DALLAS – Devin Harris and the Dallas Mavericks are officially back together again.
The Mavs signed the 14-year veteran guard to a one-year contract on Wednesday as a means to shore up their talented but mostly young backcourt with someone who already knows the lay of the land of coach Rick Carlisle’s system. The addition of Harris softens the blow caused by Yogi Ferrell, who played for the Mavs the last season-and-a-half and decided to sign a free agent contract with the Sacramento Kings earlier this month after initially agreeing to re-sign with the Mavs.
This will be the third tour with the Mavs for Harris, who was traded by Dallas to the Denver Nuggets last Feb. 8 in a three-team deal which also sent Doug McDermott from the New York Knicks to the Mavs and Emmanuel Mudiay from Denver to the Knicks.
In 44 games for the Mavs last season Harris averaged 8.5 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.9 assists in 18.3 minutes per contest. And in 27 games for the Nuggets last season Harris averaged 8.2 points, 1.6 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 19.7 minutes per contest.
“I love Devin,” Mavs forward Harrison Barnes said. “He’s a great veteran.”
Harris, now 35 years old, actually played his first NBA game with the Mavs. The Milwaukee, WI, native was chosen No. 5 overall by the Washington Wizards in the 2004 NBA Draft, but in a draft-day trade was quickly shipped to the Mavs – along with Jerry Stackhouse and Christian Laettner — for Antawn Jamison.
As a rookie with the Mavs, Harris flourished to the point where he finished the 2004-’05 season ranked second in the NBA behind Larry Hughes in steals per 48 minutes played at 3.15 per game. He also played a pivotal role as the Mavs reached the 2006 NBA Finals.
However, on Feb. 19, 2008, the Mavs traded Harris, DeSagana Diop, Keith Van Horn, Maurice Ager, Trenton Hassell, a pair of first-round draft picks and $3 million to the New Jersey Nets for Jason Kidd, Malik Allen and Antoine Wright. Harris went on to earn All-Star honors with the Nets in 2009, and was subsequently traded to the Utah Jazz on Feb. 23, 2011 and then to the Atlanta Hawks on July 11, 2012.
From there, on July 31, 2013 Harris signed a free agent contract with the Mavs, and he invariably stayed with Dallas until they traded him to the Nuggets less than six months ago.
But needing another defensive-minded savvy veteran in the backcourt to help with the growth of rookie guard Luka Doncic and second-year point guard Dennis Smith Jr., the Mavs decided to reach out and grab someone who is very familiar with Carlisle’s system.
Barnes played a year-and-a-half with Harris – he’s averaged 11.1 points, 2.2 rebounds and 4.1 assists in 917 career games – and saw first-hand the 6-3 combo guard’s abilities to lead on and off the court.
“To me he just continued to learn and continued to be in my ear and keep me positive,” Barnes said. “I’m excited to have him back.”
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