It was a whirlwind 24-hour cycle for new Maverick Antonius Cleveland, a period that began with inking his first NBA contract and ended with him defending Andrew Wiggins during a meaningful stretch of a game.
Cleveland, 23, signed with the Mavs on Friday afternoon and took the floor that night, checking into the game for the final possession of the third quarter to defend Wiggins, who took the inbound pass and ended up losing the ball before getting a chance to shoot it, thanks in part to Cleveland’s pressure.
The rookie came a long way geographically to get to Dallas — joining the NBA squad via a two-way contract from the G League’s Santa Cruz Warriors — but in basketball terms he came even further: The 6-foot-6 Cleveland stood at just 5-foot-8 as a junior in high school.