UPDATE (5:27 PM EST): Marc Stein of ESPN.com reported that the Mavericks have received a verbal commitment from Peja Stojakovic, who was just waived by the Toronto Raptors this afternoon, to join the team. That’s not a rosy development for Pavlovic, who will almost surely be released at the conclusion of his second 10-day contract.
4:31 PM EST: When Caron Butler was essentially ruled out for the rest of the season, the Mavs needed to find a way to fill minutes until Rodrigue Beaubois was eventually able to return from a foot injury that has sidelined him up to this point. DeShawn Stevenson jumped into the fray and thrived, but Dallas needed more help still. Jason Terry couldn’t log overtime minutes, if only because he was fighting his way out of a slump. Rookie Dominique Jones tried his hand, but has faced serious issues finishing around the rim and doesn’t have much of a jump shot. The deep, veteran roster Donnie Nelson, Mark Cuban, and Rick Carlisle had assembled suddenly looked quite limited, and an injury to Dirk Nowitzki put an unfair amount of pressure on the Mavs supporting cast. Dallas boasts a solid complementary group, but they just didn’t have the offense to overcome the absences of both Butler and Nowitzki.
Yet when 10-day contract season arrived, the Mavs inked Sasha Pavlovic as a short-term option. Pavlovic is not a prolific scorer, and in some of his seasons has been reduced to a bit of a three-point specialist. He was not going to fill in significant minutes on the wing, or provide the Mavs with any kind of instant offense. He seemed like an odd fit, to say the least; his skills are a bit redundant with DeShawn Stevenson already on-board and playing well, and Pavlovic doesn’t generate much offense of his own.
But Pavlovic has played well for Dallas during his short stay, and definitely justified another 10 days with the team — which he was granted, as the team announced this morning — on the strength of his 11-point, three-rebound performance last night against the Lakers. Pavlovic actually joined the starting lineup thanks to Rick Carlisle’s decision to move Shawn Marion back to the bench, and he responded with 5-of-7 shooting in 24 minutes of action. Last night aside, Pavlovic had only made a basket here and there, but he played well in his first round with extended minutes. Based on the strength of last night’s performance, it should be interesting to see if Carlisle elects to keep Pavlovic in the starting five. A vote of confidence that pronounced would certainly bode well for Pavlovic’s long-term chances with the Mavs, and as long as he continues to compete defensively and hit his open looks, Pavlovic seems to have a pretty decent shot of sticking on the roster.
