Arizona Basketball: Dallas Mavericks sign Brandon Ashley
By Eric Brown
After spending the summer playing for the Mavericks’ Summer League team, former Arizona Wildcat Brandon Ashley, has signed a deal with Dallas.
For the second time in his professional career, Brandon Ashley has signed a deal with the Dallas Mavericks. Although the details have not been released officially by the team, one can presume that it is a two-way contract. The new two-way contracts are a great way for a team to get a look at their player and determine if they want to keep them. This will allow Ashley to practice with the NBA team, and possibly even play for them, up to 45 days maximum.
OFFICIAL: Mavs have signed Forward @_Bash21! Check out some of his highlights from #MavsSL17! https://t.co/oXAC9NvGl8 pic.twitter.com/C3v1z0flDP
— Dallas Mavericks (@dallasmavs) August 4, 2017
Once upon a time, Brandon Ashley was one of the top high school players in the entire country. He was ranked by ESPN as the 16th best player in the Class of 2012. Ashley stayed with the Wildcats for a total of 3 seasons, reaching the Elite Eight twice.
In 2013, along with fellow NBA players and Arizona alum T.J. McConnell, Aaron Gordon, Nick Johnson, Gabe York, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson they would make it all the way to the regional semifinals, losing out to a loaded Ohio State team. The following season, the Wildcats would suffer the same fate, losing in the Elite Eight, this time to a Kaminsky-led Wisconsin Badger team.
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Brandon would decide to enter the NBA Draft after his junior season, hoping that he would be selected in the late second round with a team taking a chance on him. However that did not happen, he would go undrafted.
In the middle of the 2016 D-League season, he would leave the Texas Legends to join Alba Berlin. Things did not go so well in Germany for Ashley.
Lt Manager Baldi hat Alba Berlin gestern abend den Vertrag mit Brandon Ashley aufgelöst. https://t.co/7dtkb9RQe9
— ALBA-Inside - back2back CHAMPIONS (@AlbaInside11) September 15, 2016
Translation: “Lt Manager Baldi has dissolved the contract with Brandon Ashley Alba Berlin last night.”
In two games with the Mavericks in the Orlando Summer League, Ashley averaged 8.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and a steal. He would continue his dominance in Las Vegas, where he would help lead the team to a semi-final appearance.
Mavericks summer league coach Jamahl Mosley said after the impressive performances that:
"“One thing Brandon did is he played with a level of experience and knows how to read defenses.Defensively, he just covered for guys. He was very good for us. I think it’s huge. He’s showing he knows how to play, he’s showing he belongs at this level, and he just does the little intangible things that I think are going to be good for us going forward.”"
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No matter what happens during the season for Brandon Ashley, we hope that he finds his role with the Dallas Mavericks. He could very well find his way into the rotation later in the season. Follow Ashley on Twitter _Bash21.