The Mavs have signed versatile forward Jamil Wilson and sweet-shooting power forward Brandon Ashley to contracts. Let’s take a look and see what they can bring to the team.

JAMIL WILSON

There are two types of words to describe NBA players. One group consists of skills: smooth, athletic, bouncy, quick, strong. The other is made up of words used to signify gravity or status: legendary, warrior, killer instinct, dominant.

But those lists are not all-inclusive. New Maverick Jamil Wilson is athletic and bouncy, sure, but he’s another thing, too: switchable.

That’s the word his college coach, Buzz Williams, used to describe him. It means able to guard multiple positions on defense, which was Williams’ goal for all his players during his Marquette days. Wilson epitomized “switchability,” a term Williams threw around often in those days, as he’s 6′ 7″ and able to guard smaller players, but long enough with a 7′ wingspan and bouncy enough — with a monstrous 40-inch vertical — to contest shots at the rim. He’s a combo forward.

When you look at some of the other players to come out of Marquette in recent seasons, you begin to get a picture of who Wilson is as a player. The two most recent notable names are Bulls wing Jimmy Butler and former Maverick Jae Crowder, currently with the Boston Celtics. Both players defend multiple positions and play a gritty brand of basketball in general. Wilson teamed up with both of them with the Golden Eagles, even famously dominating practices before his first season with the team against Butler, Crowder, and future pros Darius Johnson-Odom and Vander Blue. When you stand out against NBA-caliber talent, you know you’re good.

Wilson went on to average 8.5 points and 4.6 rebounds in four college seasons, the last three of which he spent at Marquette. He scored 11.7 points and grabbed 5.9 boards per game during his senior season, but went undrafted after his shooting percentages dipped a couple percentage points from his junior season. He shot a career-best 36.0 percent on three-pointers during his junior campaign for a team that made the Elite Eight. Most recently, he played with the Washington Wizards at Summer League, averaging 7.4 points and 3.2 rebounds in 15.4 minutes per game.

To better quantify what he can do, he finished in the top-10 in the Big East during his sophomore season in blocks per game and block percentage, then defensive boards and defensive rebound percentage during his senior season.

After going undrafted, Wilson played last season with the Bakersfield Jam of the D-League, averaging 10.9 points and 5.4 rebounds in 26.2 minutes, adding one block per game. His defensive rebound percentage, representing the percentage of available rebounds he grabbed, was 17.7. For reference, Kawhi Leonard posted a 20.2 DRB% last season, and he’s considered maybe the best rebounder at his position. Former Maverick Al-Farouq Aminu’s DRB% in 2014-15 was 18.4.

The key for Wilson will be proving he can hit the three at a reliable rate, and he did that with Bakersfield last season, shooting 35.1 percent. There’s absolutely value in a lanky forward with hops who can defend multiple positions and shoot. Just look at the type of impact Aminu and Shawn Marion made while they were in Dallas. Marion, of course, is the premier archetype for a combo forward, as he defined the role and then perfected at potentially a Hall of Fame level. Aminu, meanwhile, carried the torch wonderfully last season.

Now Wilson has the chance to take that role on himself, as Dallas continues the search for length and versatility off the bench, particularly at the small and power forward positions.

BRANDON ASHLEY

Ashley possesses the same long build as Wilson, standing at 6′ 8″ with a wingspan stretching a ridiculous 7′ 3″. Combining his 8′ 9″ standing reach with his 35.5″ maximum vertical leap, he’s got the athletic ability to play power forward in the NBA.

He averaged 10.3 points and 5.4 rebounds per game during three seasons at Arizona, finishing top-10 in the conference last season in offensive rating, defensive rating, and win shares. Ashley started at power forward for an extremely talented Wildcats team featuring first-round draft picks Stanley Johnson and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.

Those two, along with point guard T.J. McConnell, handled the bulk of the playmaking duties last season, leaving Ashley predominantly as a spot-up shooter, especially in the pick-and-pop. He was very good in those situations, hitting 43.8 percent of his jump shots from between 17 feet and the three-point line, per Synergy Sports, a strong number for that area on the floor. Ashley attempted to stretch his range out to the three-point line during his last two seasons in school, hitting 37.9 percent his sophomore season and 33.3 percent last year.

Much like Wilson, if Ashley can prove he’s a reliable jump shooter, he can buy himself some playing time at the next level. Unlike Wilson, however, this will be Ashley’s first crack at making an NBA roster. He played for the Atlanta Hawks at the Las Vegas Summer League, where he averaged 10.9 points and 5.3 rebounds in seven games. He scored 16 points in the playoff win against Justin Anderson and the Mavs.

Ashley was a member of Arizona’s terrifying defense, starring Johnson and Hollis-Jefferson. However, Ashley was no slouch himself, ranking above-average against every play type, per Synergy Sports. Defenders shot just 37.4 percent against him last season, and he forced turnovers on 12.2 percent of his 237 recorded possessions. He stood apart against jump shots and in the post, where his length and athleticism work to his advantage. Opponents connected on just 29.9 percent of their jump shots and just 32.3 percent of their attempts in the post against Ashley. Additionally, they shot just 5-of-25 on off-the-dribble jumpers, according to Synergy, indicating Ashley has the ability to stay in front of his man and contest a shot even if his opponent tries creating space.

Both players will attempt to make the final roster, which must be trimmed down to 15 before opening night. Dallas currently has 14 players officially under contract, not including rookie Justin Anderson (who hasn’t signed a rookie contract yet) and a few other looming deals. Both Wilson and Ashley will have to prove throughout the month of October that they have what it takes to earn a spot on the final roster. Suffice it to say that the position battles this fall will be exciting and competitive.

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