After not being picked in the 2025 NBA Draft, Gonzaga’s Ryan Nembhard will join the Dallas Mavericks on a two-way contract. It only took less than 15 minutes after the end of the draft for a franchise to quickly acquire the Zag.

The 6-0, 180-pound facilitator will be signing a non-guaranteed deal that allows him to play up to 50 games with the big club, but should be spending most of his time in the G-League while developing his game with the Texas Legends. His salary will be about half the rookie minimum. For the 2024-25 season, the average rookie minimum was a bit under $600K, meaning a two-way contract would pay around $300K.

In 134 starts with the Creighton Bluejays and Gonzaga Bulldogs, Nembhard averaged 11.7 points on a shooting split of 43.2 field goal percentage, 40.4 three-point percentage, and 77.0 free throw percentage. He also contributed 3.5 rebounds and 1.7 steals throughout his memorable collegiate career.

His 882 total career assists rank him at No. 21 on the all-time college basketball list. In his senior campaign, Nembhard led the nation in assists per game at 9.8 in 2024-25 and became Gonzaga’s single-season assists leader with 344.

He’s the complete package that scouts and general managers should have been looking for in the collection of talent available in Brooklyn. This is a dream teammate for anyone to be playing alongside due to his tremendous feel for the game, vision, and overall unselfishness.

Ultimately, extremely surprised that the Golden State Warriors passed on the floor general, as they were in need of a reserve lead guard like himself. Golden State general manager Mike Dunleavy was extremely active during the late picks of the second round and has seen Nembhard multiple times in person when the Zags were on their Bay Area road trips during West Coast Conference play.

With Dallas’ Kyrie Irving suffering a season-ending torn ACL in his left knee against the Sacramento Kings back in March, the nine-time NBA All-Star is expecting a January/February return for the 2025-26 campaign. Nembhard has an opportunity to possibly step in and play pivotal minutes off the bench, at least for the first half of the season.

Given his playmaking abilities and the surrounding talent in Anthony Davis, Klay Thompson, and Derrick Lively II, this looks to be the best possible fit for an undrafted free agent to succeed. Next for Nembhard is the NBA 2K26 Las Vegas Summer League, where he will be playing with the No. 1 overall pick Cooper Flagg for the first time. The popular showcase starts on July 10th.

is a Gonzaga University graduate from the Bay Area... Follow him on Twitter @a_cravalho