Getty Eugene Omoruyi defends Isaiah Joe in NBA Summer League.
As good as the Dallas Mavericks are right now, they also have quite a bit of young talent they’re looking to develop for the future. Over the past few weeks, many of these young prospects have grown during training camp and showcased their talent in preseason games.
One of the players who has been the most impressive to this point has been Eugene Omoruyi. Currently on a two-way deal, he’s shown the potential to actually make an impact at the NBA level this season as a rookie.
There’s been quite a few two-way players in each of the last few season who have earned full-time NBA contracts, getting their two-way deals converted. Could Omoruyi be the next?
While Omoruyi will certainly spend quite a bit of time in the G League this season, he has a skillset that will prove to be valuable in certain situations when he does play up with the Mavericks.
Coming into camp, Omoruyi was a relatively unknown player. Now, he’s become a Dallas fan favorite.
Who is Omoruyi?
Omoruyi was an excellent player in college, but went undrafted in recent 2021 NBA Draft as many players do. He began his college career at Rutgers back in 2016, but transferred to Oregon for his senior season in 2020.
With that in mind, he really started to blossom as a player after he moved schools. In his debut game for for Oregon, he recorded a career-high 31 points and 11 rebounds. Overall in that senior season, Omoruyi averaged 17.1 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.5 steals per contest. His excellent on-court play that season earned him First Team All-Pac-12 honors.
The Mavericks saw something in Omoruyi that intrigued them enough to sign him to this two-way contract. Each season, teams are only allowed to sign two players to these types of deals.
He was ultimately one of the best players for Dallas in NBA Summer League, averaging 14.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game. From there, he would really begin to make a name for himself in the preseason.
NBA Preseason Success
Omoruyi has had a spectacular preseason to this point. In fact, through three preseason games he has averaged 9.0 points per game, good for seventh on the entire team. He’s doing it efficiently as well, shooting 52.6% from the floor and 40.0% from beyond the arc.
Have yourself a night, Eugene Omoruyi!
Even outside of scoring, Omoruyi has found other ways to impact the team. He’s produced 5.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.0 steals per game thus far in the preseason.
Omoruyi had his best preseason game against the LA Clippers, where he scored a team-high 19 points (8-for-14 from the floor) along with five rebounds and two steals in just 22 minutes off the bench.
It’s been against a lower level of competition than what Omoruyi will see in the regular season, but his recent summer league and preseason performance have been extremely impressive. As he continues to grow as a player, he could ultimately become a valuable role player for the Mavericks in the future.
Although he’s already 24 years old, which is older than most rookies around the league, he is extremely mature as a player on the court. Only time will tell, but keep an eye on Omoruyi in the upcoming season as an underrated piece for Dallas.