Trade & FA 2024-25:

[F Gump]

At some point, I am hoping that this board can fill in the gaps on the Dereck Jones Jr debacle.

Was this an issue about money? Was it about the timing of the trade? Was this an issue strictly about weird rules concerning agents? Is Dereck Jones happy to be a Clipper? How did this get screwed up and why isn't he a Maverick?

As we are getting numbers on deals, I don't think money had anything to do with it. DAL had room for Klay at 50M and also DJJ at 30M (the deal he got from LAC), and I think that was what the Mavs offered. Maybe they even had an agreement of sorts with DJJ, like everyone said.

I think DJJ got cold feet when it looked like DAL would have the money but no assured starting job, and they both went to their backup plan -- DJJ found the same deal in LA who had a starting job open, while DAL pivoted to Naji (who happened to be a bit less expensive).