While at least a couple of Dallas’ inactive players – Kyrie Irving and Olivier-Maxence Prosper – have sustained season-ending injuries, there’s still hope that some of the others on the injured list will be able to return in the coming weeks. In the meantime, the club will have to get by with what it has.

The Mavs’ limitations are exacerbated by the fact that they imposed a hard cap on themselves at the first tax apron by completing certain roster moves (including using the non-taxpayer mid-level exception and acquiring a player via sign-and-trade) early in the 2024/25 league year, then spent nearly all the way up to that hard cap in player salaries.

Dallas is currently operating with a team salary of $178,080,852, which is a mere $51,148 below the first apron. Because a veteran-minimum free agent addition would count toward the cap at a rate of $11,997 per day, the Mavs can’t sign a 15th man until April 10, when there are just four days left in the season.

There’s another set of limitations the Mavericks will have to be aware of as they set their active roster for games this month. Players on two-way contracts can’t be active for more than 50 regular season games if they signed before the start of the regular season. That limit becomes a prorated portion of 50 games if a player signed at some point after the season began.

Here’s what that means for Dallas’ trio of two-way players:

• Kessler Edwards: Five active games remaining.
• Brandon Williams: Eight active games remaining.
• Kai Jones: 11 active games remaining.

Edwards’ restriction is the most concerning. The former Pepperdine standout has become Dallas’ de facto starting center due to the team’s litany of frontcourt injuries and has emerged as a crucial contributor. In Monday’s win over San Antonio, he registered his first double-double of the season, with 22 points and 11 rebounds in 35 minutes.

But if the Mavericks keep Edwards active going forward, he’ll reach his 50-game limit on March 21, with 11 games still left in the season. And he can’t be promoted to the 15-man roster at that point due to the Mavs’ aforementioned hard cap — if the team wants to promote him, it would have to wait until April 10 to do so.

The restrictions facing Williams and Jones aren’t quite as critical, especially since both players are currently among Dallas’ walking wounded. Williams missed Monday’s game with left hamstring tightness, while Jones has been out for three games due to a left quad strain.

Of course, while that means Williams and Jones may not eat up their remaining active games in the short term, having them among the many Mavericks on the injury list is a problem in its own right. Jones’ absence is especially unfortunate, given that he was just signed on March 3 so that the team could add some size and take advantage of the 12 games he’d be eligible to play in.

Jones had 21 points and eight rebounds in his Mavs debut, but hasn’t been able to suit up since then. And the club doesn’t have the ability to replace him (or Edwards or Williams) with a new two-way player, since the deadline for signing two-way deals passed on March 4.

When a team is hit particularly hard by injuries, the NBA has the ability to grant hardship exceptions, which allow the team to temporarily exceed its usual 15-man standard roster. But hardship deals still count against the cap and can’t be used to circumvent hard-cap rules, so they’re of little use to the Mavericks, who would have otherwise qualified for more than one of them in recent weeks.

The only way Dallas would have a chance to free up more flexibility below its hard cap would be to reach a buyout agreement with a player that reduces his salary or to cut a player and hope he gets claimed on waivers. The former option probably isn’t realistic; the latter might hurt more than it would help, since it would cost the Mavs a player good enough to warrant a waiver claim.

While it’ll be interesting to see if Dallas can hang onto the 10th spot in the Western Conference and qualify for the play-in, at this point it would be a victory for the team if it can just get through the season’s last few weeks without suffering any more injuries or wearing out any of its remaining healthy players.

Dwight Powell and Kessler Edwards banged heads during the third quarter and both required stitches. Edwards was able to return with 6:05 left in the fourth quarter. Point guard Brandon Williams pulled up just before the third-quarter buzzer and did not return due to left hamstring soreness. With Dante Exum on a minutes restriction, Kidd had to go with what he had left.

“Never seen this,” Kidd said. “Never been in a game that we could not take someone out to rest them because we had no one to put in. They were either in clothes or in the back getting stitches. It is what it is. We got to keep pushing forward.”

The Mavs had eight players ruled out prior to the game and they won’t be available on Monday when Dallas faces San Antonio. They’re not in a position to add anyone else due to financial restrictions, so they will be severely shorthanded.

“We’ll try to figure it out as we go. We can’t sign anybody and Duds (assistant coach Jared Dudley) costs too much,” Kidd quipped. “You got to laugh because if you don’t, this will drive you crazy.”

We have more on the Mavericks:

• Due to the depleted roster, Klay Thompson is receiving extra attention on the defensive end, Sefko notes. Thompson managed to score 20 points in the nine-point loss to Phoenix and has averaged 23 PPG over the last three games. “They’re going to take away Klay anyway,” Kidd said. “So just for the sake of the team, hopefully they don’t take away Klay and we can get some easy looks for him. But it’s a team game. We got to generate shots. Someone has to be able to touch the paint with the ball . . . and we got to be able to knock down open shots.”
• Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving‘s teammate with Brooklyn, expects the high-scoring guard to play at an All-Star level again after he recovers from his season-ending ACL injury. “Any human would be upset, pissed off. Curious as to why this happened. You go through those emotions. Then the faster you get over that, the faster your recovery will be,” Durant said, per Christian Clark of The Athletic (Twitter link). “Kyrie is a hard worker. He’s disciplined every single day — his regimen, his routine. That’s why he’s so great. He’s so great, I’m expecting him to come back and be the same Kyrie. Expecting him to come back and lead Dallas and be the same team they’ve always been. We all can’t wait to see him back on the floor.”
• In case you missed it, second-year forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper has a significant right wrist injury and is expected to require season-ending surgery. Get the details here.

Addressing those rumors, NBA insider Marc Stein of The Stein Line (Substack link) says he has consistently heard that the Mavericks only discussed Doncic by name with one team: the Lakers.

While Dallas did talk to Minnesota and Milwaukee, according to Stein, those discussions have been described to him as “very brief in nature and intentionally broad and vague,” with no conversations about Doncic specifically.

Here are a few more items of interest from Stein:

• Following the expiration of Moses Brown‘s 10-day contract, the Mavericks can’t fill the 15th spot on their standard roster until April 10 due to their hard cap. Promoting two-way player Kessler Edwards, who has played a rotation role in recent weeks and can only be active for 10 more NBA games, is one option Dallas is considering for that final week of the season, league sources tell Stein. However, the team’s decision will depend in part on its health and roster needs as of April 10, Stein notes. While the Mavs have a serious frontcourt shortage right now due to injuries, that may not be the case in five-and-a-half weeks.
• The Knicks were “right there” with the Lakers before the trade deadline in trying to pry third-year center Walker Kessler away from the Jazz, league sources tell Stein, who says Utah made it clear to both clubs that it didn’t want to seriously entertain pitches for Kessler during the season. The big man will be eligible for a rookie scale extension during the 2025 offseason.
• Although Stein can’t confirm if Mike Budenholzer‘s job in Phoenix is any actual jeopardy, he says the topic has generated “heightened whispering and curiosity” in coaching circles. The Suns parted ways with Monty Williams in 2023 when he still had three years and $20MM+ left on his contract and let go of Frank Vogel in 2024 just one year into his five-season, $31MM deal. Budenholzer reportedly received a five-year contract worth in excess of $50MM when he was hired by Phoenix last May. His Suns have a 28-33 record and are four games back of the final play-in spot in the West.
• In case you missed it, Stein also reported that the Wizards gave real consideration to the idea of reacquiring Bradley Beal from the Suns prior to last month’s trade deadline. However, the teams couldn’t agree to terms and it seems unlikely that Beal would have waived his no-trade clause to return to D.C. anyway.

“I feel like he’s been a lot more locked in. He’s been taking it really seriously. You see a different look in his eye,” teammate Trey Murphy said. “He’s just ready to build and keep building chemistry and figure out what we’re doing.”

The former No. 1 overall pick led New Orleans to its third straight win on Thursday by recording the first triple-double of his career, with 27 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds, as David Brandt of The Associated Press details. New Orleans outscored Phoenix by 17 points during Williamson’s 31 minutes on the court.

“It’s a reminder to the NBA, to the fans, to everybody,” Pelicans head coach Willie Green said after the victory. “This is who he can be, night in and night out. That’s what we’re all striving to accomplish as a group. We’re striving to get our best player on the floor.”

Here’s more from around the Southwest:

• Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd has his work cut out for him with his top three big men injured, Moses Brown‘s 10-day contract close to expiring, Dwight Powell on a restriction of 10-12 minutes per game, and Kessler Edwards just 10 appearances away from his limit of 50 active games, writes Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. Brown – who had 20 points and 11 rebounds in Thursday’s win over Chicago – can’t be re-signed until April 10 once his 10-day deal expires due to Dallas’ hard cap situation, which will also prevent the team from promoting Edwards to the 15-man roster until the final week of the season.
• The Dallas Morning News staff takes a closer look at what we know so far about the possibility of a new arena for the Mavericks, including the city of Irving’s efforts to lure the Mavs out of Dallas.
• Appearing on ESPN’s NBA Today on Thursday (YouTube link), Shams Charania of ESPN provided a few more details on the first in-person meeting between Gregg Popovich and his players since the Spurs head coach suffered a stroke in the fall. Charania says that “tears were shed” during the meeting and notes that Popovich hasn’t given up hope of resuming his coaching career, even though he won’t be back this season.

Instead, Dallas has won four of its past five games, including a shorthanded home victory over Miami on Thursday that saw the club run out a starting five of Spencer Dinwiddie, Dante Exum, Max Christie, Olivier-Maxence Prosper, and Kessler Edwards. All five players scored in double figures, as Exum led the way with 27 points on 11-of-13 shooting.

“No one is pouting. Everyone is playing,” head coach Jason Kidd said after Thursday’s win, per Christian Clark of The Athletic. “Big win before the break. Now we can rest, regroup and get ready for the second half.”

Kyrie Irving had to sit out Thursday’s game – the second of a back-to-back set – due to a right shoulder injury, but he has been playing through a back issue and is averaging a team-high 36.6 minutes per game on the season. His resiliency and leadership has trickled down to the rest of the roster, Clark writes.

“He sets a standard,” Edwards said. “If he sees any of us slacking, he holds us to that. He also has a great personality. It’s light in the locker room around him, so it’s great.”

Here’s more on the Mavs:

• The Mavericks and Kidd won’t be fined for the head coach’s decision to skip Monday’s post-game press conference, according to NBA insider Marc Stein, who notes (via Twitter) that the league typically responds to first-time violations of that rule with a warning rather than handing out a fine.
• The Mavericks haven’t issued a formal update on Anthony Davis‘ projected recovery timetable from an adductor strain since he was injured in his first game with his new team on Saturday. As Stein writes in a story for his Substack, the lack of a publicly shared timeline is thought to be by design, with the hope being that Davis can take a non-surgical treatment path to recovery. As he reported earlier this week, Stein says there’s optimism that surgery can be avoided, but cautions that it hasn’t been entirely ruled out at this point.
• Within that same Substack story, Stein reports that the Mavericks would have had interest in entering the bidding for Ben Simmons on the buyout market, but their hard-cap restrictions prevented them from emerging as a serious suitor. The prorated veteran’s minimum deal that Simmons got from the Clippers carries a cap hit of approximately $756K, whereas Dallas is only operating about $171K below its first-apron hard cap.

Gafford sustained the injury on Monday and the Mavericks announced on Tuesday that he would be out for at least two weeks, at which point he’d be reevaluated. Tonight’s reporting from Charania and MacMahon suggests the prognosis is worse than that initial update suggested.

It’s a disaster for the Mavericks, who had already expected to be without Dereck Lively until at least late March or April due to a stress fracture in his right ankle. And while the team has yet to issue a formal update on Anthony Davis‘ adductor strain, the belief is that the injury will keep Davis on the shelf until sometime in March.

That means Dallas will be without its top three big men until well beyond the All-Star break. Reserve center Dwight Powell also hasn’t played in a game since January 17 due to a hip strain, further depleting the club’s depth up front.

The Mavs do have an open 15-man roster spot, but they’re only operating about $171K below their first-apron hard cap, limiting their ability to actually fill that spot.

Essentially, Dallas can only fit 14 days of a prorated veteran’s minimum deal under that hard cap, so the team will have to wait until at least March 31 to finalize a rest-of-season contract. The other option would be to make a 10-day signing sooner rather than later, then (once that deal expires) leave the 15th spot open until the final few days of the season.

The good news for the Mavs is that they’ve actually won their last two games since Gafford went down, defeating Golden State on Wednesday and Miami on Thursday. That victory over the Heat came with Kyrie Irving (right shoulder soreness), Klay Thompson (left foot sprain), and P.J. Washington (right ankle sprain) also unavailable due to injuries, so the team will head into the All-Star break on a positive note.

Kessler Edwards, a 6’7″ forward, has started at center in each of the past two games. He had 15 points and nine rebounds and was a team-best +10 in 40 minutes of action on Thursday.

That context made Kyrie Irving‘s performance on Wednesday all the more impressive. As Tim MacMahon of ESPN writes, Irving racked up 42 points on 15-of-25 shooting and drew a crucial offensive foul on Jimmy Butler with 17 seconds left in the game, leading Dallas to a much-needed win over Golden State and giving the home fans a feel-good moment.

“That was special,” Klay Thompson said after the victory over his former team. “That was incredible — 42 and the defensive stop of the night. Yeah, that was incredible. Needed it bad, especially when I didn’t have my best shooting night. That’s our point guard, man. That was ridiculous.”

The shorthanded Mavericks – who had to start 6’7″ forward Kessler Edwards at center due to injuries to Dereck Lively, Daniel Gafford, Dwight Powell, and newly acquired star Anthony Davis – were going up against a Warriors club that had won back-to-back road games since Butler’s debut. Irving said the home crowd helped give the home team the spark it needed to pull out the win.

“Anytime you’re in a game like tonight and you’re looking for that energy, you look into the crowd, our fans, and you could drive yourself off that or get amplified, electrified off of that energy that’s in the crowd,” Irving said. “And it makes a big difference for us in in our home stadium. We got to protect it — our arena — and I feel like our fans know that. We’re obviously dealing with something unique, but at the same time we have to put our best foot forward.”

Here’s more on the Mavericks:

• Although the Mavericks have yet to make an official announcement on how Davis’ adductor strain will be treated and how much time he might miss, NBA insider Marc Stein (Twitter links) hears there has been “tangible optimism” in Dallas that the injury won’t require surgery. One source close to the situation tells Stein that the Mavs are still evaluating Davis’ recovery timeline and “will be cautious” about targeting a return date.
• Marko Milic, who joined the Mavericks’ coaching staff in a player development role during the 2022 offseason, has stepped down from his role, sources tell Stein (Twitter link). According to Stein, Milic – who was the first Slovenian to play in the NBA – decided not to remain with the team following the Doncic trade.
• Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal (Substack link) calls out the Mavericks’ leaders for a lack of transparency and accountability, noting that the team still hasn’t publicly commented on its Caleb Martin trade, which needed to be amended to send a second-round pick to Dallas due to concerns about Martin’s physical. The front office also hasn’t responded to Doncic’s assertion that he “absolutely” didn’t give the team any indication he wouldn’t have signed a super-max extension offer during the 2025 offseason, Afseth adds.

Center Daniel Gafford sustained a right knee sprain on Monday against the Kings and will be reevaluated within two weeks, the team’s PR department tweets. Gafford has started 28 of 51 games this season, averaging 12.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 21.9 minutes per game.

Dallas’ frontcourt has been decimated in recent weeks. Dereck Lively (right ankle stress fracture) could miss the remainder of the regular season and Dwight Powell (right hip strain) hasn’t played since Jan. 17.

Perennial All-Star Anthony Davis was injured in his Mavericks debut on Saturday. His left adductor strain will sideline him for multiple weeks. P.J. Washington is listed as questionable for Dallas’ game against Golden State on Wednesday due to a right ankle sprain, Grant Afseth of the Dallas Hoops Journal tweets.

Two-way player Kylor Kelley is the only other true big man on the roster. Forwards Kessler Edwards, Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Naji Marshall were utilized up front in small lineups after Gafford departed on Monday.

The Mavericks have an open roster spot, but are ineligible to sign a free agent to a rest-of-season contract due to their proximity to their first-apron hard cap. As we detailed on Monday, Dallas is about $171K below that hard cap and won’t be able to squeeze in a veteran rest-of-season signing until March 31.

The Mavs do have the ability to make one 10-day signing at any time, but that would leave the club just $51K shy of the first apron, unable to complete another deal until the season’s final week.

The All-Star break will buy the Mavericks a little time, but they’re likely to be in this predicament for at least a couple more weeks.

Kidd made good on that promise on Thursday. On the second end of a back-to-back set, facing the top-seeded Thunder in Oklahoma City, two-way player Kessler Edwards started and played a season-high 23 minutes, while second-year forward Olivier-Maxence Prosper saw 21 minutes off the bench.

Dallas was outscored by eight points with Prosper on the court and by seven points during Edwards’ minutes, but the duo helped keep the banged-up club in the game, combining for 21 points on 6-of-9 shooting, along with seven rebounds and a pair of steals. With veterans Kyrie Irving (24 points), P.J. Washington (22 points), and Spencer Dinwiddie (28 points) doing the rest of the heavy lifting, the Mavs picked up an impressive 121-115 victory.

“I thought this was a character win, maybe the best win of the season,” Kidd said, per Eddie Sefko of Mavs.com. “Shorthanded, next-man-up mentality.”

While the Thunder have looked like the class of the Western Conference this season, the Mavs seem to have their number. After knocking Oklahoma City out of the playoffs last spring, Dallas has gone 3-1 against the conference leaders this season. OKC is 35-5 against everyone else.

“To go against this team four times and come out 3-1, that’s where I feel like we laid our hat on,” Irving said, according to Sefko. “So we know we can play with the best. Now we got to build on that consistency. The last few games, we have not been as consistent as we’d like. (It was a) gutsy win.”

Here’s more on the Mavs:

• Of Dallas’ many injured players, Klay Thompson (left ankle sprain) and Jaden Hardy (right ankle sprain) appear the closest to returning. They’ve been listed as questionable for Saturday’s game vs. Boston, tweets Grant Afseth of Dallas Hoops Journal. Naji Marshall (illness) and Dwight Powell (right hip strain) are still listed as out and will miss a third and fourth consecutive game, respectively, joining Luka Doncic, Dereck Lively, and Dante Exum on the injured list.
• Although Exum has been shooting and ramping up his activity, his return is still a long ways off, Kidd said on Thursday (Twitter link via Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News). The veteran guard has been recovering from wrist surgery since October and has yet to make his season debut.
• According to Kidd, the Mavericks’ training staff currently has big man Maxi Kleber on a restriction of 20 minutes per game. Kleber’s importance has increased with Lively on the shelf for the foreseeable future, but after dealing with an oblique issue near the start of the month, he hasn’t logged more than 20:14 in a game since January 7.

“He got hit in the calf,” coach Jason Kidd said. “Reported it tight yesterday so they went and got an MRI. We’ll reevaluate him in a week and see where he stands.”

Curtis recalls that Doncic suffered a strain in his left calf last October when the Mavs were in Spain. He was limited to five minutes in an exhibition matchup with Real Madrid, his former team, and sat out the last game of the preseason, but was ready for opening night.

Doncic’s teammates don’t seem concerned about having him miss a week or more of training camp.

“I don’t think it’s going to be hard because when he’s on the court, it’s easy to play with him,” P.J. Washington said. “For us, it’s just learning our spacing and learning where we need to be. He’s going to be Luka, so we’re not really worried about him. It’s just us getting in our right spots, making sure we know the plays and defenses and all of that type of stuff.”

Sources tell Tim MacMahon of ESPN (Twitter link) that there are no concerns about Doncic’s availability for the October 24 opener.

There’s more from Dallas:

• The Mavericks signed Naji Marshall to be a defensive stopper after losing Derrick Jones in free agency, but Marshall may provide an offensive lift as well, Curtis states in a separate story. Klay Thompson was raving about Marshall’s shot-making after the first day of camp. “Naji played incredible,” Thompson said. “The guy was making floaters, pull-ups. I thought he played really well. I was impressed with Naji. He scored a couple of times on me. His jumper was fluid and his mid-range was nice.”
• Thompson had to “get the nerves out” in his first day of training camp with a new team after spending 13 years with the Warriors, Curtis adds in another piece. “It feels like transferring schools,” he said, “but it’s a feeling you want to embrace because it’s so rare to get those butterflies as a player. It’s awesome.”
• Maxi Kleber and Kessler Edwards were both held out of the start of camp, although Kidd didn’t provide a reason, according to Curtis. Kleber missed much of last season’s playoff run with a right shoulder AC joint separation.

The agreement with Edwards was reported last month. Edwards holds career averages of 3.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 11.9 minutes in 138 career games, 27 of which were starts, with the Nets and Kings. In 54 games for Sacramento last season, Edwards averaged 1.7 points and 5.1 minutes per game.

Edwards was eligible for restricted free agency this summer, but the Kings opted not to issue him a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Fudge signed a two-way deal with Dallas in early March but only appeared in two games. The 20-year-old small forward began the season on a two-way deal with the Lakers, seeing action in four games before being waived in early January. He also appeared in 27 G League games last season.

Fudge, 21, played college ball with LSU and Florida and went undrafted last year.

Having waived Fudge, the Mavericks have an open two-way spot. Guard Brandon Williams holds the other two-way spot.

Edwards, who will turn 24 in August, spent the last season-and-a-half in Sacramento and appeared in 54 games for the Kings last season. However, his role was extremely limited. He averaged just 5.1 minutes per game off the bench, often seeing action in garbage time.

The 6’8″ forward had his best season in the NBA as a rookie in 2022/23, when he averaged 5.9 points and 3.6 rebounds in 20.6 minutes per game across 48 outings (23 starts) for the Nets. He posted a .412/.353/.842 shooting line that season.

Edwards was eligible for restricted free agency this summer, but the Kings opted not to issue him a qualifying offer, making him an unrestricted free agent.

A former Pepperdine standout, Edwards will join Alex Fudge and Brandon Williams as Dallas’ players on two-way contracts.

We’ll start with Rockets forward Jeff Green. Reporting last week indicated that Houston planned to exercise his $8MM team option for 2024/25 and the team did just that, per RealGM’s transaction log. Green’s salary technically remains non-guaranteed until July 11 even now that his option has been picked up, but the expectation is that he’ll be retained — his expiring deal could be a useful salary-matching piece in a trade, and he also played rotation minutes for Houston last season, averaging 16.8 MPG in 78 appearances.

While there was no official confirmation on Saturday (as far as we could tell), Grizzlies forward Yuta Watanabe had long been expected to decline his $2.65MM player option for the 2024/25 season, since he’s on track to return to his home country of Japan and play for the Chiba Jets. There’s no indication that those plans have changed or that he picked up his option, so we’re assuming it was declined and that he’ll be off the board for NBA teams this offseason.

Finally, Davis Bertans‘ option with the Hornets was technically an early termination option rather than a player option, meaning that instead of needing to actively exercise it if he wanted to opt in, he needed to do nothing to opt in. He did just that, and will remain under contract with Charlotte for the time being, rather than becoming a free agent. However, his $16MM option salary is only partially guaranteed for $5.25MM, so he’s not assured of having the rest of that salary guaranteed, especially if the Hornets are looking to maximize their cap flexibility this offseason.

Here are a few more updates left over from a busy Saturday:

• Dominick Barlow, a 21-year-old forward who has spent the past two seasons with the Spurs, didn’t receive a qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (Twitter link). San Antonio isn’t necessarily planning to part ways with Barlow, according to Tom Orsborn of The San Antonio Express-News, who tweets that the Spurs still have interest in discussing a new deal. However, he’ll have interest from other teams as well, says Wojnarowski.
• The Kings didn’t tender qualifying offers to their three players eligible for restricted free agency (Kessler Edwards, Jordan Ford, or Jalen Slawson), confirms Sean Cunningham of FOX 40 Sacramento (Twitter link). All three players will be unrestricted free agents.
• According to RealGM, players who did receive qualifying offers that weren’t previously reported (that we saw) include no-brainers like Sixers guard Tyrese Maxey and Raptors guard Immanuel Quickley, as well as Mavericks two-way player Brandon Williams.
• We’ve previously published trackers for this year’s team option decisions and player option decisions, which are now fully up to date. We’ll be posting a full qualifying offer recap later this morning.

Sacramento acquired the 22-year-old small forward from the Nets at this year’s trade deadline. He appeared in 22 games with the Kings, averaging 3.9 points and 2.1 rebounds per night in a limited role.

Brooklyn drafted Kessler in the second round in 2021 and he made an impact during his rookie year, starting 23 of the 48 games he played. He fell out of the Nets’ rotation this season and appeared in just 14 games before the deal.

Edwards will become a free agent next summer, and the Kings can make him restricted by issuing a $2.4MM qualifying offer.

Noah Vonleh salary dump

On January 5:

• The Spurs acquired Noah Vonleh and cash ($1.5MM)
• The Celtics acquired the Spurs’ 2024 second-round pick (top-54 protected)

Entering 2022/23, the Spurs were one of two teams with a significant amount of cap room available, making them a prime target for salary dumps. That’s all this trade boiled down to for the Celtics.

By trading Vonleh before his salary became guaranteed, the Celtics not only removed his $1.16MM cap hit and saved $7.15MM toward their luxury tax bill, but they also freed up a roster spot. It also minimized the amount of cash they had to send out to make the deal – if they had waited a few more days, Vonleh’s cap hit would have increased to $1,836,090, which is the standard amount for all veterans on one-year, minimum-salary contracts.

The Celtics still technically paid Vonleh all but two days of the prorated minimum salary he received this season — the Spurs paid the final two days after acquiring and waiving him. Removing him from the books was purely about the financial impact, as he was a deep-bench reserve who seldom played (in 23 games, he averaged just 7.4 minutes per contest).

Boston also created a traded player exception equivalent to Vonleh’s salary since it didn’t receive a player in return.

Vonleh did not catch on with another team after the trade and the 27-year-old big man will still be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

The pick the Spurs sent out is extremely unlikely to convey — they just had to send something back in return. They also waived – and later re-signed – center Gorgui Dieng as part of this trade, which moved them marginally closer to the salary cap floor.

Essentially, they net gained about $339K in cash as part of the deal and were able to keep Dieng around as a veteran leader after he cleared waivers .

Dewayne Dedmon salary dump

On February 7:

• The Spurs acquired Dewayne Dedmon and the Heat’s 2028 second-round pick
• The Heat acquired cash ($110K).

Another salary dump, this time for the Heat. Dedmon had fallen out of Miami’s rotation – he had been dealing with plantar fasciitis, and was suspended one game for a sideline incident that saw him swat a Theragun (a massage device) onto the court out of anger after being subbed out.

Removing Dedmon’s $4.7MM cap hit gave the Heat the financial flexibility to sign a couple of frontcourt reinforcements — Kevin Love and Cody Zeller — while still remaining below the luxury tax line. They already had one open roster spot and removing Dedmon freed up a second, so they didn’t have to release anyone to add the two veterans.

As with Boston, Miami also generated a TPE equal to Dedmon’s salary since the team didn’t acquire a player in return.

As previously mentioned, the Spurs had ample cap room available and used more of it to add and then waive Dedmon (who signed with the Sixers but rarely plays), acquiring a second-round pick in the process. They only sent out $110K to complete the transaction, which is the minimum amount a team can send or receive in a trade in ‘22/23.

Kessler Edwards salary dump

On February 7:

• The Kings acquired Kessler Edwards and cash ($2.58MM)
• The Nets acquired the draft rights to David Michineau

Another minor trade, this time a salary dump for the Nets. The primary difference is the Kings actually kept Edwards instead of immediately waiving him.

Brooklyn saved about $8MM in salary and luxury tax payments by moving Edwards, a 2021 second-round pick out of Pepperdine. He showed some promise as a rookie, but only played 27 minutes for the Nets this season.

As a second-year player on a minimum-salary contract, Edwards is earning $1,637,966 in ‘22/23. That’s the amount of the TPE the Nets created in this deal. Michineau is currently playing in Italy and every year he remains overseas, he’s less likely to ever be brought stateside.

Still just 22 years old, Edwards has been a rotation member over the past month for Sacramento, averaging 3.9 points and 2.0 rebounds on .435/.349/.769 shooting in 22 games (13.9 minutes). The Kings will have a $1.93MM team option on Edwards for ‘23/24 if they want to bring him back – considering he was getting rotation minutes down the stretch, I’d be mildly surprised if they don’t exercise it.

Rockets/Hawks four-player deal

On February 9:

• The Rockets acquired Justin Holiday, Frank Kaminsky and the Thunder’s 2024 and 2025 second-round picks
• The Hawks acquired Garrison Mathews and Bruno Fernando

This trade (understandably) flew under the radar a bit due to all the blockbusters on deadline day, but it was pretty interesting for both sides because it was more complicated than it appears on the surface.

For example, the Hawks were able to treat this as essentially three separate trades rolled into one. They acquired Mathews with an existing TPE, did a simultaneous trade of Kaminsky for Fernando, and then a non-simultaneous trade of Holiday, which allowed them to create a new mid-sized outstanding trade exception of $6,292,440, equal to Holiday’s outgoing cap charge.

Both Mathews (26) and Fernando (24) are young and have played some solid basketball across their four NBA seasons, and their contracts are affordable. However, neither played much for the Hawks, and their salaries are non-guaranteed for ’23/24, so it’s certainly not a given that they’ll be back next season.

The primary purpose of the deal was to clear enough salary cap space to remain below the luxury tax line. Atlanta used that extra breathing room to acquire Saddiq Bey – a third-year forward who has become a key bench contributor – with a separate trade exception.

The Rockets could not complete this as a straight two-for-two simultaneous trade, as the amount of incoming money from Holiday and Kaminsky was greater than 175% of Mathews’ and Fernando’s salaries (plus $100K). Instead, they treated it as a simultaneous trade for Holiday and used the minimum salary exception to acquire Kaminsky.

Houston’s primary motivation was to acquire the two second-round picks from the Thunder, which Atlanta controlled from a previous trade. OKC is on an upward trajectory, so it’s hard to say where those picks might land, but it was solid value for taking on about $4MM in added salary.

The Rockets reportedly had interest in retaining both veterans, but Holiday wound up seeking a buyout and caught on with the Mavericks. Both Holiday and Kaminsky will be unrestricted free agents this summer.

Mike Muscala to Boston

On February 9:

• The Celtics acquired Mike Muscala
• The Thunder acquired Justin Jackson, a 2023 second-round pick and Boston’s 2029 second-round pick

A classic win-now move from a championship contender, which Boston certainly is. A long-range shooting specialist, Muscala has shot a combined 40.8% from deep over the past two seasons, averaging 6.9 PPG and 3.1 RPG in 14.5 MPG over that span (106 games).

Adding another big man shooter allows the Celtics to play a five-out system to maximize floor spacing for drives, kick-outs, and swinging the ball around to find the open man. He’s also on a relatively affordable $3.5MM contract with an identical team option for ‘23/24 – it’s important to find value on the cheap for any team, but particularly taxpayers like Boston.

You could say this deal is sort of connected to the aforementioned salary dump of Vonleh, since the Celtics added about $6.4MM to their tax bill by swapping out Jackson’s minimum-salary contract for Muscala. The Celtics had to use a trade exception left over from last year’s trade deadline to acquire him, as Jackson’s cap hit wasn’t large enough to match his incoming salary (they also created another small trade exception equivalent to Jackson’s salary).

While Muscala is far from a defensive stopper, his teams have actually been better on that end with him on the court in each of the past three seasons. The 31-year-old is not a rim protector nor a great rebounder, so those numbers may be a little noisy due to primarily playing against reserves.

The Thunder added Jackson (and then immediately waived him) using the minimum salary exception, generating a new trade exception equivalent to Muscala’s $3.5MM salary. They also added a couple of second-round picks, which is solid value given Muscala’s modest role — as the youngest team in the league, it’s not like Muscala was in OKC’s long-term plans, even if he was a steady veteran presence who contributed on the court as well.

Interestingly, the 2023 second-rounder heading to OKC is still up in the air and won’t be determined until next month’s draft lottery, because the Rockets finished the season tied with the Spurs for the NBA’s second-worst record – whichever team selects earlier in the lottery will have the less favorable second-round pick.

If Houston’s second-round pick lands at No. 32, the Thunder will receive the Heat’s second-rounder (via Boston), but if it lands at No. 33, OKC will receive Portland’s second-rounder (via Boston).

There’s a substantial difference in value between those two second-rounders – the Blazers’ pick will land at No. 35, while the Heat’s will be between Nos. 48-50 (pending the results of a three-team tiebreaker). Clearly, the Thunder will be hoping that Houston drafts ahead of San Antonio in the first round, though I’m sure they’d rather not see either of their conference rivals land the No. 1 overall pick and the chance to select Victor Wembanyama.

Mason Plumlee to the Clippers

On February 9:

• The Clippers acquired Mason Plumlee
• The Hornets acquired Reggie Jackson, the Clippers’ 2028 second-round pick, and cash ($1MM).

Another relatively modest win-now deal, this time for the Clippers, who had been looking for reliable center depth leading up to the deadline and found it in Plumlee, a 10-year veteran who was surprisingly having the best season of his career for Charlotte at age 32.

In 56 games with the Hornets, all starts, he posted career highs in several categories, including field-goal percentage (66.9%), points (12.2), rebounds (9.7), assists (3.7) and minutes per game (28.5). His playing time has dipped since he joined the Clippers, which is understandable because he’s playing behind Ivica Zubac – he averaged 7.5 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 23 games (four starts, 19.9 minutes).

Plumlee’s expiring salary made him a natural trade candidate, particularly since the Hornets have drafted multiple centers in the past few years and had a disappointing 2022/23 season due in part to off-court issues and injuries. Jackson was reportedly a positive locker-room presence, but he was struggling for the second straight season and the Clippers only had to give up one second-rounder and some cash to complete the deal.

Plumlee has some limitations (he’s a non-shooter and a below-average defender), but he plays hard, sets solid screens, and generally is in the right spots. The Clippers will have his Bird rights if they want to re-sign him this summer.

L.A. also generated a small ($2,134,843) trade exception as part of the deal, which was the difference in Jackson’s ($11,215,260) and Plumlee’s ($9,080,417) salaries. While the Clippers did save some money here, they actually added to their tax bill with their other trades (acquiring Bones Hyland and Eric Gordon in separate deals).

One rumor leading up to the deadline indicated the Hornets were looking for a first-round pick for Plumlee, but I didn’t view that as realistic – he’s mostly been a backup, and while his contract isn’t unreasonable, it’s also expiring, so he could be a rental player. They also received some cash as part of the deal to help offset the aforementioned salary differences.

Jackson subsequently reached a buyout and signed with Denver, so clearly the primary motivation for Charlotte was extracting whatever draft capital it could in return for Plumlee. I’m sure giving the team’s young centers more minutes was a motivating factor as well, but president of basketball operations Mitch Kupchak said after the deadline that he was concerned about having so many free agents due to the uncertainty of what it will take to re-sign them.

The Hornets gave backup center Nick Richards a three-year, $15MM extension last month, so both he and rookie starter Mark Williams will be under team control for at least three more seasons.