07-05-2026, 07:56 AM
(07-05-2026, 03:11 AM)F Gump Wrote: Yes, that's the buyout and the Mavs can pay part if they want to (and then Tarik would have to pay the rest).
Of course, last year there was no buyout cost at all, and instead of signing with MEM, he signed a new deal with his Euro team that now will cost him money to get out of. The rules didn't change - when he signed that contract, he knew it had a buyout that would have him asking an NBA team to pay it, if he wants to play in the NBA. He signed it anyhow. The idea that DAL can just go ahead and pay part of it, and pay him more salary too to cover his buyout, that's a good line for Tarik to use in negotiating, but unless he is All-World in Europe (and I've seen nothing that says he is), the Mavs may be willing to just wait. Today's Europe-based report that the Mavs have "not yet come close" on the money would hint that that's kinda where things are.
We'll see where it goes, but right now I'm kinda skeptical he'll be coming.
It all makes me wonder if he used MEM as a negotiating tool that persuaded his team to give him more - pay me more money to stay, and then tack on a big buyout amount so you can get rewarded for having me under this contract when they come back again!
Could definitely be - on the other hand it could simply be that Memphis couldn’t attract him and wasn’t a fit for him at the time. If Schmitz or Ujiri have a personal connection to him that goes years back or if Dallas is much more interesting to him coming from a special city like Istanbul than the non-city Memphis or he liked Dirk as most of this generation of ballers from Europe do, things could go in the other direction easily.
I‘d love for him to join the summer league team, than we‘ll see first hand what he brings to the table and how he differentiates himself from the rest of the talent.