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[DanSchwartzgan]

I like the structure of the Exum deal.  Two years @$6mm.  Eats part of the MLE this season and is non-guaranteed next.  If he’s bad….bye.  If he’s good, he’ll be EB after the second year.  So many little smart decisions this summer.  I suspect Curry will also be part of the MLE.

[mvossman]

I like the structure of the Exum deal.  Two years @$6mm.  Eats part of the MLE this season and is non-guaranteed next.  If he’s bad….bye.  If he’s good, he’ll be EB after the second year.  So many little smart decisions this summer.  I suspect Curry will also be part of the MLE.

How much MLE does that leave us and how much under the tax are we right now?  Curious if there is any point in stretch waiving McGee vs just waiving him and still holding out hope for derrick Jones Jr.

[StrandedOnBeauboisHill]

Has anyone read Cato's latest article? His takes are just becoming stranger and stranger to me. Maybe I'm out of touch but this was from the article:

"Prosper’s recurring Dorian Finney-Smith comparison, however, is more a product of proximity than exactness. Prosper has a defensive presence that doesn’t always show up statistically, which is similar to Finney-Smith. But he’s looked better at ball denial and shrinking the floor off-ball than locking down top scorers with on-ball defense. In other words, Prosper’s defensive impact is more similar to Reggie Bullock, just with Finney-Smith’s size."

I just don't know what Reggie Bullock he was watching and DFS was doing a ton off ball after Reggie got here (not saying he wasn't also dominate as an on ball defender, just that this was a really strange assessment to me).

[KillerLeft]

Cato is someone for whom I have very little respect when it comes to basketball knowledge.

[StrandedOnBeauboisHill]

Cato is someone for whom I have very little respect when it comes to basketball knowledge.

I don't even think he's much of an insider anymore either with Donnie gone.  I used to enjoy his work but something changed over the past couple years.  Sometimes I think he just gets way too heady for his own good and tries really hard to be juuuuuuust a little contrarian on every topic.

[MFFL]

I have no idea why Cato has a job at the Athletic. I guess the Mavericks aren't important enough for the editors to find a better writer.

But then again I thought the Cowboys were important enough to have 2 writers. Letting Bob Sturm go was stupid.

[F Gump]

A word about Exum -- there has been some commenting on the idea that the Mavs lack a 3rd creator/PG type, for the times that Luka or Kyrie need rest or are otherwise not available.

But I believe that's a wrong take, and that Exum is 100% the guy they added to solve that issue, with the hopeful plan he can be a guy who develops and grows further, rather than just that emergency guy.

[SleepingHero]

[omahen]

A word about Exum -- there has been some commenting on the idea that the Mavs lack a 3rd creator/PG type, for the times that Luka or Kyrie need rest or are otherwise not available.

But I believe that's a wrong take, and that Exum is 100% the guy they added to solve that issue, with the hopeful plan he can be a guy who develops and grows further, rather than just that emergency guy.

Exum is way more a 3-D wing than he is a PG. Very similar to Ntilikina in that regard. He played classic 3-D forward in Europe

[dirkfansince1998]

Exum is way more a 3-D wing than he is a PG. Very similar to Ntilikina in that regard. He played classic 3-D forward in Europe

He played next to another guard but was running the pick and roll quite often. Basically a 50/50 split when it comes to ballhandling duty. Lead his team in assists.

[Chicagojk]

Exum was my favorite player in that draft class. I am afraid to go back and look who I had him ranked over. LOL. I watched highlights from his last nba season and he had no explosion in his legs. It looks like he got that back from the highlight from last year. I will be rooting hard for him though. He does look like he lands awkward a lot though.

I am not counting on him though. If he earns a spot that will be a nice unexpected surprise.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

When they interviewed Nico during the last summer league game, he kept calling Exum a point guard. Like Omahen, I assumed he was a 3 and D guy.

Marc Stein is the GOAT Mavs insider but people (including me) are gonna be mad at him if the Mavs really are done.

[omahen]

He played next to another guard but was running the pick and roll quite often. Basically a 50/50 split when it comes to ballhandling duty. Lead his team in assists.

2.7 assists per game and 1.8 TO per game. Also best on team  I always liked Exum, even in his early NBA days, but I don't think he is a particularly capable PG.

[Chicagojk]

I am expecting a small trade or a small pickup but I am not expecting any else.  I hope I am surprised.   I remember thinking all last offseason that the mavs had a plan and would make a trade to help fill the lose of Jalen.  It turns out they had not plan or weren’t even to bring something to the finish line. 

What I would love the Mavs to do is find a guy right before he pops.  I just listened to Larry Nance Jr on the Lowe post.  Really sharp guy.  Finding a guy like that who bounces around.   Or a guy like Hart with the Knicks.   Hart is about to get around 20 million a year but there were a few years he was probably gettable for non premium assets.   Find a junkyard dog who is about to hit.  That would help this team a ton.

[IamDougieFresh]

I think I saw somewhere that Exum was 90+ percentile PnR ball handler in Europe.

[dirkfansince1998]

2.7 assists per game and 1.8 TO per game. Also best on team  I always liked Exum, even in his early NBA days, but I don't think he is a particularly capable PG.

Not sure if he is a capable PG in the NBA but for Partizan he was one of the two main ballhandlers. Mind you that euro offense is more about passing and flow. Level of ball dominance from the best guards isn´t even close to what we are used to from the NBA. The best guards average 5-6 assists.
Exum was a pretty good pick and roll ballhandler for Partizan. Mostly creating for himself with elite finishing ability. Again. Not sure if he can do the same in the NBA but there is reason to believe that he improved his ballhandling + shot creation during his stint in europe.

[F Gump]

How much MLE does that leave us and how much under the tax are we right now?  Curious if there is any point in stretch waiving McGee vs just waiving him and still holding out hope for derrick Jones Jr.

Where things stand right now - with Curry getting the BAE - is as follows
Cap - 161,690,028
Tax room - 3,603,972
Apron room - 10,655,972
Remaining MLE - 9,405,000

1 I don't see any value in a stretch waive of JM. (Nor do I see the value in waiving him at all, until they need the roster slot. There's some value in having a 15th player on the roster, who you can always move off if needed, as a 15-man roster allows more games on the NBA active list for your 3-ways, if player development is important to you. If you are already paying a 15th man anyhow .... )

2 If they pivoted to using the MLE on more years (and cap hit) for Exum, and since they also did DP's contract with no raises (meaning more paid this season), maybe they do the same with Curry?

Full BAE with max raises would be 2 years/9.2578M, but if it's carved out of the MLE instead, they have an opening to massage all kinds of things (the length, the structure (increasing-level-decreasing), option year (?), guarantee, incentives, etc) while not shorting Curry on the pay that was agreed.

[F Gump]

Not sure if he is a capable PG in the NBA but for Partizan he was one of the two main ballhandlers. Mind you that euro offense is more about passing and flow. Level of ball dominance of the best guards isn´t even close to what we are used to from the NBA. The best guards average 5-6 assists.

Exum was a pretty good pick and roll ballhandler for Partizan. Mostly creating for himself with elite finishing ability. Again. Not sure if he can do the same in the NBA but there is reason to believe that he improved his ballhandling + shot creation during his stint in europe.

That's good info, and there's one more important piece to the puzzle imo.

When he was drafted by UT #5 overall (by Lindsey), that was the role they planned for him -- a big (6-5), 2-way PG who could run PNR and use his size to be a real problem for opponents. It didn't work out as planned in UT -- a combo of injuries, and he didn't develop fast enough (probably too far to go) to get the reps to get up to the NBA level.

But maybe the Euro experience, at just a step down, has given him that development he was needing? He's 28 but he doesn't have a lot of miles on him. So hopefully ....

[KillerLeft]

I have no idea why Cato has a job at the Athletic. I guess the Mavericks aren't important enough for the editors to find a better writer.

But then again I thought the Cowboys were important enough to have 2 writers. Letting Bob Sturm go was stupid.

It’s probably more about young, terrible people being the only ones who can afford to live on what they pay.

[DanSchwartzgan]

Where things stand right now - with Curry getting the BAE - is as follows
Cap - 161,690,028
Tax room - 3,603,972

Another way of answering Mvossman’s earlier question.  We can trade THJ’s $17.9mm for someone(s) making $21.5mm and still be a hair under the tax.  Add McGee to the outgoing and the $3.6mm trade spread gets you to taking back someone(s) making $27mm, but you have to get yourself to 14 players and account for that in the math if the trade only returns one guy.  That $3.6mm number appears to be the number that matters more than the remaining MLE.