DALLAS — DeSagana Diop signed a five-year, $31 million deal with the Dallas Mavericks today, six months after Dallas sent him to New Jersey in the Jason Kidd trade.

The Mavericks used their entire midlevel exception in their second free-agent deal with Diop since 2005.

A lottery pick in Cleveland, Diop struggled before joining Dallas. He combined with Erick Dampier at center when the Mavericks reached the NBA finals in 2006 and won a franchise-record 67 games the next season.

Diop averaged 2.5 points and 5.1 rebounds in 214 games, including 72 starts, with Dallas.