MAVS NEWS:

[F Gump]

Question:  Dallas has a 16.2 million trade exception from the Hardaway trade.  They may or may not be able to use this with their cap position.    My question, how could this potentially be used for a trade that involves KD or another big name player.  For instance, could this be traded with an asset for a player with a team option and then moved in a bigger deal?  Or is that trade exception probably just lost in the wind?

I watched some KD highlights over the past few weeks.  He is just so damn good.  Still.  I just wouldn't want to gut the team for him.

1 You cannot combine a NS TE with anything else to take back a player with a larger salary.  Obviously that doesn't work re KD's massive salary.
2 But if the Mavs opt to be a team over the 1st Apron (as it appears they are going to have to do), they can't use their NS TE's they have now anyhow. 
3 Using a NS TE in essence adds that amount of extra salary to your payroll, which is contrary to what the Mavs will need to be doing to cram 15 players under Apron 2.

That having been said, I can fashion a trade that does add KD and leaves a core of talent for 2025, allowing for hard cap room under Apron 2 to fill the roster back up, and the result would look like this. 

Outgoing in KD trade (about $12M of which would have to go to a facilitating 3rd team) would be
Klay, Gafford, Martin, Marshall, Powell, OMax, Hardy, 2025 1st, other draft capital

The 2025 Mavs roster then looks like this:

C -  Lively, minimum, minimum
PF - AD, Edwards (minimum), minimum
SF - KD, PJW [backs up both forwards], minimum
SG - Christie, minimum, minimum
PG - Kyrie, Exum ($7M), Williams (minimum)

You also almost certainly move forward in ensuing years as a team OVER Apron 2, with the penalties that flow from that. And your peak window is probably about 2-3 years.