FA: JaVale McGee 3yrs/$17.2M to DAL | will indeed start at center

[SleepingHero]

So what does that mean?  He is not an RFA but they can match an offer?  What is the difference?

He would be a full RFA, but it limits what his overall salary can be I'm pretty sure.

If Hardy were to be signed for 2 years, at the end of his deal he'd be a RFA, and the Mavs would only have Early-Bird rights on him, which means they could only resign him either 1) his first year salary 175% his previous year salary, or 105% of the average player salary for the prior season. 

Other teams would be limited in the amount of money they could throw at Hardy as well to only the full-MLE, due to the Gilbert Arenas provision. This occurred because  after Arenas' 2nd year, he was offered a max contract by the Wizards that the Warriors couldn't match because they had Early-Bird rights on Arenas and were forced to let him go. 

Should Hardy play out his 2 years and not get extended, the most he'd be able to get in year 3 from any team I assume is around 10 mil a year based on the projected cap increase