What to Expect from the Mavericks' Newest Player

The young guard signed a two-way contract with the Mavericks over the weekend

Keenan Womack | Oct 21, 2024

Oct 10, 2024; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Jazian Gortman (00) reacts during the second half against the Utah Jazz at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

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Dallas Mavericks

After waiving AJ Lawson, Emmanuel Miller, and Jamarion Sharp, the Mavericks had room to sign young guard Jazian Gortman to a two-way contract. A former five-star prospect who was ranked no. 11 overall in the 2022 class according to 247 Sports, Gortman signed with Overtime Elite out of high school, playing in the professional league instead of NCAA basketball.

From there, he went without selection in the 2023 NBA Draft, eventually joining the Milwaukee Bucks' Summer League team. The Bucks signed him on July 15 but eventually waived him on October 18, prompting him to join the Wisconsin Herd of the NBA G League. He was traded by Wisconsin mid-season to the Rip City Remix, the Portland G League affiliate, for the rest of 2024, before he signed with the Texas Legends this summer.

Gortman is an interesting prospect for a multitude of reasons. For one thing, he stands at just 6-foot-2, but has decent defensive prowess, as he averaged 2.5 steals per game playing in Overtime Elite. While this didn't exactly translate to steal numbers in the G League, he did force 1.3 live ball turnovers per game in the NBA preseason, meaning his awareness on this end of the floor is above average.

On the offensive end, he's a shifty ball handler who shot the ball incredibly well in the Mavericks' four preseason games. He hit 16 of his 31 field goal attempts and shot a blistering 57.1% from three, hitting eight of 14 attempts from beyond the arc. He also had decent rim-finishing numbers, especially considering his size. He scored 12 points on eight layup attempts, good for 1.5 points per shot, according to Synergy Sports.

Gortman's flaws are more obvious when he's facilitating the offense, which he will be asked to do given (a) his skillset (mostly his handle) and (b) the fact that he's too undersized to play the off-guard spot. While he has shown flashes of impressive passing, he still had a barely positive assist-to-turnover ratio this preseason, dishing eight dimes but turning it over seven times.

The key to Gortman's career with Dallas will be whether or not his three-point shooting is a complete aberration or not. Before this Summer League and preseason stretch, he shot 30.2% with Rip City on 106 attempts from deep, 31.6% with the Wisconsin Herd on 38 attempts, and 30.6% on 124 attempts in Overtime Elite. His 57.1% from the preseason will regress, but how much will it regress?

Given he's on a two-way contract, it's not a huge risk for Dallas, but if the shooting stays somewhat stable and he's able to limit turnovers, he could become an option to relieve the top Dallas guards as another bench-unit ball-handler down the road. He will have some time in both the G League and in the NBA to prove his value.

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Published Oct 21, 2024

KEENAN WOMACK

Keenan Womack is a sportswriter native to Dallas, Texas, who has spent the last 12 years in Austin, the home of his alma mater, the University of Texas. Keenan has covered sports for SB Nation, Bleacher Report, Rivals/Orangebloods, a host of his own sites and now, Fan Nation. Focusing on basketball, Keenan was on the beat for the Longhorns hoops team for the last two-and-a-half years before moving on to pursue other opportunities. He is married and lives with his wife close to the Moody Center, so they can continue to catch games together.