Former No. 5 overall pick Dante Exum will return to the NBA after agreeing to a one-year guaranteed deal with the Dallas Mavericks, his agent Brandon Rosenthal told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.
Exum, 27, spent the last two seasons playing in Europe, averaging 13.2 points in 23 minutes per game for Partizan Belgrade in 2022-23.
Dennis Lindsey, a recent addition to the Mavericks' front office as an adviser to general manager Nico Harrison, drafted Exum for the Utah Jazz in 2014. Exum had his career disrupted by a series of injuries while spending five seasons in Utah and two with the Cleveland Cavaliers, averaging 5.7 points and 2.1 assists per game in his NBA career.
Exum, a 6-foot-5 Australian, is considered a good perimeter defender, which is one of the Mavs' main needs.
Center Dwight Powell also agreed to a three-year, $12 million deal with the Mavs on Saturday to return to Dallas, sources said. Powell, who has played for the Mavericks since being included in the Rajon Rondo trade as a rookie in 2015, started 64 games for Dallas last season.
The Mavs expect him to be part of their center platoon and serve as an excellent mentor to No. 12 overall pick Dereck Lively II.