Dorsey's situation makes me think it's probably a good window into seeing how the Mavs FO thinks and acts, and how manipulative they are trying to be in what they say about what's going on.
The Mavs have been trying to sell us on how wonderful it is to have the "flexibility" of an open slot. But that's just selling us on air. (The real advantage is to have talent, not the open space that might somehow become talent later on, maybe, if only, somehow). There's no flexibility truly gained -- filling that slot with a minimum salary wouldn't prevent changing direction later and using it on someone else - it just keeps from costing Cuban a few dollars if they goof up.
So when they say it that way, I tend to question if they even truly have a 15th slot open. Maybe Dorsey is signed to fill that 15th slot, and they are trying to skirt the tax rules in how they pay him, as follows:
1 Sign to a 2-way, which allows the player to play 50 games with Mavs. For those 50 games, the player gets paid usual NBA minimum salary. But 2-way salary doesn't count on cap (or tax) totals.
2 At game 51, instead of sending him to GL because he is out of NBA games allowed, "convert" the 2-way contract to a minimum salary NBA deal. Player continues seamlessly on the roster, and Mavs continue to pay minimum salary, for the rest of the season.
3 The "cost" for doing this is that you waste a 2-way slot, that could otherwise be used for developing a young player and supplementing your NBA roster in the process. And when you convert the contract after 50 games, you don't get to sign another player to a 2-way because the window has closed.
4 But it is cheaper on Cuban's wallet. The tax is reduced. And he is paying one less salary, avoiding the cost of another 2-way player.
Oh, and BTW, perhaps the answer to "why don't they use BOTH 2-way slots in this manner," the answer is that NBA roster limits prevent that. You must have 14 NBA players on your roster. The two-ways don't count.
The Mavs have been trying to sell us on how wonderful it is to have the "flexibility" of an open slot. But that's just selling us on air. (The real advantage is to have talent, not the open space that might somehow become talent later on, maybe, if only, somehow). There's no flexibility truly gained -- filling that slot with a minimum salary wouldn't prevent changing direction later and using it on someone else - it just keeps from costing Cuban a few dollars if they goof up.
So when they say it that way, I tend to question if they even truly have a 15th slot open. Maybe Dorsey is signed to fill that 15th slot, and they are trying to skirt the tax rules in how they pay him, as follows:
1 Sign to a 2-way, which allows the player to play 50 games with Mavs. For those 50 games, the player gets paid usual NBA minimum salary. But 2-way salary doesn't count on cap (or tax) totals.
2 At game 51, instead of sending him to GL because he is out of NBA games allowed, "convert" the 2-way contract to a minimum salary NBA deal. Player continues seamlessly on the roster, and Mavs continue to pay minimum salary, for the rest of the season.
3 The "cost" for doing this is that you waste a 2-way slot, that could otherwise be used for developing a young player and supplementing your NBA roster in the process. And when you convert the contract after 50 games, you don't get to sign another player to a 2-way because the window has closed.
4 But it is cheaper on Cuban's wallet. The tax is reduced. And he is paying one less salary, avoiding the cost of another 2-way player.
Oh, and BTW, perhaps the answer to "why don't they use BOTH 2-way slots in this manner," the answer is that NBA roster limits prevent that. You must have 14 NBA players on your roster. The two-ways don't count.
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