J.J. Barea has landed a Maverick deal… 

The 31-year-old Puerto Rican professional basketball player has signed a four-year, $16 million deal with the Dallas Mavericks.

Barea had originally agreed to sign a two-year, $5.7 million deal, which would have given him Dallas’ cap-room exception, but both sides negotiated a new deal after center DeAndre Jordan backed out of his commitment to sign a max contract with the Mavs.

“They knew I wanted to be there for a long time,” Barea told ESPN.com. “They wanted me there for a long time, so we made it happen.”

Barea, who has averaged 8.2 points and 3.4 assists during his nine-year career,

Was a key contributor to the Mavericks’ 2010-11 championship team. He returned to Dallas in the fall after being bought out from the Minnesota Timberwolves for the final season of his four-year, $18 million deal.

He spent the first five seasons of his career with the Mavs after breaking into the league as an undrafted free agent, was an effective fourth guard in his second Dallas stint. He averaged 7.5 points and 3.4 assists in 17.7 minutes per game last season. His assist-turnover ratio (3.78-1) ranked behind only the Los Angeles Clippers‘ Chris Paul and the Denver Nuggets‘ Ty Lawson among league leaders.