Dee Brown to compete for spot on Mavericks

by Earl K. Sneed of Dallas Mavericks

Brown will go into camp with future Hall of Famer Jason Kidd, up-and-comer Roddy Beaubois, and four-year veteran J.J. Barea ahead of him on the depth chart.

Photo by Joe Murphy / NBAE via Getty Images

Dee Brown

Through an email from Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, Earl K. Sneed confirms that former college star Dee Brown has been invited to the Mavericks' training camp with a non-guaranteed contract. Brown will compete for the 15th and final spot on the Mavs' roster.

Can Dee Brown revitalize his NBA career in Dallas?

The former standout at Illinois certainly hopes so after announcing through his Twitter account on Thursday that he will be attending the Mavericks' training camp with a non-guaranteed contract. Here's what the 6-footer posted:

"...today my agent confirmed vet camp with the dallas mavericks!

"@mcuban (Mavericks owner Mark Cuban's Twitter handle) Thanks for the great opportunity to represent your organization much respect DB! I want to thank the mavs org. for showing interest,n giving me this opportunity...Let me clear this situation up!nothing guaranteed I have to go n get it!its still a blessing cuz I have always said I would do this for FREE."

Cuban later confirmed to Mavs.com in an email that Brown has been invited to camp to compete for a spot on the team.

The former All-American for the Fighting Illini is hoping to turn heads when camp begins on Sept. 28, as he tries to secure the 15th and final spot on the roster. Brown came to fame as a member of the three-guard lineup for Illinois that included fellow NBAers Deron Williams of the Utah Jazz and Luther Head of the Indiana Pacers.

Brown, a 2006 second-round pick of the Jazz, has also seen time with Washington and Phoenix in the Association. This offseason, he also competed with the Toronto Raptors' summer league squad. The point guard has bounced in and out of the league, even spending time playing professionally overseas including last season with Maccabi Tel Aviv in Israel.

Now Brown is hoping to find a home in Big D, despite the guard-heavy lineup. But it won't be an easy journey back into an NBA locker room.

Brown will go into camp with future Hall of Famer Jason Kidd, up-and-comer Roddy Beaubois and four-year veteran J.J. Barea ahead of him on the depth chart at the point. The Mavericks will also have the likes of Caron Butler, Jason Terry, Shawn Marion and rookie Dominique Jones to contend with if Brown tries to earn minutes playing on the wings.

Either way, Brown now has his foot in the door and he has an opportunity to step back into the league. If he earns it.

Stay connected with Dallas Mavericks inside reporter Earl K. Sneed by clicking "like" on his Facebook page or by following him on Twitter. Got a question for EKS? Send your question, along with your first name, last initial, city and state with the subject line "Ask EKS" to askeks@dallasmavs.com, and you could be published on Mavsfastbreak.com, the Mavericks' new official blog site.