Free agent Wesley Matthews will be sporting a new uniform when he returns to the court after agreeing to a four-year deal with the Dallas Mavericks.
The shooting guard spent his past five seasons with the Portland Trail Blazers, who already lost forward Nicolas Batum through a trade and All-Star big man LaMarcus Aldridge, who will sign with the San Antonio Spurs.
Portland lost Matthews last season to an Achilles tendon injury. This made him miss the final 22 games of the regular season and the Bl;azers playoff campaign which ended in the first-round after the Memphis Grizzlies'eliminated them in five games.
The shooting guard averaged 15.9 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game in the 2014-15 season.
In a report by ESPN, Matthews, 28, committed to the Mavs despite a huge offer from the Sacramento Kings, who recently inked point guard Rajon Rondo to a one-year deal.
The Kings offered Matthews a four-year, $64-million deal that would have given him an annual pay of $16 million, or $1 million more than what he wanted according to ESPN.
The Mavericks' Chandler Parsons has been huge for the team this free agency as he was in Los Angeles first among other team representatives such as owner Mark Cuban, head coach Rick Carlisle and team athletic trainer Casey Smith.
Matthews met with Parsons first before having dinner with Cuban and Smith. Along with the Mavericks and Kings, Matthews also met with the Toronto Raptors.
Dallas' free agency campaign has been a success so far because along with Matthews, the team also agreed to a maximum contract with DeAndre Jordan, one of the most dominant centers today.
Jordan became a free agent after spending all his seven NBA seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers. ESPN reported that Jordan's deal with Dallas was for four years and $80 million, with a player option after the third year.
