Prosper dominated his former team, posting a career-high in points and rebounds. His unleashed potential fuels the Grizzlies' surge.
DALLAS — Olivier-Maxence Prosper had 16 points and a career-high 10 rebounds Friday night, leading the Memphis Grizzlies to a 124-105 victory over the Dallas Mavericks, the franchise that quietly released him just six months ago.
Prosper, 23, shot 7-of-10 from the field and knocked down two 3-pointers in 25 minutes, finishing a plus-16 as Memphis led by as many as 34 points at American Airlines Center. The performance was the best of his NBA career and marked the first double-double of his three-year tenure in the league.
The result carried an added layer of significance given the backdrop. Prosper landed in Dallas after the team acquired his draft rights in a trade, having been selected 24th overall by the Sacramento Kings in the 2023 NBA Draft. He spent two seasons with the Mavericks before being waived last August in a salary cap move that freed the team to re-sign Danté Exum. Prosper signed a two-way contract with Memphis after clearing waivers.
Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo said Prosper's motor and competitive drive have been evident from the moment he arrived in Memphis.
"All of O-Max's energy is just contagious," Iisalo told DallasHoopsJournal.com. "He's one of the highest-motor players in the whole league. He's had to basically shift up a position or two spots and is doing a great job. He's improved his shooting from the outside and is shooting with a lot of confidence. Today, I think he had a career-high 10 rebounds. That's great to see. Just how he's improving in the little facets of the game overall, it's a testament to the hard work he's putting in."
Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd, who coached Prosper for two seasons in Dallas, offered a measured assessment of his former player's emergence after the game.
"He's playing a lot of minutes," Kidd said. "They have a lot of injuries, and he's taken full advantage of that opportunity."
Prosper said the consistent playing time in Memphis has allowed him to develop a feel for the game at the NBA level that he was unable to build in Dallas, where he rarely cracked the rotation on a contending team built around Luka Dončić and Kyrie Irving.
"I think for me, number one is obviously I've been staying ready," Prosper told DallasHoopsJournal.com. "I've been staying prepared forever for the opportunity. And then I feel like I've grown a lot in terms of slowing the game down. Now that I've been playing more consistently, things are starting to slow down. I'm able to see the court better, make better reads, and just let my game show."
Friday's performance capped a dominant month of February for Prosper, during which he averaged 13.1 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.3 assists across 10 games while shooting 56.5% from the field and 44.4% from three in 24.3 minutes per game. He scored 25 points against Portland on Feb. 7, 14 at Denver on Feb. 11, 23 against Utah on Feb. 20, and 17 against Sacramento on Feb. 23 before his career-best showing Friday.
On the season, Prosper has appeared in 34 games for Memphis, averaging 7.4 points and 3.1 rebounds in 15.4 minutes per game while shooting 53.0% from the field and 40.3% from three — figures that represent a sharp improvement over his Dallas numbers of 39.6% and 26.0%, respectively.
Meanwhile, Exum, the player Dallas prioritized in the roster move that led to Prosper's release, did not appear in a single game this season before being ruled out for the season.