Trade & FA 2024-25:

[F Gump]

Wouldn't this deal be legal since its above the 29 million dollar threshold (I assume this happens in July) in total and be subjected to the 125% +250k rule? Since both teams will be below the 1st apron upon completion they wouldn't have to worry about 100% match. Mavs team roster $ would be 177,222,039 and can just waive Lawson to get down to $175,101,356

Or am I misunderstanding the rules?

The math is what governs the situation. The trade has to happen in July (due to MT restriction) and Apron 1 is expected to be about 178.65M. If you do a trade > 100%, you are hard capped at that number until June 30, 2025.

The problem is that the result of that trade forces you over the hard cap (which is not permitted) as you complete your roster. Using your parameters here are the numbers...

1  11  - Roster Size, after doing the trade and waiving Lawson
2 174.5 -  Team Salary (for apron purposes) with those 11. Some contracts use a different number for Apron purposes.
3  4.14 - Room, under Apron 1 (which is your hard cap)
4 1.0 - Cushion Needed under Hard Cap. This is an arbitrary number, but all teams will leave some room in case of emergencies, since there are NO permissions ever given to exceed a hard cap.
5  3 - Empty Roster Slots to fill (minimum number). A team must carry at least 14 players on the roster.
6  2.09 - Minimum Salary. It will cost this much or more to fill each roster slot
7 180.79  - Team Salary after signing 3 players at minimum