Cooper Flagg is not the only notable rookie who is now headed to Dallas.
The Dallas Mavericks have agreed to a two-way deal with former Gonzaga guard Ryan Nembhard, Michael Scotto of HoopsHype reported on Thursday. Nembhard was not selected during this year’s NBA Draft but has quickly managed to find a landing spot with Dallas.
A 22-year-old point guard, Nembhard led the NCAA in assists last season with 9.8 per game. He rounded out his stat line for Gonzaga with 10.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.7 steals per game, ultimately earning a First Team All-WCC nod as well.
Nembhard has an older brother who is already in the NBA too — Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard. Andrew was a playoff hero for Indiana this season as they made to within one win of the NBA title. He averaged 12.5 points and 4.7 assists per game on 47/47/80 shooting splits during the 2025 postseason while providing excellent defense on the likes of Jalen Brunson and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to boot.
As for Ryan, Dallas figures to be an ideal landing spot for him. That is because there should be plenty of minutes to go around at the guard position with Kyrie Irving potentially set to miss all of the 2025-26 season with a torn ACL (though Irving did just agree to a lucrative new contract extension with the Mavs).
Dallas did not have another selection in the 2025 NBA Draft after using the No. 1 overall pick on Flagg. But they may have just found a gem among the crop of undrafted players this year in the form of Ryan Nembhard.
