The Dallas Mavericks opportunity to acquire prized free agent Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, recently bought out by Charlotte, has resulted in Australian Boomers forward Ryan Broekhoff being waived to make room for his contract.
The move was first reported by Mark Stein of The New York Times.
Dallas must make a roster move Tuesday to add Kidd-Gilchrist, who secured his buyout from Charlotte over the weekend. The Mavericks will waive Ryan Broekhoff, league sources say, and then sign Kidd-Gilchrist
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) February 11, 2020
Afterwards the news was confirmed by Ryan Broekhoff, posting a heartfelt goodbye to his teammates and the Dallas Mavericks fans via social media.
Kidd-Gilchrist, an eight year veteran, agreed to sign with the Dallas Mavericks on Monday night, after being bought out by the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday.
Broekhoff had just recently played in his first career NBA start on the 31st of January, a 128-121 loss to the Houston Rockets. He finished the game with nine points, five rebounds and one block — on James Harden, by the way.
His first NBA start was quite a surprise, coming off the back of a one-month absence due to a fracture of the proximal head of his left fibula. Broekhoff played 20 minutes after starting in place of injured Mavericks guard Luka Doncic and was praised by Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle after the game.
“Broekhoff needed to be on the floor,” Carlisle said.
“He’s a deceptively physical defender and he makes threes”.
Broekhoff’s efforts in a starting role weren’t enough to prevent being waived by the Mavericks however. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist available to help the Mavericks and their struggling defence (currently 20th in NBA defensive rating), the team would have to release either Courtney Lee, Justin Jackson or Broekhoff to create salary cap room… Broekhoff became the unlucky sacrifice.
Recently Broekhoff had been given a chance to show what he can do with an increase in playing time since December, averaging 15 minutes per game in 2020 compared to seven minutes per game in 2019.
During that stretch he went only 4-for-16 from three in February and while his rebounding and defence has seen improvements from last season, it doesn’t match-up with the defensive benefits Dallas acquires from signing Kidd-Gilchrist.
Kidd-Gilchrist always made a ton of sense for Dallas, providing them a much-needed defensive upgrade to bring off the bench behind players like Luka Doncic, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Dorian Finney-Smith.
It didn’t come as a major surprise that the Hornets cut bait with Kidd-Gilchrist. The team had already agreed to a buyout with fellow veteran Marvin Williams, clearly wanting to give more minutes to the team’s younger players like Miles Bridges, PJ Washington, Dwayne Bacon and Cody Martin, among others.
Kidd-Gilchrist, 26, appeared in just 12 games for the Hornets this season, averaging 4 points and 3 rebounds in 13 minutes per game. Broekhoff in comparison has averaged 4 points and 3 rebounds in 10.6 minutes per game.
Many of Broekhoff’s Aussie teammates sent messages of support via Twitter upon hearing the news.
You’ll be back brother ❤️ https://t.co/AQIg7oxCJE
— Joe Ingles (@Joeingles7) February 11, 2020
Broekhoff becomes the second Australian to have his NBA contract waived after Boomers teammate Jonah Bolden was also released by the Philadelphia 76ers this week.
Dan Boyce is a die-hard Sydney Kings fan who grew up in Melbourne during the roaring 90's of Australian Basketball and spent far too much time collecting Futera NBL Basketball cards.
