With the inception of two-way contracts, NBA teams’ relationships with their G League affiliates are becoming more important than ever. The Mavericks have one distinct advantage over most of their competitors because of how close the Texas Legends are — just a 20-minute drive up the Tollway.
But they have other legs up, too. For starters, Donnie Nelson has been intimately involved in the goings-on in Frisco for years, providing the Mavs a chance to give long, hard looks at players on other teams, and their own, with relative ease. Any time a player from the NBA squad is sent to Frisco, a Mavs contingent of up to half a dozen follows close behind, taking in the game and monitoring the progress of whoever’s on assignment.