Mavericks' Wesley Matthews: Exercises player option

Matthews has exercised the $18.6 million player option on his contract for the 2018-19 season, Shams Charania of Yahoo Sports reports.

Matthews' decision means he will return to Dallas for a fourth season. His scoring average dipped to 12.7 ppg during the 2017-18 season, but he did shoot over 40 percent for the first time during the 2014-15 season when he played for Portland. Matthews has started every game he has appeared in for the Mavericks, and he figures to remain in that role for another year. He will have plenty to play for with him set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2019.