Mavs' Kyrie Irving Calls Dwight Powell Exit ‘A Little Heartbreaking’

DALLAS — Kyrie Irving was in a hot tub at the team's facility Monday when he found out the Dallas Mavericks had waived Dwight Powell.

The move came ahead of the league's deadline to set regular-season rosters. With Powell gone after 12 seasons, Irving is now the longest-tenured player in Dallas. The Mavericks traded for Irving, now 34, on Feb. 6, 2023, in a deal with Brooklyn. He is starting his 16th NBA season.

Irving and Powell played together for parts of four seasons. That stretch included the 2024 NBA Finals.

Irving filed the decision under NBA business.

“He'll be severely missed,” Irving said. “He gave a lot to the franchise, just a consummate professional. A good friend of mine, a good friend of a bunch of us on the team, past and present. And he represented a lot here in the city of Dallas. He did a lot for us.”

“So I was in a hot tub, just getting to the facility, just finding out,” Irving continued. “So it's a little heartbreaking, but like I said, we're gonna miss him. But I guess you've got to add in the metaphor, the phrase, like that's just NBA business. So it is, but it's always tough when you lose a good human in the locker room that represents leadership, good energy coming in every single day.”

Powell came to Dallas on Dec. 18, 2014, in the trade that brought Rajon Rondo from Boston. The Mavericks sent Jae Crowder, Jameer Nelson, Brandan Wright, a 2015 first-round pick, and a 2016 second-round pick to the Celtics. Those picks became Guerschon Yabusele and Demetrius Jackson.

Charlotte had taken Powell with the 45th pick in the 2014 draft out of Stanford, where he was a first-team All-Pac-12 pick as a senior. His draft rights went to Cleveland and then to Boston, where he played five games before the deal.

In Dallas, he appeared in 763 regular-season games and made 266 starts. His Mavericks averages were 6.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.

His 60.6% shooting from the field ranks fourth in franchise history. Only four players have appeared in more games for the Mavericks.

Powell is sixth on the franchise list in offensive rebounds with 1,187. He is also sixth in total rebounds with 3,251. His 330 blocks rank 10th.

His best scoring season came in 2018-19, Dirk Nowitzki's final year, when he averaged 10.6 points. A year later, he set a career high with 5.7 rebounds per game. He signed three separate multiyear contracts in Dallas.

Last season, Powell played 63 games and started 12. He averaged 3.3 points and 4.1 rebounds in 14.3 minutes.

Powell, a 35-year-old from Toronto, came back to camp on a one-year minimum deal signed Sept. 25, with $1 million of it guaranteed. In the preseason, he played in three of the four games and averaged 3.7 assists in 12.1 minutes.

Mavericks president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri called Powell a tireless worker and an incredible teammate in a statement announcing the move.

Dallas kept second-year center Moussa Cissé. The roster now has 15 standard contracts and two two-way players.

If no team claims Powell, he clears waivers Wednesday. Dallas opens the regular season that night at the Houston Rockets, with tip-off at 7:30 p.m. CT.