Dwight Powell signs with Fenerbahçe after 12 years in Dallas

Marc Stein broke it first. He had a source close to the talks and an explanation for why one of the longest-serving Mavs ever is leaving the league.

Marc Stein

@TheSteinLine

Source close to talks confirms Dwight Powell is signing with Turkish power Fenerbahçe to play for Šarūnas Jasikevičius. After 12 years in Dallas, Powell could not force his way onto the Mavs' roster in training camp with 15 guaranteed contracts ahead of him. 📷: @Eurohoopsnet

The math was simple and brutal. Dallas waived Powell on October 19 to get down to the league max of 15 standard contracts. He came back on a non-guaranteed deal in late September and spent camp fighting a crowded group of centers for a spot. He lost that fight, and nobody else in the NBA picked him up in the next week and a half.

That's a quiet ending for a guy who was part of the furniture in Dallas. Powell came to the Mavs in the middle of the 2014-15 season as a throw-in in the Rajon Rondo trade. Somehow he outlasted Rondo, Dirk's last years, the Luka era and pretty much every roster turnover since. Over that stretch he averaged 6.5 points and 4.3 rebounds. He was never a star. He was the rim-running, screen-setting, locker-room-glue big that every coach seemed to keep around for one more year.

Now he gets one more year somewhere else. Stein closed the loop a couple of hours later and noted that this summer's swap between the 2 clubs effectively runs both ways.

Marc Stein

@TheSteinLine

After Tarik Biberović arrived in Dallas from Fenerbahçe over the summer … Dwight Powell is now officially Istanbul-bound to join Fener.

Fenerbahçe Tarfin Erkek Basketbol

@FBBasketbol

Dwight Powell Fenerbahçe Tarfin’de! ✍️💛💙 Fenerbahçe Tarfin Erkek Basketbol Takımımız, son olarak NBA’de Dallas Mavericks forması giyen, forvet ve pivot pozisyonlarında oynayabilen Kanadalı uzun oyuncu Dwight Powell (2.08cm - 1991) ile sezon sonuna dek anlaşmaya varmıştır. 20 Temmuz 1991 tarihinde Toronto’da dünyaya gelen Powell, kolej kariyerine Stanford Üniversitesi formasıyla başladı. Üniversitedeki ilk yılında 31 maçın 26’sında ilk beşte yer alan Dwight Powell, 8.1 sayı ve 5.2 ribaund ortalamalarıyla oynadı. 2012-13 sezonunda gösterdiği performansla PAC-12 Yılın En İyi Gelişim Gösteren Oyuncusu ödülünün sahibi olan Powell, 34 maçta 14.9 sayı ve 8.4 ribaund ortalamalarını tutturdu. Üniversitedeki son senesinde ise 14.0 sayı, 6.9 ribaund ortalaması, başarılı oyuncuyu All-Pac-12 yılın en iyi beşine taşıdı. 2014 NBA Draftlarında 45. Sıradan Charlotte Hornets tarafından seçilen Powell’ın hakları Cleveland Cavaliers’a devredildi. Cavaliers ile yaz liginde mücadele eden Dwight Powell, Eylül ayında ise Boston Celtics’in yolunu tuttu. Boston Celtics forması giydiği dönemde NBA Gelişim Ligi takımlarından Maine Red Claws’ta çift yönlü kontratla forma giydi. Aralık 2015’te Rajon Rondo ile birlikte Boston Celtics’ten Dallas Mavericks’e geçen Dwight Powell, 2019 yılında Washington Wizards potasına bıraktığı 26 sayı ile kariyer rekorunu kırdı. 2021-22 sezonunda 82 maçta forma giyerek NBA’de bunu başaran beş oyuncudan biri olarak tarihe geçti. Kanadalı oyuncu 2023-24 sezonunda Dallas Mavericks formasıyla NBA Finali oynadı. Dwight Powell’a ‘Ailemize hoş geldin!’ diyor, Çubuklu formamızla başarılar diliyoruz. #YellowLegacy

Tarik Biberović went from Fener to Dallas, and Powell now goes the other direction. It's a funny little symmetry, and he isn't walking into a rebuild. Šarūnas Jasikevičius runs one of the deepest rosters in Europe, with Shane Larkin, Talen Horton-Tucker, Nicolò Melli, Wade Baldwin and Johnny Juzang already there, and Fenerbahçe has opened the EuroLeague season 6-3.

Powell is also no stranger to FIBA basketball. He's been a fixture for Canada and was part of the team that took bronze at the 2023 World Cup, so the European game won't be a culture shock. Saras will mostly want what Dallas got for 12 years: a smart, mobile big who rolls hard, defends without fouling and doesn't need the ball.

What to watch: how fast he's cleared and how quickly he works into the rotation in the middle of the EuroLeague season. For Mavs fans, it's the end of an era nobody saw as an era until it was over. 12 years from the Rondo trade throw-in to a send-off in Istanbul is a hell of a career.