After spending the preseason and summer league with the Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association, former Stony Brook forward Jameel Warney was waived, verified by Warney in a phone call.
He tweeted, “Next chapter. See y’all soon,” at 4:16 p.m. on Sunday.
Warney first received the news after practice. Team officials took him to the film room where he was told that he was cut, according to Warney. The Mavericks are in the process of trimming their roster to 15 players to start the NBA season.
“Obviously it’s a bad feeling,” Warney said. “But, hey, it’s a bigger picture than this now. Hopefully, one day I’ll be laughing about this moment.”
He played three games in the preseason and averaged 4.0 points and 2.7 rebounds in nine minutes of play per game for Dallas. He faced heavy competition on the roster as he competed for playing time against Mavericks’ second-round pick A.J. Hammons, two-year veteran Dwight Powell and four-year veteran Quincy Acy.
An ankle injury sustained in the weeks preceding training camp did not help Warney’s chances.
“You kind of have to be realistic about stuff,” Warney said. “It was going to be a slim chance without my ankle injury, but with the ankle injury, it kind of just crushed my dreams.”
Now that he is a free agent, Warney is able to sign with any team in both the NBA and the NBA Developmental League. He also is free to sign with any international teams.
“I’m going through D-League,” Warney said. The Texas Legends are looking at signing Warney. The team is the D-League affiliate of the Dallas Mavericks and if Warney were to sign with the Legends, he could potentially be called up to the Mavericks.
The three-time America East Player of the Year went undrafted in the 2016 NBA Draft and signed to the Mavericks the next day. He later played in the Las Vegas Summer League, averaging 6.5 points per game and 6.5 rebounds per game in 16.4 minutes per game.
“I believe that things happen for a reason,” he said. “I just got to get healthy and be ready for my next step in life.”
