He was Dallas’ third highest scorer during preseason.
Jazian Gortman’s hard work and spirited play in Summer League, training camp, and during the preseason paid off. On Friday, the Dallas Mavericks signed the guard to a two-way contract some 24 hours after the Mavericks’ preseason finale against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Gortman played in all four preseason games with Dallas, including getting the start against the Los Angeles Clippers. He averaged 10.3 points, 1.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 1.3 steals in 20.5 minutes per game. His scoring average was the third-best on the team, buoyed by his 19-point performance against the Memphis Grizzlies and 13 points in his lone start.
“I just wanted to show how pesky I am on the defensive end and on the offensive end, just taking care of the ball and making good reads, and if I’m open, just shoot it. That’s kind of been my main goal,” Gortman said during his postgame press conference after playing the Clippers. “I feel like it’s been going pretty well. I can always get better. But you know, one percent every day.”
Dallas initially signed Gortman to an Exhibit-10 contract on July 10 during Summer League. He played in all five of the Mavericks’ games in Las Vegas, starting three of them. He averaged 10.6 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 4.0 assists in 21 minutes per game. He notably connected on half of his three-point shots, knocking down 10 of his 20 attempts.
Before joining the Mavericks, Gortman went undrafted in the 2023 NBA Draft coming out of Overtime Elite. After initially signing with the Milwaukee Bucks and playing for them in Summer League, Gortman spent the 2023-24 season with the G League’s Wisconsin Herd and Rip City Remix. Over 27 games, four with the Herd and 21 with the Remix, he averaged 9.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 19.0 minutes.
Gortman credits his time bounding around the G League and with Overtime Elite as preparing him for the challenges of following through on his goal to become an NBA player. After signing a two-way contract with Dallas, he’s one step closer to achieving that dream.
“A couple of key things that I learned is just with the prayer of the Most High, staying patient within the journey and actually enjoying the journey because it’s going to be a long road. It’s going to be a long journey,” Gortman said. “Different people have different stories and different outcomes. You never know what position you’re going to be in. You never know what spot you’re going to be in. You never know what place you’re going to be in.
“So, just staying ready and always being able to just—whenever the opportunity comes, take it because some people’s window is only this small. Keeping that mindset, I think that developed at Overtime. Going through what I went through there, going through the experience, I think that was one of the biggest things that I kind of learned.”