Gortman finished with 20 points.
There’s not a lot to glean from the NBA preseason as a whole. However, it is a proving ground for players on the cusp of a roster spot. Dallas Mavericks guard Jazian Gortman is such a player.
Gortman didn’t take long to make an impact in Dallas’ preseason opener and made the most of his sparse minutes. Being a scoring spark off the bench turned heads and garnered him some well-deserved attention.
“Gortman’s tough,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd said during his postgame press conference. “I love what he did tonight. He was aggressive. He shot the ball extremely well. He got us organized and kept us organized. There were a lot of positive things that he did on both ends. I love that he picked up [full court]—again, he’s not scared. He’s tough, and I thought he had an incredible night tonight.”
Gortman checked in with 4:40 remaining in the first quarter and missed his first shot about 20 seconds after subbing in. He proceeded to knock down his next three shots from behind the arc. His quick nine points led the team in scoring for much of the first half.
“I just had the mindset if I’m open and the ball comes to me, I’m going to shoot it,” Gortman said after the game. “That’s a big thing in the NBA, especially for a team like this. Luka [Doncic] and Kyrie [Irving] have all the attention, so whenever the ball comes to you and you’re open, that’s your opportunity. So, you got to make that shot.”
His scoring heroics in the first half earned him a second-half start. He had eight points in the third quarter, including a nifty layup and-one in the closing seconds, as he scrapped with Scottie Pippen Jr. on both sides of the floor.
He finished the game with 20 points on 7-13 shooting, including 4-7 from deep. Gortman also had three rebounds, three assists, and four steals in nearly 25 minutes.
“It felt real good,” Gortman said. “It felt pretty normal. It’s just playing basketball. I just had the mindset to come out as a team and let’s get the win. I really wasn’t worried about me doing anything specifically. It’s just whatever we could do to get a win. That’s pretty much what I was focused on.”
Gortman spent last season in the G League playing for the Rip City remix and Wisconsin Herd. He averaged 9.4 points on 40.7 percent shooting, 2.4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists in 27 games. Before playing in the G League, he played in the Overtime Elite league. Both experiences helped him grow as a player.
“You got guys in the NBA, two to three stars on every team that are going to come out and go at your head,” Gortman said. “I feel like being at Overtime, of course not the same players, but it was a similar test.”
“Just going against top competition every day, it was good for someone coming straight out of high school,” Gortman continued. “At the time we were all top players from our class. We went to OTE and we were all in there just competing against each other.”
Earlier this year, Gortman appeared in all five Summer League games with the Mavericks in Las Vegas. He averaged 10.6 points on 46.3 percent shooting, 2.6 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in 21 minutes per game.
In July, he signed a one-year Exhibit-10 contract worth the league minimum of $1.15 million with Dallas. Exhibit-10 contracts aren’t guaranteed and do not affect a team’s salary cap unless it retains the player on its 15-man roster.
“The last [roster] spot is going to be interesting to see who we can go with,” Kidd said. “I thought [Jamarion] Sharp did a great job. He was out there running wind sprints because he never really got to touch the ball, but when he’s out there, he can affect the game, too.
And then, when you look at Kessler [Edwards] and AJ [Lawson], there’s opportunity there. Kessler hasn’t played yet due to injury, but we like what we’ve seen on tape with him, and we can’t wait to see him on the floor and see if he can get one of those two-way spots.”
Gortmans made his case on Monday night. He has three more games to prove he has what it takes to make the final roster.
“I’m trying to make this team,” Gortman said. “I play my heart out anyway, so that’s nothing [new] for me. Just keep going on the route that I’m going and keep playing as hard as I’m playing, I feel like what needs to fall in place will fall in place.”
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