2020-2021 ROSTER TALK: Archived

[DanSchwartzgan]

Knicks are at $95 million. Salary floor is $109 million. So they could add Powell and send out nothing 

NYK: Powell, pick protection removal, 2nd rd pick

DAL: Gordon and Fournier 

ORL: Johnson, Burke, Green, Terry, 2025 FRP and a 2nd rd pick

Orlando would save a significant amount of money(and they need to). They only get one 1st, but they get a few guards which they need

Luka/JRich/Fournier/Gordon/KP
JB/THj/DFS/Maxi/WCS

Have the room to keep everyone. Who’s starting could be fluid based on matchups and who’s hot

I think there is a simpler version of this that seems more likely to me.  Send Powell to NY to free up the 25 pick.  In the same trade, send Green and said pick to Orlando for Gordon.  That would make Powell the "centerpiece" of the deal without forcing Orlando to take him.  Green and the 25 pick counts as the two pick asking price we've heard for Gordon, but Orlando saves the trade spread and Powell's salary in such a deal.

NY has some excess PG's they could add to the deal to help Orlando make it through the rest of the season.

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Three notes about the above
1 The Mavs have no choice looming with Brunson. He has another year (2021-22) on his deal. There is no option.
2 If JRich opts in, that 11.6M is all he gets in 2021-22. Maybe that's enough. Maybe it's not.
3 If you sign and trade for a player using cap room (also known as an under-cap trade), or if you simply sign a player using your cap room, the amount of salary you can offer is exactly the same either way. Cap charges for empty roster slots cause that, and work identically in both instances.

Also, once the Mavs make the mental commitment to lose either THJ or JRich in favor of a max offer to Collins, doesn't that player then become quite expendable in a trade for Collins right now? And doesn't adding such outgoing salary and talent to the mix change the whole landscape on what they might be willing and able to do in other directions?

1. Mav's do have a choice on Brunson.  He is non-guaranteed in 21-22.  It is like the Mitchel Robinson situation.  Dallas can make a qualifying offer to Brunson and make him a RFA this summer rather than letting him get to UFA next summer.

2. Note the word extension.  JRich opting in and extending is a way to get him a new contract while avoiding his larger cap hold.  He'd be eligible for a 20% bump in the first year of his extension and 8% raises after that.  Dallas would have to be able to get to the total dollars he would have otherwise gotten to in free agency over the term of the deal, but doing so saves over $5.8mm in cap hold.  Adding 3 years in this way would be like JRich signing a deal in free agency that averages $13.9mm.  As you say, maybe that's enough.  Maybe it's not.

3. I've been tripped up on this one in the past, so I think I have this right.  There is an incomplete roster charge that reserves space for at least the rookie minimum for for teams with fewer than 12 players.  At that point you can trade players into your remaining space.  But if you are signing a player, a 13th slot is added before calculating what you can pay the 12th player.  That 13th slot restricts the amount a free agent can receive by about $900k compared to what a player can be traded for.