Trade & FA 2025-26: Free Agency Starts 5pm CST/6pm EST

[RGP1981]

Have y'all seen what KD said about Jabari Smith Jr.?

Now would be a really good time for a savvy Front Office to try trading for Jabari, he could pair really well with Coop at the Forward position.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

https://x.com/KeithSmithNBA/status/20237...22014?s=20


Deadlines for NBA teams to have 14 players signed to standard contracts.

[DanSchwartzgan]

I noticed that Ivey got a DNP-CD last night...his fifth game with Chicago.  He started 3 of the previous four and gave way to Sexton in the fourth game.  Giddy was out all four, but was back last night and Sexton got the bench role over Ivey.

Isaac at Locked-On has said several times in the last week that he thinks Gafford gets traded this summer.  Chicago was one of the rumored destinations.  If we don't draft a guard, I wonder if a Gafford for S&T Ivey might be in order.  If Dallas stays under the first apron next season, the $7.5mm spread applies.  That infers maximum starting salaries of about $24mm in the first year which works for both sides under the BYC rules (as would trading Ivey into the TPE we have and starting him at about $21mm).

What Chicago did at the trade deadline was just strange bringing in so many guards.  They don't control Simons (other than Bird rights), but they can extract value for Ivey if they choose to go down that road.  Much depends on who the teams draft, but Dallas needs to add a guard if they draft a forward.  You have to look beyond the Kyrie years to see the benefit as Ivey is small-ish and you wouldn't want to play them together (the same applies to Acuff, Flemings and Brown).  But, Ivey would be a high upside swing and would help with our need for creation from the wing.  If the cost was Gafford and I ended up with someone like Ament or even Wagler in the draft, I'd take that swing and try to develop him to become the Kyrie replacement in a couple of years.  BTW, Ivey's agent is also Flagg's agent FWIW.

[Chicagojk]

I noticed that Ivey got a DNP-CD last night...his fifth game with Chicago.  He started 3 of the previous four and gave way to Sexton in the fourth game.  Giddy was out all four, but was back last night and Sexton got the bench role over Ivey.

Isaac at Locked-On has said several times in the last week that he thinks Gafford gets traded this summer.  Chicago was one of the rumored destinations.  If we don't draft a guard, I wonder if a Gafford for S&T Ivey might be in order.  If Dallas stays under the tax next season, the $7.5mm spread applies.  If they operate over the tax, but below the first apron, the 125% rule applies.  Those infer maximum starting salaries of about $24mm in the first case and about $21.5mm in the second.  Either of those numbers solve the BYC issue (as would trading Ivey into the TPE we have and starting him at about $21mm).

What Chicago did at the trade deadline was just strange bringing in so many guards.  They don't control Simons (other than Bird rights), but they can extract value for Ivey if they choose to go down that road.  Much depends on who the teams draft, but Dallas needs to add a guard if they draft a forward.  You have to look beyond the Kyrie years to see the benefit as Ivey is small-ish and you wouldn't want to play them together (the same applies to Acuff, Flemings and Brown).  But, Ivey would be a high upside swing and would help with our need for creation from the wing.  If the cost was Gafford and I ended up with someone like Ament or even Wagler in the draft, I'd take that swing and try to develop him to become the Kyrie replacement in a couple of years.  BTW, Ivey's agent is also Flagg's agent FWIW.

Quote from Ivey last night.  Looks like he is not right.

https://x.com/Sam_Vecenie/status/2024820981853012435

[DanSchwartzgan]

Quote from Ivey last night.  Looks like he is not right.

https://x.com/Sam_Vecenie/status/2024820981853012435

I wonder if a broken bone is like an ACL in that you aren't 100% when you first come back from the injury.

[Chicagojk]

I wonder if a broken bone is like an ACL in that you aren't 100% when you first come back from the injury.

It probably didn't help when he came back from his broken bone that he had a knee scope (or some kind of surgery).  Probably has little trust in his body right now and must be a little depressing not being able to move like he use to.   It will probably take some time to get his confidence up and stay healthy before we see the real Ivey again.

[DanSchwartzgan]

It appears I made two mistakes in what I said about trade matching above.  1.  The $7.5mm trade band for players in the middle tier of salary ($7.5mm to $29mm) now rises as the cap rises.  In other words, $7.5mm is now indexed for cap inflation and will be a larger number next summer.  2.  Also, being under the tax doesn't matter.  The first apron will be the limiting factor as Dallas would be hard capped for taking back more salary.  Gemini and ChatGPT weren't in agreement on this, so I had to keep digging (as I was too lazy to look it up myself).

We focus on the TPE and the MLE, but if we are sending out salary, whether it be Gafford or PJ or whomever, there is actually more space to be used (whether for a free agent or not) under the trade matching rules.  If we are really trying to team build and add talent around Flagg and our 2026 pick, a trade or S&T provides more room to work with than the TPE.

[loki]

I noticed that Ivey got a DNP-CD last night...his fifth game with Chicago.  He started 3 of the previous four and gave way to Sexton in the fourth game.  Giddy was out all four, but was back last night and Sexton got the bench role over Ivey.

Isaac at Locked-On has said several times in the last week that he thinks Gafford gets traded this summer.  Chicago was one of the rumored destinations.  If we don't draft a guard, I wonder if a Gafford for S&T Ivey might be in order.  If Dallas stays under the first apron next season, the $7.5mm spread applies.  That infers maximum starting salaries of about $24mm in the first year which works for both sides under the BYC rules (as would trading Ivey into the TPE we have and starting him at about $21mm).

What Chicago did at the trade deadline was just strange bringing in so many guards.  They don't control Simons (other than Bird rights), but they can extract value for Ivey if they choose to go down that road.  Much depends on who the teams draft, but Dallas needs to add a guard if they draft a forward.  You have to look beyond the Kyrie years to see the benefit as Ivey is small-ish and you wouldn't want to play them together (the same applies to Acuff, Flemings and Brown).  But, Ivey would be a high upside swing and would help with our need for creation from the wing.  If the cost was Gafford and I ended up with someone like Ament or even Wagler in the draft, I'd take that swing and try to develop him to become the Kyrie replacement in a couple of years.  BTW, Ivey's agent is also Flagg's agent FWIW.

Ivey could be interesting as a reclamation project, but I think you would only want him on a short term bargain contract. 

I'll throw an idea out there if they go the opposite route and draft a guard. Gafford to Atlanta for Corey Kispert. That gives you a much better shooting SF next to Flagg on a sub-MLE contract for the next 3 years. It would allow Naji to function as Flagg's backup so you can keep the ball in his hands a bit more when he's out there.