MAVS NEWS:

[Scott41theMavs]

If the Mavs really want to screw up their offseason this badly, they should sign Salah Mejri to a 10-day.

[RasheedsBigWhiteSpot]

This team.

[myconsumerclub]

hope they see what i am seeing in B Will and can reach some sort of agreement and ditto with Jones.

[F Gump]

hope they see what i am seeing in B Will and can reach some sort of agreement and ditto with Jones.

Right now they only have room to sign one or the other (their 15th roster slot is open) for 2 games.

They might be able to do some things to also add a 2nd player for one game, but it's tricky. And it would take skilled GM-ing to properly plan and then execute what's needed. We have plenty of room to be skeptical on that part.

[Chicagojk]

Williams has been so good lately. Legit looks like a rotation player on a good team. Time will tell if that has staying power.

I read one of the advantages of signing a two way guy is you can sign them for another year or so at the minimum as non guaranteed deals. Correct? I really wonder if Williams so no thanks to future years and thinks he could get something g guaranteed and over the minimum this summer?

[Knutsen]

Right now they only have room to sign one or the other (their 15th roster slot is open) for 2 games.

They might be able to do some things to also add a 2nd player for one game, but it's tricky. And it would take skilled GM-ing to properly plan and then execute what's needed. We have plenty of room to be skeptical on that part.

What are the rules for two-way-players in the postseason?
Are they generally allowed to play, are they allowed to accumulate games up to their limit of 50 games or aren’t they allowed at all? 

Bad thing is we wasted 19 of his 50 games without him playing a single minute.

[F Gump]

Williams has been so good lately.  Legit looks like a rotation player on a good team.  Time will tell if that has staying power.

I read one of the advantages of signing a two way guy is you can sign them for another year or so at the minimum as non guaranteed deals.  Correct?  I really wonder if Williams so no thanks to future years and thinks he could get something g guaranteed and over the minimum this summer?

You have the right idea in general, but it has nothing to do with a 2-way player.

When a player's 2-way deal is "converted" to a 15-man roster deal, he can be signed to any contract that the team would be able to sign any other player to. Given that he has been a hybrid G-League level player, the contract offer would almost certainly be for minimum salary.

As for what type of contract, when a team's "Team Salary" is over the cap, they have to use an "exception" to that cap limit and stay within the limits of that exception. Doing something longer is always possible, because every team is granted an unlimited number of Minimum Salary exceptions, which allows up to 2 seasons.

The 1st season would be rest-of-season for the 2024-25 season, which includes any post-season games for the team, and then you go from there.

The Mavs do have some of their MLE still available, and can use a slice, which allows up to 4 seasons in total. Added seasons may be guaranteed or not as the parties negotiate, and an option year is allowable. The ideal for the Mavs after this season would be 2 future non-guaranteed years, followed by a Team Option for the 4th, at the minimum.

While that might seem like a lot of Mav-advantaged contract terms, the other side is that with Williams you have a player who went undrafted in 2021 and has been scuffling to get 2-way deals and develop as a player ever since. If he says no, they may not offer him a deal at all, and he would still be under Mav control as a RFA. I think he would eagerly jump at whatever they want to offer, to get his foot in the door.

One other point: while getting a deal so close to the end of season seems minor, for these players it is not. The reason is that signing to a 15-man deal, even for just one day in the season, even if he does not play, gives a player a year of "service" for that season, and 10 seasons of service guarantees him the MAXIMUM allowable NBA pension of almost 200K for life, once he reaches retirement age.

KNUTSEN: " What are the rules for two-way-players in the postseason?"

Ineligible. You must be a player with a regular 15-man roster contract to be able to play. No exceptions. And no way to expand the number on a team's 15-man to more than that. Mavs have 14 right now.

[Scott41theMavs]

It's a testimony to how bad the Mavs' situation is that, even though Kai Jones is the guy you want longterm (because he might be good enough to make Gafford expendable), and in spite of concerns we might have about Lively and Gafford's availability the rest of the year, Williams is the priority with Kyrie and Exum out. That is, presuming the rather distasteful view that ownership et al. are determined that the Mavs make the playoffs.

[SleepingHero]

What are the rules for two-way-players in the postseason?
Are they generally allowed to play, are they allowed to accumulate games up to their limit of 50 games or aren’t they allowed at all? 

Bad thing is we wasted 19 of his 50 games without him playing a single minute.

2-way players cannot play at all in the post season, regardless if they've maxed out their allotted 50 regular season games or they saved some. 

Only the core 15 roster can play in the playoffs. That includes play-in games.

If we want Kai Jones, B-Will, and/or Edwards to play in those games, they have to be signed to a regular season deal.

[Chicagojk]

Sounds like Gafford is back tonight. lively is Questionable. Really surprised Gafford is back. I am a huge fan of his. May eventually need to be moved but I hope he sticks around for a little while.

[SkenfromLMF]

KNUTSEN: " What are the rules for two-way-players in the postseason?"

Ineligible. You must be a player with a regular 15-man roster contract to be able to play. No exceptions. And no way to expand the number on a team's 15-man to more than that. Mavs have 14 right now.

In theory, IF Dallas wanted to activate 2 of these said players, couldn't they have applied for a medical exception for Irving? It would NOT affect the Hard Cap but it would create an extra roster slot if they have enough room under the Apron... Of course they should have applied for the Hardship WHEN Kyrie had surgery, but again that comes down to proper GM procedural maneuvers. Good Lord I miss Dennis Lindsey

[F Gump]

In theory, IF Dallas wanted to activate 2 of these said players, couldn't they have applied for a medical exception for Irving? It would NOT affect the Hard Cap but it would create an extra roster slot if they have enough room under the Apron... Of course they should have applied for the Hardship WHEN Kyrie had surgery, but again that comes down to proper GM procedural maneuvers. Good Lord I miss Dennis Lindsey

 
No. (These various rules often get confused.)

In mentioning Kyrie, you seem to be citing the Disabled Player Exception rule, which allows a team a Cap Exception (ie, permission to exceed the cap spending limit of ~$141M) to have some spending freedom to sign a player to replace a player who is out for the season. If granted, you get a signing exception for half the salary of the injured player, with a regular contract that can be for multiple years if you wish.

But this is not a permission to exceed the hard cap (there is NO permission for that, ever), nor is it a roster limit exception (to the 15-man maximum), and it must be applied for by Jan 15.

There is a separate, general Hardship Exception to the 15-man roster limit, but it is not tied to a specific player's injury. It is available when a team has 4-or-more players on the 15-man roster who are unavailable to play for an extended period (each of the 4 players must have been out for 3 or more consecutive games, at the point at which a hardship player is added and used) all at the same time. It allows adding player 16 (or more, if the number of such unavailable players is greater than 4) until there are 12 or more who can suit up. But the Mavs have been ineligible to apply for that, since they haven't even been using all the roster spots they have.

It is this Hardship Exception that, in general, could theoretically make it legal for them to use their leftover sliver of money under the hard cap and sign a 16th player for the last day of the season, after first signing a 15th for the last 2 games. But such a signing could not including anything beyond rest-of-season contract, and would not allow any post-season play (only the 15-man roster can play post-season games).

HOWEVER - It is very iffy as to whether they could even qualify for a hardship exception at that point. It takes 4 players who have been out for 3+ games. But with the return of Gaff and Lively looming, it looks like they will only have 3 (Kyrie and OMax are done for the season, and Exum shouldn't be back yet by that point).

[Chicagojk]

I think Brandon Williams is the clear choice. He may not be the best long term fit, but I have really liked what I have seen. Whether you want to see a playin game or two, this team needs guards and speed desperately.

Jones would be your 5th center if everyone is healthy. He has been better than Powell, but Powell isn't going anywhere now. I think there is a decent chance Powell is moved and Jones get that spot. If Jones has been a good worker off the floor.

Edwards probably has the most sought after size/skill. I am just not sure if he can play effectively on the wing. Most of his success was filling in as a small ball 5. You can never have enough 6'8 guys who can defend and hit open shots. The hitting open shots is still a big question.

You could sign two if you waited, but Mavs may want to keep the cap hold open in case there is an interest in bringing back Exum next year.

[chaparral]

What would the future dead money cap hit be for Powell if you scratched waved him now, to add 2 2-way players for the last game and play-in?

[SleepingHero]

@GrantAfseth
Daniel Gafford (right knee sprain) participated in shootaround and is probable to play against the Brooklyn Nets.

I was told Gafford's injury severity was not a Grade 3. Since early after the ASB, consistent optimism has been that he could play with 1-2 weeks left.

[SleepingHero]

@GrantAfseth
Daniel Gafford (right knee sprain) participated in shootaround and is probable to play against the Brooklyn Nets.

I was told Gafford's injury severity was not a Grade 3. Since early after the ASB, consistent optimism has been that he could play with 1-2 weeks left.

Quite literally the first piece of surprising good news to happen for the Mavs in what feels like forever.

[SleepingHero]

What would the future dead money cap hit be for Powell if you scratched waved him now, to add 2 2-way players for the last game and play-in?

Waiving Powell now would not open up space for anyone given that his contract his guaranteed and still counts against the cap for this season.

For next season, the remaining 4 million owed to him would be stretched across 3 years, so it would carry a hit of 1,333,333 per year for the next 3 years of dead space.

That almost alone counts for a vet min deal. So there is no tangible benefit for stretching Powell.

[F Gump]

Waiving Powell now would not open up space for anyone given that his contract his guaranteed and still counts against the cap for this season.

For next season, the remaining 4 million owed to him would be stretched across 3 years, so it would carry a hit of 1,333,333 per year for the next 3 years of dead space.

That almost alone counts for a vet min deal. So there is no tangible benefit for stretching Powell.

Powell doesn't make sense financially as a player to waive, both for the financial hit that would ensue as you note, but also for the fact that he can serve as cap filler in an offseason trade (which would then remove his salary entirely). I expect there will be a trade, and his salary will be needed. Their payroll really cannot afford to be clogged with dead money.

HOWEVER -- the idea that waiving Powell (or some other player) can't open up a way to sign an extra player is NOT correct. They only have a sliver of spending room as is, but that's all they need.

Using Powell as an example, if he was waived, their payroll would stay exactly the same. BUT - their issue is a lack of roster slots for more than 1 player, and waiving a player then opens up that slot to allow them to sign someone - to the extent they can afford to do so under the hard cap.

As I have mentioned elsewhere already, they have enough money for 4 days at the minimum. That would allow 2 games (which is 3 days) for 1 player into the existing open slot, and leave 1 day pay left over. If they free up another space, they can then sign another player to the 15-man for that 1 day, plus postseason play. Both of those deals could be for up to 4 years (counting the small contract this year as the 1st year) with various possibilities as to money length, guarantees, option year, etc and would also make the player eligible for postseason play.

IMO the only player that might make sense to waive would be Exum, since he is injured and his contract is expiring. However, he might be available at some point if there's a playoff run. Waiving him also comes at the cost of removing his Bird rights, if they intend to try to resign him, which could create a problem in that regard. There could be a workaround, they could have Tx MLE to serve that purpose (to the extent it does not pass the Apron 2 hard cap line).

The benefit to be gained would be to lock up Jones as well as Williams on favorable deals for several years. There's also the angle that if you don't get a favorable deal (paying minimum salary), you don't do one at all, because their future cap won't support it so why bother (especially with Jones, who won't be that needed this season once both Gaff and Lively return, and with Powell as an available emergency backup).

Roster slots next season then become an issue, but a trade can solve that, and the common idea mentioned is a 2 or 3 player package for Ball.

[Chicagojk]

next game it is Dyson Daniels against our non Dinwiddie guards as they try to get the team into offense. That may not be pretty.

[Chicagojk]

I just don't know how the math works with this current team. I just have a drastic different view how this roster should be put together to even have a chance. Even if you don't even consider the Luka trade. If they want to play big, you need all your guards to be able to shoot, break down defenses and get into the lane for themselves or throw oops to the bigs. For me, I would move Marshall and then Klay would be my backup three. He just doesn't do the above good enough to be my starting two..especially with the lack of creation of the roster. It is why the Grimes trade was so tough (plus giving up the pick). Grimes would be a really nice piece. The second round pick could be included for a guy like Jordan Clarkson (he provides some pop). Add a first round pick who can dribble, shoot and break down defenses and you are starting to see a route (may not be a great route though). Have bigs who can win on the inside and make it difficult to score at the rim and everyone else can break down defenses and hit open shots. PJ and Klay are your recipients of these players who can penetrate. Instead we have a team who has no creators and is not a good shooting team. I have no idea how you think this is a way to put together a roster (even if you pretended Luka was never a mav).

The last two games the Mavs made 7 and 4 threes. I have no idea how they think that is the right way to build a roster.