2017 Mavs Training Camp Profile: Yogi Ferrell

Yogi Ferrell!

Wow, what’s not to like about Ferrell during the 2016-1017 NBA Regular Season. This was a guy who came from nowhere. Ok, maybe not nowhere. In respect to Ferrell, The Brooklyn Nets and the development league for the Brooklyn Nets, the Long Island Nets did give him a shot.

On January 28, 2017,  Yogi Ferrell signed a 10-day contract with the Dallas Mavericks. When Ferrell signed with the Mavericks, the Mavericks were skeptical because they gave him a 10-day contract. Yogi Ferrell felt he had something to prove.

Ferrell lived up to that contract. During that 10-day contract, Ferrell averaged 17.8 points and 5.8 assists in 37.7 minutes per game while shooting 44.4 percent from the field. Pretty impressive for an undrafted rookie point guard who played a portion of the season in the D-League.

Ferrell’s play was so impressive that he earned himself a two-year, $1.3 million contract with the Mavericks following his 10 day contract.

If you want to know how to make $1 million in 10 days, just ask Yogi Ferrell.

Yogi Ferrell went on to have a very solid season for the Mavericks. In 36 games he averaged 11.3 points per game,  2.8 rebounds per game, and 4.3 assists per game. Yogi Ferrell overall averaged 29 minutes per game for the Mavericks. Very solid stats for a 23 year old undrafted rookie point guard.

The 24 year old point guard from Greenfield Indiana is listed at 6 feet tall and weighs 180 pounds. For those of you who do not know, Ferrell’s real name is Kevin Duane “Yogi” Ferrell Jr., but we will just call him Yogi.

Yogi played his college ball at Indiana.

What can we expect from Ferrell during the 2017-2018 season? Yogi has potential. He strikes me personally as another nitty gritty J.J. Barea. Lucky that Yogi and Barea are teammates. Yogi will have similar stats to those of the 36 games he played in with the Mavs during the 2016-2017 season. When Yogi was on his 10-day contract, Yogi was playing a lot of minutes. Yogi was starting for the Mavs. The young man will have nights like he did against the Portland Trail Blazers in 2017 where he had 33 points. He will also have games where he may score around his average, be a pesky defender, and be a fan favorite to watch.

With the Mavericks drafting Dennis Smith Jr. with the 9th overall pick in this years NBA draft, the Mavericks are handing over the keys to Smith Jr. over Ferrell. Not that Yogi cant be a contributor but the Mavericks must be committed to there plan and Smith Jr. is definitely a part of that plan.

Despite the plan, look for Ferrell to be a very solid contributor for the Mavericks this season. It should be very fun to watch.