Trade & FA 2024-25:

[KillerLeft]

Hollinger write up on small forward free agents.  DJJ is # 10.  Don't take his salary very seriously.  He uses some kind of formula and a lot of times it is way off with reality.

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10. Derrick Jones Jr., Dallas: $12,590,449

The conundrum for the Mavericks is that Jones established himself as being worth the nontaxpayer MLE or something close to it, but right now, Dallas can’t pay him that much. He’s coming off a minimum deal with no Bird rights, and the capped-out Mavs would have to dip into exception money to pay him.

Alas, Dallas would have to get under the tax apron first before it can shell out the nontaxpayer MLE. That likely involves trading either Tim Hardaway Jr. or Maxi Kleber to limbo under the bar.

If the Mavs can’t pull it off, rival suitors will likely await with checkbooks out. Jones, who is somehow still only 27, shot a respectable 34.3 percent from 3 and played exquisite wing defense last season.

I just can't bring myself to expect that level of deal for Jones, the more I think about it. I don't think he'd be grossly overpaid at that number, as long as he continues to improve, but given the landscape out there and the belief that he wants to come back, I just feel like we're looking at something more in the $8-10M range. We'll see.