Former Magic guard-forward Jett Howard signed a two-way contract with the Dallas Mavericks, the team announced Monday night.
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It’s a low-risk, high-reward move for the Western Conference franchise in signing the Magic’s 2023 first-round pick, the No. 11 selection in the draft. Howard appeared in 133 regular-season games in three seasons for Orlando.
Howard became an unrestricted free agent this summer after the Magic declined in October to pick up his fourth-year rookie team option worth $7.3 million for the 2026-27 season.
The 6-foot-8 wing averaged 5.5 points and 1.6 rebounds during 12.6 minutes per night in 55 games this past season.
The Magic had high hopes for Howard to help improve their 3-point shooting when they drafted him out of the University of Michigan in the 2023 lottery, but he fell short of meeting those expectations.
Howard, the son of former Michigan star and 19-year NBA veteran Juwan Howard, shot 28% from beyond the arc as a rookie and just 29.6% from 3-point range in his second year. During his third year in the league, he improved to shooting a career-best 37.2% from distance but only attempted 2.6 triples per game in limited action.
While he improved defensively throughout his three seasons in Orlando, Howard lacked the defensive intensity required to see the floor consistently under former Magic coach Jamahl Mosley, who was fired in May after a third straight first-round exit in the playoffs.
Although Howard didn’t make an instant impact similar to the type made by fellow 2023 first-round pick Anthony Black, Orlando also was unable to mold him into its defensive-minded system.
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Turning 23 on Sept. 14, Howard now gets a fresh start in Dallas, but he’ll still have to earn his way to the court on a two-way deal. Two-way players can go between the NBA and the G League, but they’re limited to being active for just 50 NBA games and can’t play in the playoffs.
The Mavericks waived two-way forward Tyler Smith in order to make room to sign Howard. Teams are limited to three two-way contracts.
Orlando has all three of its two-way spots filled for the upcoming season: Colin Castleton, Alex Morales and rookie second-round pick Izaiyah Nelson.
Dallas is coached by Dusty May, who spent the last two seasons at Michigan and won a national championship there in the spring. The Mavericks fired coach Jason Kidd after five seasons earlier this offseason.
At Michigan, May replaced Jett Howard’s father, Juwan, after he was fired by the school in March 2024.
It’s been quite the rise for May, who led Florida Atlantic University to the Final Four in 2023. May is the first college head coach to make the jump directly to NBA head coach since the Cleveland Cavaliers hired Michigan’s John Beilein in 2019.
Playing for his father at Michigan, Jett Howard earned All-Big Ten third-team honors and Big Ten All-Freshman team honors in his lone season for the Wolverines in 2022-23.
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Jason Beede can be reached at [email protected]