Detroit’s Chris Douglas-Roberts is back in the NBA after dominating the D-League competition
December 23, 2012 in Professional
When veteran guard Derek Fisher went down with an injury and subsequently asked for his release from the Dallas Mavericks, the Mavs didn’t have to look far to find a replacement. Marc Stein of ESPN.com reports that Mavs will call up Detroit native Chris Douglas-Roberts, who was briefly with the team in training camp and was playing for their D-League affiliate, the Texas Legends, this season. From Stein:
The Mavericks, league sources told ESPN, will be calling up Chris Douglas-Roberts from the Frisco-based Texas Legends to replace Fisher. Widely rated as the top current NBA prospect in the D-League, Douglas-Roberts is scheduled to play for the Legends in Saturday night’s home game against Iowa before joining the Mavericks on Sunday in San Antonio.
In nine games as a Maverick after signing Nov. 29, Fisher averaged 8.6 points and 3.6 assists in just over 25 minutes per game.
The Mavericks are eager to see if Douglas-Roberts can give them the backcourt scoring and penetration they’ve been seeking after his time in the NBA’s developmental league, but sources said that Dallas is likewise expected to continue exploring potential trade options to strengthen its point guard position, which has been a problem all season.
Above when I said Douglas-Roberts ‘played for’ the Legends, that wasn’t an entirely accurate description. During his D-League stint, Douglas-Roberts was the top player in the league, a dominant, do-it-all perimeter threat who scored nearly 28 points per game, shot 50 percent, made 40 percent of his three-pointers and averaged 5.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.
Douglas-Roberts is still no guarantee to stick with the Mavericks, but he has undoubtedly earned his latest shot at sticking in the NBA with that outstanding performance.
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