Dallas Mavericks: Smaller Name Players Still on the Board by Kohl Rast

Shabazz Muhammed was the casualty of multiple free agent signings in Minnesota as he now hits unrestricted free agency. Should Dallas make a call?

In August 2011, Shabazz Muhammad was the #1 ranked high school player in the country as he had his choice of schools between UCLA, Duke, Kansas, Kentucky and more. He ultimately chose UCLA where he would only spend one season before heading to the NBA.

With the 14th pick in the 2013 NBA Draft, the Utah Jazz selected Muhammad and packaged him with newly drafted Gorgui Dieng to get Trey Burke.

Muhammad would head to Minny and join Kevin Love in his last season with the Wolves.

Since then, Minnesota has added Andrew Wiggins and Karl Anthony-Towns while adding Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague and Taj Gibson over the past couple of weeks.

Minnesota is going all in for the playoffs and as a result of their free agent spending spree, they had to rescind the qualifying offer for one of their youngsters.

In what was a tough decision, Minnesota pulls QO from Shabazz Muhammad and he's now an unrestricted free agent, league sources tell ESPN. — Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) July 3, 2017

The 24-year-old Muhammad now hits unrestricted free agency where the offers might be sporadic across the board.

With Minnesota stacked with their previous young core, Muhammad was forced to come off the bench in Minny as he only started 14 games over the course of his four years in the league. Over the past three seasons, Muhammad has averaged right at 20 minutes a game as one of the first guards off the bench.

For Dallas, Muhammad could hit the type of player mold they are looking for in free agency.

With Dallas changing gears this offseason in regards to free agency approach, younger players who are looking for a new opportunity to get their career jumpstarted seem to be the main targets.

For the 24-year-old Muhammad who has been in the shadows of better, younger talent in Minny, this could be his chance.

For the right price, Dallas should make the call to Muhammad’s camp as he could be a younger body to develop off the bench on the wing.