Mavericks waive Eric Griffin, Yuki Togashi
Eric Griffin just got paid $150,000 for two weeks of work.
On Tuesday, the Dallas Mavericks announced they have waived the small forward along with point guard Yuki Togashi, trimming their roster to 18. Both moves were largely expected when the players were signed, and it's believed each player will land with the Texas Legends, the Mavericks' exclusive D-League affiliate, if they clear waivers.
The moves are par for the course this week, but in this case the two players being cut warrant some attention.
Togashi signed with the team just last week and didn't appear in a single preseason game. The 5-foot-7 Summer League fan-favorite would be the NBA's shortest player since 2012 and its first Japanese player since 2004, but he was signed largely with the intent of eventually waiving him and sending him to the Legends to further develop.
Griffin's case is slightly more interesting because he received a reported $150,000 in guaranteed money to sign a three-year deal with the Mavericks this summer. The hope appeared to be that the Mavericks would have a valuable, largely non-guaranteed, multi-year contract if Griffin was good enough to make the team. If they had to waive him, the $150,000 stands as a bit of a loyalty purchase, keeping Griffin stateside in the D-League instead of having him play overseas.
Griffin appeared in just two preseason games, scoring one point and grabbing two rebounds in 10 minutes.