Mavericks Rumors

Largest Trade Exceptions Created This Offseason

A total of 26 trades have been completed to so far during the 2021 NBA offseason, and many of those deals generated at least one “traded player exception.”

As we explain in our glossary, a traded player exception allows a team to take on salary in a trade without sending out any salary in return. The amount of the exception plus $100K is the amount of salary the team is permitted to take back without salary-matching – either in a single deal or in multiple trades – for one year.

For instance, a team with a $10MM trade exception could acquire a player earning $4MM and a player earning $6.1MM without having to worry about sending out any outgoing salary.

One of the biggest trade exceptions ever created – the Thunder‘s $27.5MM TPE from last November’s Steven Adams trade – expired last week without being used, but Oklahoma City still has a pair of sizeable exceptions to work with, as our tracker shows. The team could also create upwards of $30MM in cap space by renouncing all its exceptions, including the mid-level and bi-annual.

While the Thunder have some big traded player exceptions, they aren’t one of the teams that created sizable new TPEs in offseason deals this year. Here are the largest new trade exceptions generated this summer:

  1. New Orleans Pelicans: $17,073,171 (Steven Adams)
  2. Brooklyn Nets: $11,454,048 (Spencer Dinwiddie)
  3. Dallas Mavericks: $10,865,952 (Josh Richardson)
  4. Boston Celtics: $9,720,900 (Tristan Thompson)
    • Note: It’s unclear whether the Celtics absorbed Bruno Fernando‘s salary ($1,782,621) using the Thompson exception or their Kemba Walker trade exception ($6,879,100). We’re assuming for now that Fernando slotted into the Walker exception, reducing its value to $5,096,479. However, if he went into the Thompson TPE, its value would be reduced to $7,938,279.
  5. Utah Jazz: $7,475,379 (Derrick Favors)
    • Note: There was an expectation that the Jazz would slot Eric Paschall‘s salary ($1,782,621) into one of two trade exceptions that were set to expire on August 6. However, it appears the deal wasn’t completed until August 7 for logistical reasons, meaning the Favors TPE (originally $9,258,000) would’ve had to be used.
  6. Indiana Pacers: $7,333,333 (Doug McDermott)
  7. Chicago Bulls: $5,000,000 (Daniel Theis)

For a second straight year, a team generated the largest trade exception of the offseason by trading Adams. This time around, it was the Pelicans, who cleverly folded separate trade agreements with the Grizzlies and Hornets into one three-team deal, sending Wesley Iwundu to Charlotte to ensure that Adams’ salary wouldn’t be required for matching purposes.

The Pelicans and Mavericks are the two best candidates on this list to make use of their newly-created exceptions at some point. The larger the exception is, the easier it is to find a use for, and those are two of the three biggest in this group.

The other big TPE belongs to the Nets, but they’re already way over the tax line and will be reluctant to take on more salary unless they have a really good reason to do so. That’s probably true of most of the other teams on this list too — the Celtics and Jazz in particular have to be conscious of luxury-tax concerns as they mull the possibility of taking on additional salary. New Orleans and Dallas have more wiggle room, while the Pacers and Bulls are somewhere in between.

The full list of available trade exceptions can be found here.

Salary information from Basketball Insiders was used in the creation of this post.

NBA Teams With Hard Caps For 2021/22

The NBA salary cap is somewhat malleable, with various exceptions allowing every team to surpass the $112,414,000 threshold once their cap room is used up. In some cases, teams blow past not only the cap limit, but the luxury-tax line of $136,606,000 as well — the Nets and Warriors, for instance, project to have nine-figure tax bills this season as a result of their spending.

The NBA doesn’t have a “hard cap” by default, which allows clubs like Brooklyn and Golden State to build a significant payroll without violating CBA rules. However, there are certain scenarios in which teams can be hard-capped, as we explain in a glossary entry.

When a club uses the bi-annual exception, acquires a player via sign-and-trade, or uses more than the taxpayer portion of the mid-level exception (three years, starting at $5,890,000), that club will face a hard cap for the remainder of the league year.

When a team becomes hard-capped, it cannot exceed the “tax apron” at any point during the rest of the league year. The tax apron for 2021/22 was set at $143,002,000.

So far, over a third of the teams in the NBA have been willing to hard-cap themselves this offseason. Some teams will have to be aware of that hard cap when they consider any roster move for the rest of the season, but for others it’s just a technicality that won’t affect their plans.

Listed below are the hard-capped teams for the 2021/22 league year, along with how they created a hard cap.


Chicago Bulls

Cleveland Cavaliers

Dallas Mavericks

Houston Rockets

Miami Heat

  • Acquired Kyle Lowry from Raptors via sign-and-trade.
  • Used non-taxpayer mid-level exception on P.J. Tucker.

New Orleans Pelicans

New York Knicks

Oklahoma City Thunder

San Antonio Spurs

Toronto Raptors

  • Used non-taxpayer mid-level exception on Khem Birch.

Washington Wizards


This list, which could continue to grow, will continue to be updated throughout the 2021/22 league year as necessary. It can be found anytime in the “Hoops Rumors Features” menu on the right-hand sidebar of our desktop site, or in the “Features” menu on our mobile site.

Southwest Notes: Z. Collins, Grizzlies, Doncic, Pelicans

Zach Collins‘ new three-year deal with the Spurs, reported to be worth $22MM, will technically come in at $22.05MM, but a significant chunk of the deal is non-guaranteed, reports ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).

According to Marks, Collins will earn a fully guaranteed $7MM salary in 2021/22, but only half of his $7.35MM salary in ’22/23 is guaranteed and his $7.7MM cap hit for ’23/24 is fully non-guaranteed.

Collins, who has undergone multiple foot surgeries during the last two seasons and has been limited to 11 total games during that time, is assured of receiving at least $10.675M on his new contract. However, if he continues to battle health problems, the Spurs could cut ties as early as next summer without a major financial hit.

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

  • In a look at the Grizzlies‘ roster situation, Chris Herrington of The Daily Memphian notes that it remains unclear what the team’s plan is for Eric Bledsoe. When Memphis first agreed to its trade with New Orleans in July, a report indicated that Bledsoe likely wouldn’t play for the Grizzlies, but the veteran guard remains on the roster for the time being.
  • Appearing at Summer League in Las Vegas after returning from Slovenia, new Mavericks president of basketball operations Nico Harrison said the front office’s trip to Luka Doncic‘s home country was “bigger than just a big contract” and was about showing “respect” to the team’s franchise player. Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News has the story.
  • Exploring the NBA’s investigation into the Bulls’ and Heat’s sign-and-trade acquisitions of Lonzo Ball and Kyle Lowry, respectively, veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein suggests the Pelicans and Raptors may not face any penalties if last year’s Bogdan Bogdanovic case is any indication — Milwaukee was fined and docked a draft pick, but Sacramento wasn’t disciplined. While Stein may be right, I think the Pelicans have reason to be concerned. If the league’s focus is on sign-and-trade acquisitions completed suspiciously quickly, it’s worth noting that New Orleans received Garrett Temple via sign-and-trade as part of the Ball deal.

Doncic Received Trade Kicker In Extension

  • Luka Doncic‘s new contract extension includes a 15% trade kicker, Bobby Marks of ESPN tweets. However, the trade bonus would only kick in if the cap rose significantly in the future, since a trade bonus can’t increase a player’s salary beyond the maximum and the All-NBA guard has already qualified for a higher max salary than he’d typically be eligible for. Doncic’s five-year, $207MM extension with the Mavericks became official on Tuesday.

Mavs Notes: Doncic Extension, Dragic, Hardaway, Brown

The Mavericks recently traveled to the Slovenian capital of Ljubljana to present star Luka Doncic with his five-year, $207MM extension, the most expensive rookie contract in NBA history, writes ESPN’s Royce Young.

According to team owner Mark Cuban, having the signing take place in Doncic’s home country was meant to send a message to the 22-year-old, two-time All-NBA guard:

Just to confirm to Luka how important he is to us and how this is just the beginning,” Cuban said. “We want him to know we’re there for him, whether that’s here in Slovenia, in Dallas, or anywhere in the world. Part of this process is not only getting to know him but getting to know what’s important to him. How he looks at things.”

Doncic, for his part, claims that his signing the Mavs’ offer was “never in doubt.”

We have more news from the Mavericks:

  • Tim Cato and Blake Murphy of The Athletic discuss why Goran Dragic remains a Raptor, rather than having being re-routed to Dallas. Murphy writes that the Raptors have no incentive to buy out Dragic, who could still return value in a trade. Cato adds that the Mavs would be more likely to include Dwight Powell in trade talks than Maxi Kleber, but Josh Green could be a candidate to be moved if he remains in a limited role and the team continues to struggle in its non-Doncic minutes.
  • Details have emerged on Tim Hardaway Jr.‘s $75MM contract with the Mavs. Tim MacMahon of ESPN breaks down the descending structure of Hardaway’s deal, which will start at $21.3MM and end in the 2024/25 season at $16.19MM.
  • Recently-signed Sterling Brown‘s contract is fully guaranteed at $6MM over two years, tweets ESPN’s Zach Lowe. The contract will come out of the Mavs’ bi-annual exception. Given Dallas’ lack of wing depth and his defensive ability at 6’5 and career 37.4% shooting from three, Brown will likely be counted on as an important bench contributor this season.

Fischer’s Latest: Markkanen, DeRozan, Hield, Hart, Suns, More

The Pelicans, Mavericks, Celtics, and Timberwolves are among the teams that have shown interest in Bulls restricted free agent Lauri Markkanen, according to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, who hears from sources that the price tag on the power forward would be about $15MM per year.

Landing Markkanen would be a challenge for any of those teams, however, as they’re all over the cap and would have to acquire the RFA forward via sign-and-trade. New Orleans has a traded player exception big enough to fit Markkanen, but the other teams would likely to have rely on salary-matching or offer him a lower salary (Dallas has a TPE worth $10.872MM, while Boston has one worth $9.72MM). Acquiring a player via sign-and-trade also results in a hard cap, which the Celtics are reportedly resisting.

On top of all that, Fischer confirms a previous report that the Bulls are seeking a first-round pick to accommodate a Markkanen sign-and-trade and don’t want to take on any salary, preferring any contracts to be rerouted to a third team. If they maintain that stance, the Bulls would make it very difficult for Markkanen to do anything but accept his $9MM qualifying offer.

“Chicago is playing this masterfully from no other perspective than a contract management standpoint,” a team capologist told Fischer. “It won’t do any favors relationship-wise, but they’re bleeding his market based on their tax situation, and nobody else can offer him any kind of money without them.”

As we wait to see what happens with Markkanen, it’s worth noting that the Hornets – previously rumored to be eyeing the forward – weren’t listed by Fischer as one of the teams in the hunt, and president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak told reporters today that the team is likely done with its “heavy lifting” this offseason (Twitter link via Rod Boone of SI.com).

Here’s more from Fischer:

  • The Sixers, Suns, Trail Blazers, Warriors, Celtics, and Knicks were among the teams that expressed interest in DeMar DeRozan before he reached a deal with the Bulls, per Fischer. However, New York agreed to sign Evan Fournier and most of the other teams would’ve had to figure out complicated sign-and-trade arrangements to accommodate DeRozan, who never really entertained the idea of signing for the mid-level exception, sources tell Fischer.
  • The Pelicans and Kings discussed the possibility of swapping Buddy Hield and Josh Hart (via sign-and-trade) as part of New Orleans’ trade with Memphis, Fischer writes. It’s unclear if anything along those lines is still being considered now that the Pelicans’ deal with the Grizzlies has been completed — base year compensation rules would complicate a one-for-one swap.
  • The Suns are weighing their options for their final open roster spot and have gauged the trade value of 2020 lottery pick Jalen Smith, sources tell Fischer.
  • The Raptors will meet with Goran Dragic‘s camp at Summer League in Las Vegas to further discuss the point guard’s situation, according to Fischer.
  • Zach LaVine has told Bulls staffers he’s committed to improving defensively next season, Fischer says.

Mavericks Sign Luka Doncic To Five-Year, Max-Salary Extension

AUGUST 10: The extension is now official, according to the team (Twitter link).


AUGUST 9: The Mavs and Doncic are in formal agreement on their five-year, maximum-salary extension, agent Bill Duffy tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. The team sent a contingent to Slovenia this week to officially complete the deal and will hold a news conference on Tuesday morning to announce it.

As we detailed earlier today, Doncic’s extension projects to be worth slightly over $207MM based on the NBA’s $119MM cap projection for 2022/23. The deal will include a fifth-year player option, Wojnarowski adds (via Twitter).

“Today is a dream come true,” Doncic said in a statement, per Woj (Twitter link). “I am humbled and excited to remain in Dallas as part of the Mavericks and appreciate the support of my fans.”


AUGUST 2: The Mavericks are ready to give star guard Luka Doncic a five-year, maximum-salary extension, tweets veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein. The deal projects to be worth $207.06MM.

However, no formal talks will take place until after Doncic is finished with the Olympics this week. His Slovenian team is in the medal round after breezing to three victories in preliminary games.

Doncic, 22, has emerged as one of the NBA’s top players after three seasons in the league. He averaged 27.7 points, 8.0 rebounds and 8.6 assists in 66 games this year, earning first-team All-NBA honors for the second straight season.

Doncic was named Rookie of the Year in 2019 and is a two-time All-Star. He was highly decorated before coming to the NBA, winning MVP and Final Four MVP awards in the EuroLeague in 2018.

Doncic’s extension, which would have a starting salary worth 30% of the cap, would take effect in the 2022/23 season and would keep him under contract through the summer of 2027.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Goran Dragic Apologizes For Comments On Trade To Raptors

Veteran point guard Goran Dragic, who was traded from the Heat to the Raptors in the Kyle Lowry sign-and-trade deal last week, apologized on Monday for comments he made in his home country of Slovenia about the trade, writes Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca.

A clip that surfaced on Twitter on Monday of Dragic speaking to Slovenian reporters was accompanied by the English caption, “Toronto is not my preferred destination. I have higher ambitions.” While there was some uncertainty about whether something may have been lost in translation, Dragic didn’t claim he was misquoted. He did tell Grange, however, that the context of the quote was missing.

“I was in the center of the city and the journalists were there and I was asked about Toronto and it was basically taken out of context,” Dragic said. “I told them that I had spent seven years in Miami and that would be the preferred destination for me because my family is there and everything, not Toronto.”

Dragic, who is on an expiring $19.5MM contract, was always expected to be part of the Raptors’ return for Lowry after the Heat picked up his team option, but there was speculation for much of last week that he might be flipped to a third team. The Mavericks were frequently mentioned as a potential destination, since Dallas had been on the lookout for a point guard in free agency and joining the Mavs would give Dragic the opportunity to team up with fellow Slovenian Luka Doncic.

It’s still possible Dragic will be moved to the Mavs or another team at some point, but no deal appears imminent, and he told Grange he’s prepared to spend the 2021/22 season in Toronto.

“My message basically, to all Toronto fans, is I would like to apologize,” Dragic said. “It didn’t come out the right way. I know they love their team, and they should be proud, it is one of the best organizations in the NBA. They’ve already won a championship and I didn’t, so what I said, it really was not appropriate.

“… I’ve always been professional. You can ask a bunch of people. Everywhere I’ve played, wherever I’m going to play, I’m going to be professional and do my job,” he continued. “I love basketball, I love to play and I’m going to give 100% wherever I play. Right now I’m (with) Toronto and that’s my main thing to think about.”

Asked during an appearance on 590 The Fan in Toronto about Dragic, Raptors general manager Bobby Webster cautioned that the 35-year-old’s comments were translated to English and he’d want to “get it directly” from the point guard to understand what he meant, Grange writes. Webster also stressed that the Raptors aren’t a rebuilding team looking to jettison veterans.

“We feel like we’re gonna be competitive, we have a core — as we’ve talked about — that’s been around for a while and has won at the highest level as well,” Webster said. “So think that we’ll just give it some time here to see how (Dragic) would fit in and if he likes it here or not. I think he’s a pro and he’s been around a lot and he’s obviously entitled to wanting to make the most of his years as his career comes down here … so I don’t think it’s in any way a slight or anything like that.”

The Lowry sign-and-trade was officially completed on Friday, so it can no longer be expanded to include a third team, but Dragic could be flipped to a new team immediately as long as his salary isn’t aggregated with another player’s in the deal.

Mavs Add Sterling Brown, Re-Sign Boban Marjanović

AUGUST 9: The signings of both Brown and Marjanović are now official, per NBA.com’s transactions log. Marjanović’s new contract with Dallas is worth $7MM over two years, reports Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link).


AUGUST 2: The Mavericks are set to make a pair of bench signings as free agency begins in earnest.

As had been rumored, the Mavericks are opting to bring back center Boban Marjanović this summer. Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets that Dallas will be re-signing the reserve big man.

Tim MacMahon of ESPN reports (via Twitter) that the 7’4″ Marjanović will be signed to a one-year deal with the Mavericks, his third full season with the team. Dallas initially signed the big man to a two-year, $7MM deal in the 2019 offseason. The club will thus have the 32-year-old’s full Bird rights next summer, following three full seasons of service.

Marjanović made a big impact in limited this season, averaging 4.7 PPG and 3.9 RPG in just 8.2 MPG across 33 contests.

Charania also reports (via Twitter) that the Mavericks will also be signing a new addition, free agent guard Sterling Brown. Brown, 26, was most recently a reserve contributor for another Texas club, the Rockets, for the duration of the 2020/21 season.

Brown averaged 8.2 PPG, 4.4 RPG, and 1.4 APG in 51 games for the rebuilding Rockets, with a solid shooting line of .448/.423/.806.

Brown’s agent Mark Bartelstein has indicated that the 6’5″ vet will sign a two-year, $6.2MM contract with the club, per Marc Stein of Substack (via Twitter). There is no word as to whether both seasons will be guaranteed in the deal.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Mavs Sign Tim Hardaway Jr. To Four-Year Deal

AUGUST 9: The Mavericks have officially re-signed Hardaway, the team announced today in a press release. Bartelstein tells Stein (Twitter link) that the total value of THJ’s four-year deal came in at $75MM.

Tim MacMahon of ESPN reports (via Twitter) that Hardaway’s new contract will decline in value across each of its four seasons. Hardaway will earn $21.3MM during the first year of the agreement, 2021/22, and that number will eventually dip to $16.2MM for Hardaway’s age-32 season, 2024/25.


AUGUST 2: The Mavericks and their top free agent, guard Tim Hardaway Jr., have agreed to a four-year, $72MM contract, Shams Charania of The Athletic tweets.

Agent Mark Bartelstein tells ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link) that the actual value is $74MM, so we may have to wait to see the official terms once it’s finalized. Marc Stein of Substack (Twitter link) first reported that the Mavs were expected to re-sign the veteran wing.

Hardaway is one of the top unrestricted free agents on the market and Dallas prioritized bringing back one of its primary offensive threats.

Hardaway, 29, averaged 16.6 PPG, 3.3 RPG and 1.8 APG last season while shooting 39.1% from the field. He also excelled in the postseason, then said after the season he was hoping he could work out a deal with his current club.

“If you were to talk to anybody in this organization and anybody that’s around me, they will definitely say that I love it here,” Hardaway said.

Hardaway’s four-year, $71MM deal he signed with the Knicks in 2017 expired at the end of the season.