Dallas Mavericks: Complete grades for the 2019 NBA offseason
By Phil Watson
Re-signing Maxi Kleber
It wouldn’t feel like the Dallas Mavericks without a big German around and the club took care of that by re-signing stretch 4 Maxi Kleber to a four-year, $34 million deal as a restricted free agent.
The final year of the deal is non-guaranteed, but Kleber — who came to the Mavericks as a 25-year-old undrafted free agent in 2017 — made solid progress last season as a backup big.
Kleber put up 6.8 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 21.2 minutes per game last season, shooting 45.3 percent overall and hitting 35.3 percent on 3.1 3-point tries per game.
While he’s entering just his third NBA season, this will be Kleber’s age-28 campaign, so the upside is limited, even as he gains more experience with the NBA style of play.
But he’s a decent insurance policy at the 4 behind the immensely talented, but often-injured Kristaps Porzingis and he can provide at least some rim protection for the second unit.
Kleber can work the pick-and-roll and is an efficient rim-runner, making 69.9 percent of his shots in the restricted area, and his 3-point shot improved last season from 31.3 percent as a rookie to 35.3 percent, so he’s making strides as a classic pace-and-space big.
He can be a little turnover-prone (11.4 percent turnover rate with a 13.5 usage percentage last season is a bit of a red flag), but more exposure to the NBA game and perhaps a lighter minutes load behind the younger Porzingis can limit the damage.
Four years, including three guaranteed, felt like a bit of a stretch for an old young guy, though.