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Dallas Mavericks sign Jarrod Uthoff for rest of NBA season

Chad Leistikow
cleistik@dmreg.com

Former Iowa basketball all-American Jarrod Uthoff has signed a deal that will keep him with the Dallas Mavericks for the rest of the NBA season.

The contract also means that the 6-foot-9 Uthoff will play with the Mavericks' summer-league team, with the opportunity to stick with the NBA roster next season.

"They like him. They like his length, shooting ability and versatility on both ends," Uthoff's agent, Adam Pensack, told The Des Moines Register on Wednesday. "(Playing in the summer league) will give Dallas time to fully evaluate him in their system."

Dallas Mavericks forward Jarrod Uthoff (19) blocks a shot from Toronto's Fred VanVleet during a recent NBA game.

This is a significant step in the rookie's career, not to mention his pocketbook.

The rookie NBA salary is $543,000 per year, which (pro-rated) works out to roughly $3,000 per day. By comparison, a player under contract in the NBA Development League generally earns between $20,000 to $25,000 per year.

Uthoff has been with the Mavs on a pair of 10-day contracts. Though he has only seen six minutes of action so far (he has zero points, one rebound and one blocked shot), that could change soon if Dallas is eliminated from playoff contention and wants to give Uthoff a better look. The Mavericks are 4.5 games out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with nine games to play.