2020-2021 ROSTER TALK: Archived

[KillerLeft]

The way I see it. Mavs have two great expiring contracts, able to match basically any kind of salary. Mavs have a very deep team of solid role players, which means we can easily "sacrifice" a couple. Playoff rotation is limited to some 8 guys anyway. Letting Johnson expire is basically an asset lost, since it would take to renounce THJ too to get at some 18 mil of capspace, assuming we want to keep Richardson. That's why I would expect Mavs to be very aggresive at TDL. Even if for expiring contract. Getting bird rights of a player for some spare parts like Johnson and future picks has way more value than gutting half the roster to sign a similar value FA.

I agree with this. 

While I don't agree that FA was "Giannis or Bust" and there will be options there we can't clearly see yet (surprise improvement, surprise availability from a restricted free agent, possibly), the timing is so, so important that if there isn't a clear free agent target you think you have a realistic shot at by the TDL, you have to shake all of the trade trees and seriously consider pulling the trigger on the best option. 

I agree that at this point, losing Johnson for nothing would be a mistake. Every FA scenario that comes off the board (Paul Geroge and Giannis came off this week) makes that eventuality slightly more likely. 

Turning THJ/Johsnon and sweeteners into a guy who's clearly in your top 5 would be a win. Then, re-sign Richardson.

Turning THJ OR Johnson into a pretty good player who fills a need in your rotation, re-signing Richardson AND either THJ or Johnson (whoever is left, and hopefully to a team friendly deal) is kind of a win. I would be ok with using this method to keep the team salary down a bit, temporarily. 

Losing an asset, either THJ or Johnson, for NOTHING, and right before you get locked into an over the cap life for a long time, would be a loss.