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Earlier this week, word broke that DeJuan Blair was a strong candidate to sign with the Dallas Mavericks. On Wednesday night, he appeared to make it official with a brief statement and tweeting a photo of himself in a Dallas jersey:
DALLAS ITS OFFICIAL!!!! http://t.co/hwvFbNeOLw
— DeJuan Blair (@DeJuan45) August 1, 2013
Terms haven't been disclosed yet.
We didn't know where the former Pitt center would land, but one thing we were sure of was that he wasn't headed back to the San Antonio Spurs. As I wrote several times (and most recently here), Blair and the team really grew apart as his playing time continued to shrink. Whenever he got into games he contributed, but head coach Gregg Popovich apparently wasn't a big fan and Blair barely got off the bench in most of the team's playoff games after initially getting some time early on.
After averaging about 20 minutes a game in his first three seasons, Blair was cut to only 14 this year and obviously his stats took a hit. After averaging about 8.5 points and 6.5 rebounds per game over his first three years, Blair's numbers dipped to only 5.4 points and 3.8 rebounds this year.
He'll get a fresh start in Dallas and even teaming up with Pittsburgh native Mark Cuban. More on how Blair will fit in with his new team to come.
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