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[F Gump]

There's a lot of KAT smoke so can Dan S or F Gump explain if this actually works financially in the new CBA? How do we afford that big 3?

KAT only makes 36M in 2023-24, so matching the salary and making it fit for now is not an issue. If the Mavs could (in theory) make the Ayton salary work, they can make this one work as well.

The issue for KAT is the salary and its implications for future years, with a 16M+ raise in a year.

I have no idea if such a trade is really likely at all, but some of my guesses:
1 The Mavs would expect a trade that includes a salary match providing a REDUCTION for Mavs in salary in 2023-24.
2 And/or I would expect DAL to extract extra side value from MIN, as a tip (maybe bribe is a better word here, in light of the massive financial consequences ) for taking on the balance owed for KAT of 5 yrs 270M.

Sign Kyrie, sign MLE, trade for KAT, and you still have room to work around the edges and probably be under Apron 1. Depending on Kyrie salary.

I'm fantasizing about something like this:
KAT-Kyle A-Jaden McD   49.1M
THJ-Bullock-Holmes-McGee   46.1M

You end up with the PHX model, a top-heavy roster thin on players.
C - KAT, Lively
PF - McD, Kyle, Maxi, Prosper
SF- Brown
SG - Luka, Green
PG - Kyrie, Hardy
4 minimums, Kyrie's salary starts at 39M to keep the team under Apron 1

One big issue would be KAT's trade kicker. It's somewhere between 17M and 23M, and I'm guessing it has to go away (because of the cap implications) if KAT is to be traded. It's already going to be hard to choke down KAT's future salary, and adding another 4-5M per year seems like a deal-killer.