Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[Chicagojk]

Keith Smith: Factoring in the reported contracts for John Collins, Kevin Huerter & Javonte Green and the Gary Harris/Taurean Prince acquisitions, I've got the Pistons at about $42.8M under the luxury tax. That's enough room to give Jalen Duren 25% of the cap max without going into the tax.

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That is great and all.   I liked the Collins move.   Just don't think they have improved their team overall if their big move is re-signing Duren.    It will help, but that team is screaming for another guard/wing scorer and creator.  It seems like they are a little asset poor of what they would want to move.

[Mavs2021]

Shams Charania reveals that Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown’s personal relationship off the court was “as close to non-existent as you could have” over the last year.  "It is a tale of two different people."

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Celtics press release: Advanced Analytics showed us Brown is not good enough to have 60M a year on the books.
Capologists: ....but only 48M of Brown´s salary counts against the team´s cap.
New Celtics press release: Brown and Tatum really hated each other.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Dave McMenamin: The Lakers make the DeAndre Ayton-Jaden Hardy trade with WAS official. Hardy will wear No. 7 for LAL.

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[Dirknows]

Whether he does or doesn't care, I'd personally try to put off paying tax one more year, at least. As long as possible. Just for the strategy of it, not to save real life money. 

I guess my thinking is that looking around, I'm not sure I see a free agent left worth offering the full MLE, except for maybe Mathurin, who nobody around here seems to want, so...how about not using it, then, and you just stay opportunistic with the big TPE between now and the deadline, with the flexibility to afford using it if/when the right opportunity comes up?

Seems like they’re keeping the TPE for a potential Kyrie trade, I can’t think of any other use for it. For the MLE, if they could get Mathurin I’d probably pull the trigger. Adding as much young talent as possible should be the goal. And at the MLE it would be a good contract. Skeptical he doesn’t get more but doesn’t appear the Clips are all that eager to keep him.

[Scott41theMavs]

Assuming Sasser becomes official ASAP (no reports of him being aggregated here), finish it off by acquiring Wallace, Scoot, Black, Jrue, or Murray. Kthx3M

[KillerLeft]

Assuming Sasser becomes official ASAP (no reports of him being aggregated here), finish it off by acquiring Wallace, Scoot, Black, Jrue, or Murray. Kthx3M

I watched two hours of Shaedon Sharpe footage today. I'd be super cool with him, too. My dude is fast and athletic.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

The Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers, and 76ers appear to be the top 3 teams in the LeBron sweepstakes, per @ShamsCharania: “When the Sixers got Jaylen Brown, I did some research, and he (LeBron) is taking their pitch very seriously. When I talk to teams now, I have a hierarchy of Cleveland, Miami, Philadelphia, and then some teams on the periphery.” Giannis Antetokounmpo WANTS LeBron James to join the Heat, per @ShamsCharania: “There’s a draw with Miami. Pat Riley is a draw, Spoelstra is a draw. I have gotten any feel that there’s still tension between LeBron and Pat Riley that would deter him from that. I think Bam and Giannis are big draws for him too. He played Team USA for Bam and has a lot of respect for Bam. Giannis would want LeBron in Miami from my understanding as well. No state taxes…. In January, you think about Miami and it’s Miami! If you have a team that is basically neck and neck but one of them is based in Miami, with no state taxes.”

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[Scott41theMavs]

I watched two hours of Shaedon Sharpe footage today. I'd be super cool with him, too. My dude is fast and athletic.

He's a shooting guard who can't shoot. I know Dirk is the shot whisperer, but he needs a baseline to work with.

[Chicagojk]

Assuming Sasser becomes official ASAP (no reports of him being aggregated here), finish it off by acquiring Wallace, Scoot, Black, Jrue, or Murray. Kthx3M

It is a unbalanced team but it is pretty deep.  I wonder if they make a move for a guard and then bring back mostly the rest of the team and have May to make them look good and then maybe look for a combined trade next year when teams start hating their teams.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Shams Charania: As part of the elaborate six-team trade, the Washington Wizards are sending D'Angelo Russell, a future second-round pick and a future second-round pick swap to the Memphis Grizzlies, sources tell ESPN.

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[Chicagojk]

I watched two hours of Shaedon Sharpe footage today. I'd be super cool with him, too. My dude is fast and athletic.

Yeah, he is an interesting one.    I think he is gettable.   I can't believe they are crazy with him with the logjam at the 2 guard and forward starting a 4 year contract. 

If you catch him on the right day he is fantastic.  Something is missing though.   The previous coaching staff lost faith in him.

[windjc]

Mavs are creating cap space to add Tatum at the trade deadline once that team implodes.

[KillerLeft]

Yeah, he is an interesting one.    I think he is gettable.   I can't believe they are crazy with him with the logjam at the 2 guard and forward starting a 4 year contract. 

If you catch him on the right day he is fantastic.  Something is missing though.   The previous coaching staff lost faith in him.

Ideal size and quickness for a guard. Athletically he pops off the screen. Super aggressive, confident attitude with the ball. Unafraid to shoot from anywhere (would get better shots here, the way the roster is being built). 

Sign me up, personally.

[Mavs2021]

Assuming Sasser becomes official ASAP (no reports of him being aggregated here), finish it off by acquiring Wallace, Scoot, Black, Jrue, or Murray. Kthx3M

Takes us to roughly 183 (taking Stein´s Biberovic number) with a full 15 men roster. So yeah basically the full MLE to stay under the tax, but there is certainly still room to make use of the full TPE in a potential trade. As much as we don´t see the bigger roster picture yet, you can see how it all fits together beautifully from a cap standpoint. Nice to finally have some experts at work.

[mvossman]

Takes us to roughly 183 (taking Stein´s Biberovic number) with a full 15 men roster. So yeah basically the full MLE to stay under the tax, but there is certainly still room to make us of the full TPE in a potential trade. As much as we don´t see the bigger roster picture yet, you can see how it all fits together beautifully from a cap standpoint. Nice to finally have some experts at work.

You might have to change your sig.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

It's a dangerous path to take when targeting the Knicks specifically, but it doesn't feel as if they're going anywhere. That is, of course, a similar thought to the way the league felt about the 2025 Thunder, the 2024 Celtics and the 2023 Denver Nuggets.

"In the old days, you knew [Larry Bird's] Celtics were at the top and you had to chase them. Then it was Isiah [Thomas] and Detroit. Then Michael [Jordan] and the Bulls," the executive said. "It's not like that anymore. You have to build a sustainable winner that's deep and can play multiple styles of basketball."

Or as another president of basketball operations told ESPN, "It's never been easy, and the top has never been static. People don't know. No one does."

[Tyler]

Marc Stein
@TheSteinLine
By helping Khris Middleton get to Washington via sign-and-trade, Dallas can acquire Santi Aldama and Marcus Sasser without touching its $20.3M TPE from the Anthony Davis trade or its $15M MLE.

The Mavs can then formally sign Tarik Biberović after the six-team trade is official.

[windjc]

Man I wish Cuban was still in charge of cap management. He was awesome.

[KillerLeft]

Marc Stein
@TheSteinLine
By helping Khris Middleton get to Washington via sign-and-trade, Dallas can acquire Santi Aldama and Marcus Sasser without touching its $20.3M TPE from the Anthony Davis trade or its $15M MLE.

The Mavs can then formally sign Tarik Biberović after the six-team trade is official.

This still doesn't definitively clarify the discrepancy in reports of Biberovic's deal. I don't know why I'm so anxious about getting to the bottom of that part, but I am.

[windjc]

It's a dangerous path to take when targeting the Knicks specifically, but it doesn't feel as if they're going anywhere. That is, of course, a similar thought to the way the league felt about the 2025 Thunder, the 2024 Celtics and the 2023 Denver Nuggets.

"In the old days, you knew [Larry Bird's] Celtics were at the top and you had to chase them. Then it was Isiah [Thomas] and Detroit. Then Michael [Jordan] and the Bulls," the executive said. "It's not like that anymore. You have to build a sustainable winner that's deep and can play multiple styles of basketball."

Or as another president of basketball operations told ESPN, "It's never been easy, and the top has never been static. People don't know. No one does."

They caught lightning in a bottle just like Mavs two years ago.