explosive finishers.
"He reminds me of Derrick Jones from Chicago. Just maybe two inches smaller, he's earned more minutes," Dudley said of Moore. "He makes what we call him winning plays. He just does all the right winning plays."
With the Mavs being led by Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, it helps elevate the unit when there are versatile defenders around them, but ideally, it comes without sacrificing floor spacing ability. Moore has produced 1.154 points per possession out of spot-up plays in Las Vegas and generated 1.066 points per possession last season with the Legends.
Moore, 25, played his 2022-23 campaign with the Mavs' G League affiliate — the Texas Legends — where he averaged 13.9 points, 6.6 rebounds and 3.6 assists. He went undrafted in 2022 after finishing his collegiate basketball career with the University of Houston following four seasons at Cal State Bakersfield.
During his collegiate basketball journey at Cal State Bakersfield, Moore suffered from fractures in his tibia and fibula in February 2017. He underwent a total of five surgeries that sidelined him for 634 days as a result. He had real fears of his basketball career being finished.
“Because I’m off and on the court so much, I kind of thought my basketball career was just done with,” Moore told Bakersfield.com after his recovery in 2018.
Moore was the second player to earn a contract while participating for the Summer Mavs. The first was Braxton Key, who signed a two-way contract with the Denver Nuggets, ending his participation with the Mavs in Las Vegas.
"I've just been proud that when I first came into Summer League was to win games with three. One goal was to get people jobs" Dudley said after Friday's game. "Braxton Key got a two-way contract. We just gave Taze Moore, I believe, an Exhibit 10 contract. So guys are getting deals. Hopefully someone else on our team can get a deal."
The Mavs finish their Summer League schedule on Sunday with a matchup against the Atlanta Hawks at Cox Pavilion.
Grant Afseth is a Dallas Mavericks reporter for DallasBasketball.com and an NBA reporter for NBA Analysis Network. He previously covered the Indiana Pacers and NBA for CNHI's Kokomo Tribune and various NBA teams for USA TODAY Sports Media Group. Follow him on Twitter (@grantafseth), Facebook (@grantgafseth), and YouTube (@grantafseth).
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