NBA Notes: Mavericks, Naji Marshall, Nets, D’Angelo Russell, Darryn Peterson, Jazz

Mavericks

There’s plenty of talk about Kyrie Irving and Cooper Flagg heading into the season, and rightfully so. They’re the Mavericks’ anchors.

But Naji Marshall sounds as if he believes he can be an X-factor — particularly from the perimeter.

“Nothing but net threes. That’s it, gonna make me unstoppable,” Marshall told reporters at media day. “I truly believe that. I worked very hard on that. So, I’m not gonna surprise me, but I might surprise some of you guys.”

Dallas signed Marshall to a three-year, $51.8 million contract extension this summer, so they clearly believe in him. Can he be a 3-point threat after hitting less than 30 percent for his career? We shall see, but clearly Marshall believes.

Nets

D’Angelo Russell has already played for the Nets. He was just waived by the Grizzlies. Would another run with the Nets make sense?

Sameer Kumar of Nets on SI seems to think so, writing that Russell would be a nice veteran addition to Brooklyn’s younger backcourt.

“The Nets’ main priority is to obviously give Mikel Brown Jr. and Egor Demin as many reps with the ball in their hands as possible, with Nolan Traore expected to earn significant minutes off the bench,” Kumar wrote.

“However, Russell could bring some much-needed veteran leadership at point guard and help Brown and Demin learn the ropes of being a floor general at the next level, especially in a big market like New York.”

Kumar makes a valid point. Russell has seen nearly everything in the NBA and played in multiple situations. The Nets could use some veteran voices. So maybe it can indeed be a match made in hoops heaven.

Jazz

Darryn Peterson has yet to play a game for the Jazz, but head of basketball operations Austin Ainge already likes what he’s seeing.

“He’s a really mature young man,” Ainge told reporters, via Jared Koch of NBA on SI. “He’s a really hard worker. He came in with a lot of these things well developed for his age. I mean, he came in with work ethic, and an intensity, and a focus that we didn’t have to teach him, which is really unique for young guys.”

“We’ve seen him work every day, and he’s picked things up relatively quickly. He’s going to have to go a lot more here when his camp starts. But the stuff that we’ve thrown at him, he’s picked it up as well, as any young player I’ve been around.”

Peterson began his high school career at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, not far from Cleveland, before eventually moving on to Kansas. He missed too much time there with injuries. Utah is hoping for a different outcome in Year One.