As the calendar flipped to August over the weekend, the Mavericks quietly signed veteran forward Naji Marshall to a contract extension, the first handed out under new team president Masai Ujiri after he was hired in May. Marshall, 28, spent the last two seasons in Dallas as a reliable rotation forward with the defensive chops to guard multiple positions. His new deal will pay him $52.3 million over the next three years.
It isn’t the sort of news that moves the needle league-wide. Marshall is a good player but lacks the three-point shot that would earn him a three-and-D title. The Mavs are a team to watch as Cooper Flagg develops but aren’t going to impact next year’s playoff picture in the West. And while it seems like a fairly rich contract for a player who averaged 15.2 points per night last year, Marshall perfectly fits Ujiri’s preferred profile of long, rangy defenders; the former Raptors GM acquired a seemingly endless number of such players in Toronto. It’s not a big surprise Ujiri likes Marshall and he’ll make for a good vet to have around for Flagg and 2026 lottery pick Morez Johnson Jr.
