Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[DanSchwartzgan]

All the shooters they’ve brought and Klay are guys who need to be set up for threes not creating their own. They must have a lot of faith in Sasser or maybe high expectations for Sergio his rookie year, cuz they just don’t have enough creators. And I don’t really want to see a ton of point Flagg.

I've been thinking about this and the conversations yesterday about positions.  It is easy to dismiss "point Flagg" as a bad thing, but the truth is he is going to have a significant creation burden.  He created 60% of his two-point attempts and 30% of his three-point attempts.  When you add in his 21.5 Assist %, you are starting to define a forward position that creates for himself and for others.  Point Forward is one way of putting it, but that doesn't fully cover the scoring burden he has.  Scoring Forward doesn't quite cover the creation burden.  For my purposes here, I'm going to call it Creating Wing.

When you look at the rest of the team, Naji and Middleton have similar profiles in terms of both self creation and Assist %.  So, whatever you call the position, they fit it also (if Middleton is on the team).  Their Assist %'s were in the 15/16 range and both created over 50% of their two point attempts.  The only players who were higher in those areas are the "pure" point guards.  As the roster stands now, that probably includes Kyrie, Nembhard and Sasser.  Sasser has a high Assist % (21.9), but his self creation has been trending downward and was slightly under 50% last season.  Sergio has a high Assist % also (28.6%), but one of the knocks on him is how much his efficiency drops on self-created shots.

I would differentiate these Creating Guards from the Creating Wings by size and would differentiate them from the Christie's/Klay's of the world in terms of self creation.  Biberovic clearly belongs in the category with Christie and Klay.  Sergio is kind of a hybrid right now in that his creation for others makes him a Creating Guard, but his poor self creation makes him more of a Shooting Wing.

So, now we are starting to find ways of dividing players into positions.  We have:

Creating Wings:  Flagg, Naji (and maybe Middleton)
Creating Guards:  Kyrie, Sasser, Nembhard and maybe Sergio
Shooting Wings:  Christie, Klay, Biberovic and maybe Sergio

When you look at what we have done and have been rumored to have tried to do, it looks like we are going to also have a category I'll call Shooting Big.  Aldama fits.  I believe Morez will get there too (I think he will eventually be our starting "4" and will grow into a bigger offensive role than most of us visualize for him currently).  Hachimura would have fit this category as well.  PJ is the outlier here in terms of his 3 point ability.  But, it feels like the team is working pretty hard to make him obsolete.

Finally, we have the non-shooting bigs who will either screen and roll or generate opportunities from the dunkers spot.  These include Lively, Gafford and Cisse (if he's here).  Again, you can argue that Morez belongs here (and he may start here), but I think we will see that change as his game expands.  In terms of the youth movement, the positions play out as follows:

Creating Guards:  Sergio, Sasser, Nembhard
Creating Wings:  Flagg (Naji is 28)
Shooting Wings:  Christie, Biberovic
Shooting Bigs:  Morez, Aldama (25)
Non-shooting Bigs:  Lively, Cisse

[DanSchwartzgan]

Mavs_FFL
Report: Tarik Biberović has signed a two-year, $14 million deal. The second year is a team option.

——————

I think this is being pulled from a report on basketfaul.com

So, part of the MLE, leaving a little over $8mm.  

Reminder that we are at 15 players and $11.9mm under the cap if we do nothing else.

[Smitty]

So, part of the MLE, leaving a little over $8mm.  

Reminder that we are at 15 players and $11.9mm under the cap if we do nothing else.

[basketfaul] Tarık Biberovic to Earn $7 Million a Year from Dallas. It has been reported that the Dallas Mavericks will sign a contract with Tarık Biberovic worth 2 x $7 million (a total of $14 million), with the second year being a club option.

https://basketfaul.com.tr/gundem/tarik-b...ar-alacak/

This is where I think it's being pulled from. I think we'll know for sure on the NBA reporter side today. But I think your assumption and numbers are correct.

[Winter]

As the roster currently stand, the trickiest issue is Kyrie's position.

Kyrie is relegated to PG to start the season - unless you give it Sergio (which seems like a pretty big task). And really, without another experienced PG, Kyrie will be asked to stay there until someone else is ready. I don't see much flexibility for Kyrie.

I suspect they may have another PG targeted, but it does feel light at that position currently.

[DanSchwartzgan]

[basketfaul] Tarık Biberovic to Earn $7 Million a Year from Dallas. It has been reported that the Dallas Mavericks will sign a contract with Tarık Biberovic worth 2 x $7 million (a total of $14 million), with the second year being a club option.

https://basketfaul.com.tr/gundem/tarik-b...ar-alacak/

This is where I think it's being pulled from. I think we'll know for sure on the NBA reporter side today. But I think your assumption and numbers are correct.

One correction.  I had $7.5mm in my spreadsheet for Tarik.  So, the space under the tax is $12.4mm as things currently stand.

I feel like space under the tax is probably more important than the remaining MLE amount.  The space could be used in a trade where we take back more salary or a 2 for 1 where we take back more salary and then replace someone with a miniumum player like Cisse.

[ThisIStheYear]

As the roster currently stand, the trickiest issue is Kyrie's position.

Kyrie is relegated to PG to start the season - unless you give it Sergio (which seems like a pretty big task). And really, without another experienced PG, Kyrie will be asked to stay there until someone else is ready. I don't see much flexibility for Kyrie.

I suspect they may have another PG targeted, but it does feel light at that position currently.

I thought Sasser is a point guard. Are we no longer counting on him being here?

[SleepingHero]

[basketfaul] Tarık Biberovic to Earn $7 Million a Year from Dallas. It has been reported that the Dallas Mavericks will sign a contract with Tarık Biberovic worth 2 x $7 million (a total of $14 million), with the second year being a club option.

https://basketfaul.com.tr/gundem/tarik-b...ar-alacak/

This is where I think it's being pulled from. I think we'll know for sure on the NBA reporter side today. But I think your assumption and numbers are correct.

Sounds like we kept trying to give him the BAE at 5.4mil but he wanted more. 

To be honest, the 7mil number is close enough to that that I think we should wait and see if he's going to get that BAE.

[Winter]

I thought Sasser is a point guard. Are we no longer counting on him being here?

He's absolutely in the mix, but I don't think he gets minutes above Sergio - at least at the start of the season.

It's not unsolvable since Sergio could get some minutes at SG with someone else at PG. But there's a lot to figure out about how a rotation occurs during a game.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Pretty standard deal for a player of his caliber at the time it was signed.  I despise Nico, but I don't think there's anything wrong with the PJ contract.

He had a poor year. I expect him to bounce back to the level he played at when the Mavs went to the Finals.

[Dirknows]

I've been thinking about this and the conversations yesterday about positions.  It is easy to dismiss "point Flagg" as a bad thing, but the truth is he is going to have a significant creation burden.  He created 60% of his two-point attempts and 30% of his three-point attempts.  When you add in his 21.5 Assist %, you are starting to define a forward position that creates for himself and for others.  Point Forward is one way of putting it, but that doesn't fully cover the scoring burden he has.  Scoring Forward doesn't quite cover the creation burden.  For my purposes here, I'm going to call it Creating Wing.

When you look at the rest of the team, Naji and Middleton have similar profiles in terms of both self creation and Assist %.  So, whatever you call the position, they fit it also (if Middleton is on the team).  Their Assist %'s were in the 15/16 range and both created over 50% of their two point attempts.  The only players who were higher in those areas are the "pure" point guards.  As the roster stands now, that probably includes Kyrie, Nembhard and Sasser.  Sasser has a high Assist % (21.9), but his self creation has been trending downward and was slightly under 50% last season.  Sergio has a high Assist % also (28.6%), but one of the knocks on him is how much his efficiency drops on self-created shots.

I would differentiate these Creating Guards from the Creating Wings by size and would differentiate them from the Christie's/Klay's of the world in terms of self creation.  Biberovic clearly belongs in the category with Christie and Klay.  Sergio is kind of a hybrid right now in that his creation for others makes him a Creating Guard, but his poor self creation makes him more of a Shooting Wing.

So, now we are starting to find ways of dividing players into positions.  We have:

Creating Wings:  Flagg, Naji (and maybe Middleton)
Creating Guards:  Kyrie, Sasser, Nembhard and maybe Sergio
Shooting Wings:  Christie, Klay, Biberovic and maybe Sergio

When you look at what we have done and have been rumored to have tried to do, it looks like we are going to also have a category I'll call Shooting Big.  Aldama fits.  I believe Morez will get there too (I think he will eventually be our starting "4" and will grow into a bigger offensive role than most of us visualize for him currently).  Hachimura would have fit this category as well.  PJ is the outlier here in terms of his 3 point ability.  But, it feels like the team is working pretty hard to make him obsolete.

Finally, we have the non-shooting bigs who will either screen and roll or generate opportunities from the dunkers spot.  These include Lively, Gafford and Cisse (if he's here).  Again, you can argue that Morez belongs here (and he may start here), but I think we will see that change as his game expands.  In terms of the youth movement, the positions play out as follows:

Creating Guards:  Sergio, Sasser, Nembhard
Creating Wings:  Flagg (Naji is 28)
Shooting Wings:  Christie, Biberovic
Shooting Bigs:  Morez, Aldama (25)
Non-shooting Bigs:  Lively, Cisse

Id honestly be fine if Sergio became a high assist point guard who can hit the spot up 3. Cooper is going to get all the isolation plays called for him anyways. It feels like the front office has high expectations for Sergio in year one. Also when you lay the team out like that, they better pray that Kyrie builds back a lot of trade value because that team outside of Flagg has very little talent. Obviously Morez, Biberovic and Sergio are still unknowns, Lively can’t stay healthy, Christie is ok as is Aldama. Masai made a big bet on Morez becoming more than just a rim running 5 on offense (his new Pascal project), time will tell if it pays off.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

He's absolutely in the mix, but I don't think he gets minutes above Sergio - at least at the start of the season.

It's not unsolvable since Sergio could get some minutes at SG with someone else at PG. But there's a lot to figure out about how a rotation occurs during a game.

I don't think you can predetermine this rookie's spot in the lineup just yet. Success overseas doesn't always equate to immediate NBA success unless your name is Wemby or Luka. Sasser is more seasoned in the NBA. Pretty sure they'll both compete for minutes, and may the best man win.

[Moviemavguy]

As the roster currently stand, the trickiest issue is Kyrie's position.

Kyrie is relegated to PG to start the season - unless you give it Sergio (which seems like a pretty big task). And really, without another experienced PG, Kyrie will be asked to stay there until someone else is ready. I don't see much flexibility for Kyrie.

I suspect they may have another PG targeted, but it does feel light at that position currently.

Not sure we know what will happen until the Diva makes his decision.  (can't believe the league still decides to half shut down based on where he plays)

But the Mavs actually are OK at the pg position.  Kyrie, De Larrea, Sasser, Nembhard.  You could do a lot worse.  And who knows what happens with Bwill, but I'm guessing that ship has sailed.

[mvossman]

When you look at what we have done and have been rumored to have tried to do, it looks like we are going to also have a category I'll call Shooting Big.  Aldama fits.  I believe Morez will get there too (I think he will eventually be our starting "4" and will grow into a bigger offensive role than most of us visualize for him currently).  

While I agree that Morez will grow into a bigger offensive role, I think he will spend a lot of time at the 5.  Every recent NBA champion has a starter that can play either the 4 or the 5 (KAT, Chet, KP/Horford, Giannis, Draymond, AD).  The only exceptions are Jokic and Wemby (who hasn't won yet but will).  They are always 5s on defense but can play as a 4 offensively.  I envision Morez joining that list some day.

[Winter]

Id honestly be fine if Sergio became a high assist point guard who can hit the spot up 3. Cooper is going to get all the isolation plays called for him anyways. It feels like the front office has high expectations for Sergio in year one. Also when you lay the team out like that, they better pray that Kyrie builds back a lot of trade value because that team outside of Flagg has very little talent. Obviously Morez, Biberovic and Sergio are still unknowns, Lively can’t stay healthy, Christie is ok as is Aldama. Masai made a big bet on Morez becoming more than just a rim running 5 on offense (his new Pascal project), time will tell if it pays off.

I understand what you're saying, but individual "talent" is a pretty ambiguous (and subjective) term. The Mavs are trying to solve statistical deficiencies as a team. I think that's the critical part of wins and losses.

[Winter]

While I agree that Morez will grow into a bigger offensive role, I think he will spend a lot of time at the 5.  Every recent NBA champion has a starter that can play either the 4 or the 5 (KAT, Chet, KP/Horford, Giannis, Draymond, AD).  The only exceptions are Jokic and Wemby (who hasn't won yet but will).  They are always 5s on defense but can play as a 4 offensively.  I envision Morez joining that list some day.

I don't think he will spend a lot of time at the 5 if Gafford is still here.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

ESPN Cleveland: Donovan Mitchell's contract extension per year: Year 1 - $60.9 million; Year 2 - $65.8 million; Year 3 - $70.6 million; Year 4 - $75.5 million. Spida got PAID. Donovan Mitchell could have waited until next summer for an additional season worth an extra $80 million on the deal (five years and $353 million), according to ESPN's Bobby Marks. He instead committed to a long-term extension on the first day he was eligible for a new contract to stamp his pledge to Cleveland. Mitchell was entering the last guaranteed season of his contract ahead of a 2027 player option, which now gets replaced by the new deal.

ESPN

[mvossman]

I don't think he will spend a lot of time at the 5 if Gafford is still here.

I'm talking long term.  I doubt Gafford will be here long term.  If he is, its likely because Lively could never get healthy and then he will be playing a Looney type role.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Keith Smith: Kristaps Porzingis' contract with the Golden State Warriors becomes fully guaranteed for $20 million today. This is a quirk of Porzingis' extension. In order for the 2027-28 season to be partially guaranteed with a July 7, 2027 guarantee date, this season had to mirror it.

x.com

[HoosierDaddyKid]

With the Heat immediately starting to sell Giannis Antetokounmpo’s No. 34 jersey after his acquisition was finalized when the NBA’s moratorium lifted at 12:01 p.m. on Monday, that left the Heat searching for a remedy for those who purchased Antetokounmpo’s No. 34 Heat jersey before the number change became public a few hours later. “All Giannis jersey orders and personalized “ANTETOKOUNMPO” No. 34 jerseys will be fulfilled with the new No. 7,” according to a Heat spokesperson. “If fans purchased a Giannis jersey in-store, they’ll be able to exchange it for the new No. 7.” Rookie guard Ryan Conwell was initially set to wear No. 7 with the Heat after being acquired by Miami in the second round of this year’s draft. But with Antetokounmpo now wearing No. 7, Conwell is switching to No. 4. Conwell didn’t have much input on the matter, saying that somebody on the Heat’s equipment staff called him to say, “Yeah, big dog wants your number. You’re going to have to change.” “I mean, Giannis, he gets whatever he wants. I’m just now coming into the league,” Conwell said after scoring 26 points in the Heat’s 95-85 summer league win over the Golden State Warriors on Monday night at the California Classic in San Francisco. “So, I got a lot of work to do, and I’m trying to get to where he’s at.”

Miami Herald

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Joel Embiid played 38 games in 2025-26, and he has averaged just 32 across the past three seasons. Among the executives who placed Philadelphia in the top four, all acknowledged the risk in betting on a top-heavy group and one so reliant on a player who needs to be managed delicately to make it to the postseason. "I don't trust Embiid. On paper, they should be top four. On paper," an executive said. "Jaylen Brown brings them a level of toughness Boston's going to miss. He brings them an edge." Another top decision-maker believes the acquisition of Brown lessens Philadelphia's dependency on Embiid, saying, "He only has to play 40 games because of JB and their great backcourt."

ESPN