Mavs sign Antonius Cleveland to two-way contract

DALLAS – The Dallas Mavericks announced today that they have signed guard/forward Antonius Cleveland to a two-way contract. Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Cleveland (6-6, 195) started all five games for the Mavericks’ Las Vegas Summer League team in 2019, averaging 16.0 points (second on the team), 4.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 2.4 steals and 1.0 block in 25.0 minutes per contest. He shot 56.1 percent (32-of-57) from the field for a Dallas squad that advanced to the eight-team tournament in a pool of 32 teams.

The Memphis native returns for his second stint with Dallas after appearing in 13 games for the Mavericks in 2017-18. Cleveland, who also saw action in four games for the Hawks that year, owns 17 games of NBA experience overall.

After going undrafted in 2017, Cleveland began the 2017-18 season with the G League’s Santa Cruz Warriors. He was signed to a two-way contract by Dallas on Nov. 17, 2017, and made his NBA debut for the Mavericks later that night against Minnesota.

Cleveland was waived by Dallas on Dec. 19, 2017. He signed a pair of 10-day contracts with Atlanta later that season, before ultimately securing a multi-year deal with the Hawks on March 14, 2018. Cleveland was waived by Atlanta in July 2018 and claimed off waivers by Chicago. He was waived by the Bulls before appearing in a game for the club however, and re-joined Santa Cruz for the 2018-19 campaign.

The 6-6 guard/forward, who stood at just 5-8 as a sophomore in high school, was a four-year player at Southeast Missouri State (2013-17). As a senior in 2016-17, he averaged a team-high 16.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 32.9 minutes in 33 games (all starts) for the Redhawks on his way to being named All-Ohio Valley Conference First Team.

After he made his debut for the Mavericks, Cleveland became just the second NBA player in Southeast Missouri State history (Rich Eichhorst, 1962).

The 2019-20 season will mark the third year NBA two-way contracts will be implemented. NBA teams are allowed to have up to two players under two-way contracts who will spend the bulk of the season in the NBA G League and not more than 45 days with their NBA team.

Two-way players are paid a corresponding daily amount based on the number of days they play in each league. Only players with four-or-fewer years of NBA experience are able to sign two-way contracts, which can be for either one or two seasons.