Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[F Gump]

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.

I dont have time to figure out the math details. But since everyone is talking about the TPE being retained, I guess that is their chosen path. 

However, if it's not yet known, it needs to be pointed out that the MLE might be more desirable to retain. While a bit smaller, they may not want to use the bigger amount anyhow, to stay below the tax line. And the MLE is way more usable, since it can be used BOTH to sign players or trade for players. (OTOH a TPE can only be used for a trade, which means you always would need the cooperation of another team.)