02-25-2026, 03:21 AM
Seriously, I think the Mavs will have some summer decisions to make on who they want to keep, and who they don't.
They have 10 players coming back on guaranteed deals, plus 3 current 2-way players (which includes Nemby and Cisse), plus 3 picks (7, 30, and 45 - more or less). They can also sign MLE and BAE. They can trade a player for a more expensive one, perhaps, or try to trade a pick for a player using the 20M TPE. They also have 5 players on expiring deals, some of whom they may want to re-sign (a group which includes Powell, Bagley, Middleton, BWill, Jones, all of whom have looked like a possible part of the solution at one time or another).
Without any trades, and signing/keeping ALL of those except Kelly, while also adding MLE and BAE players, they would have 22 players! Use the TPE to add a player and it's 23. No bueno. A lot of the players around the edges may have almost no shot of returning.
For a starter, let's assume they keep picks 7 and 30, and sign an MLE guy, and waive Johnson (although he MIGHT be usable as expiring trade filler for a salary match). Without any trade, after adding those 3 outsiders, they will only have 3 roster spots (plus 3 2-ways), and all of the following available:
BAE guy, TPE guy, Pick 45, Nemby, Cisse, BWill, Powell, Bagley, Middleton, Jones, Kelly, undrafted free agents, minimum salary free agents
I can see a case for any of the above. But I can also see a reason to say no to each of them.
This is where that EXPERT GM earns his money, sifting the good from the not-as-good, and deciding how to manage roster slots (more of a skill than is usually recognized, and that Nico had no clue about, repeatedly bungling such subtleties in a really bad way). Presti, please!
My spitball solutions:
1 Find a deal (maybe around draft time?) using a package of Martin + Johnson and use the TPE to take back (or sign) up to a 20M player, if it's the right player. For the RIGHT player, don't you do that and perhaps also include pick 30, 45, or both (with maybe a future 2nd or a pair coming back with the player)? I'm thinking doing that would help open up roster slots and also leave the MLE intact for a different player.
2 With the MLE, I like an aim for PG Gillespie in PHX, a UFA this summer. Tricky evaluation, because this season is really his only significant body of work, after 3 prior seasons of sporadic 2-way play. He's not a big PG. He's already 26. But he's been pretty good this season. Could you sign him away with the MLE? Could you do it for less? Could you get him at all?
They have 10 players coming back on guaranteed deals, plus 3 current 2-way players (which includes Nemby and Cisse), plus 3 picks (7, 30, and 45 - more or less). They can also sign MLE and BAE. They can trade a player for a more expensive one, perhaps, or try to trade a pick for a player using the 20M TPE. They also have 5 players on expiring deals, some of whom they may want to re-sign (a group which includes Powell, Bagley, Middleton, BWill, Jones, all of whom have looked like a possible part of the solution at one time or another).
Without any trades, and signing/keeping ALL of those except Kelly, while also adding MLE and BAE players, they would have 22 players! Use the TPE to add a player and it's 23. No bueno. A lot of the players around the edges may have almost no shot of returning.
For a starter, let's assume they keep picks 7 and 30, and sign an MLE guy, and waive Johnson (although he MIGHT be usable as expiring trade filler for a salary match). Without any trade, after adding those 3 outsiders, they will only have 3 roster spots (plus 3 2-ways), and all of the following available:
BAE guy, TPE guy, Pick 45, Nemby, Cisse, BWill, Powell, Bagley, Middleton, Jones, Kelly, undrafted free agents, minimum salary free agents
I can see a case for any of the above. But I can also see a reason to say no to each of them.
This is where that EXPERT GM earns his money, sifting the good from the not-as-good, and deciding how to manage roster slots (more of a skill than is usually recognized, and that Nico had no clue about, repeatedly bungling such subtleties in a really bad way). Presti, please!
My spitball solutions:
1 Find a deal (maybe around draft time?) using a package of Martin + Johnson and use the TPE to take back (or sign) up to a 20M player, if it's the right player. For the RIGHT player, don't you do that and perhaps also include pick 30, 45, or both (with maybe a future 2nd or a pair coming back with the player)? I'm thinking doing that would help open up roster slots and also leave the MLE intact for a different player.
2 With the MLE, I like an aim for PG Gillespie in PHX, a UFA this summer. Tricky evaluation, because this season is really his only significant body of work, after 3 prior seasons of sporadic 2-way play. He's not a big PG. He's already 26. But he's been pretty good this season. Could you sign him away with the MLE? Could you do it for less? Could you get him at all?
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