Mar 7, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd reacts during the game against the Memphis Grizzlies at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Dallas Mavericks make sneaky good signing to start preseason

Originally posted on Dallas Mavericks on SI
By Austin Veazey | Last updated Oct 8, 2025 11:26 AM ET

The Dallas Mavericks are 1-0 in the preseason after beating the OKC Thunder on Monday night, 106-89. The key rotation players got the Mavs out to a big lead, but once the reserves came in and the starters were done, OKC started to close the gap near the end of the game, getting it down to a six-point game with about four minutes to go.

On Tuesday, the Mavericks decided to upgrade that depth by waiving undrafted rookie Matthew Cleveland and signing oversized guard Dalano Banton, who spent the last season and a half with the Portland Trail Blazers, but he's also played for the Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors.

In 97 games with the Blazers, Banton averaged 10.9 PPG, 2.9 RPG, and 2.8 APG while shooting 40.2% from the floor and 31.9% from three. He brings a lot of defensive versatility to the floor, as he's listed at 6'9" but has been a ball-handler for the Blazers.

The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed guard/forward Dalano Banton. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

In a related move, Dallas has requested waivers on guard Matthew Cleveland.
— Mavs PR (@MavsPR) October 7, 2025

As of now, Banton is expected to be on an Exhibit-9 contract, which will secure his G-League rights, but this could be a sign that the Mavs are concerned about Dante Exum's... whatever he has going on. We've had no answers thus far from Jason Kidd about Exum's situation, only saying, "He’s just out. That’s all I can tell you" on Tuesday when asked about it.

They're already down their biggest playmaker in Kyrie Irving, who is expected to be out for a decent chunk of the season, so any backcourt help they can secure is an added bonus. They also added Dennis Smith Jr. on a similar deal a few weeks ago, but they're still trying to secure his G-League rights from the Milwaukee Bucks.

Goodbye Matthew Cleveland, We Hardly Even Knew You

The Mavericks brought in Matthew Cleveland for the Summer League and for training camp as an undrafted free agent. Cleveland was a five-star coming out of high school and signed with Florida State, spent two years there and winning ACC 6th Man of the Year as a freshman before transferring to Miami for the final two years of his career.

Cleveland was always productive in college, but his teams were always bad. FSU was 26-37 in his two seasons there, so he transferred to Miami a month after they made the Final Four, where they proceeded to go 22-41 in his two years in South Florida.

In his lone preseason appearance, Cleveland played 18 minutes, scoring 7 points, as well as coming down with 4 rebounds.

This article first appeared on Dallas Mavericks on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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