A.J. Lawson is back, baby!
Not so fast! Days after perennial NBA Summer League player A.J. Lawson was waived, he’s back! The Dallas Mavericks announced earlier this week, on October 10, that the team re-signed Lawson to one of its available two-way contracts.
My colleague Josh Bowe speculated that Lawson could return to the team when he wrote about Lawson being cut. It seems the Mavericks felt strongly enough to keep him on the roster, albeit in a lesser role.
The same day he re-signed with Dallas, Lawson suited up in the Mavericks’ second preseason game against the Utah Jazz. He had two points, two rebounds, and an assist in nearly seven minutes.
Before the Mavericks waived him, Lawson had a decent showing in the preseason opener. He had eight points, three rebounds, and two assists in 20 minutes against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Dallas now has three players — Kessler Edwards, Lawson, and Brandon Williams — on the roster with two-way contracts, the maximum the league allows. Two-way players are eligible to be active for up to 50 of their team’s 82 regular season games.
Neither Edwards nor Williams has played in the preseason. Edwards is day-to-day with an ankle sprain that has also kept him out of practice. Williams was a DNP-CD in both games.
As the preseason winds down, the Mavericks will have more choices and cuts to make before they finalize their roster by the October 21 deadline. It looks like Lawson has done enough to stick around.