Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[DanSchwartzgan]

I’ve been doing research on how NBA buyouts impact the cap/tax/aprons.  I always assumed that if Klay took a buyout with an amount that offsets the $3.4mm vet min he would sign that Dallas would save $3.4mm. Nope.  Apparently,  there is a formula that removes the value of a rookie minimum and then cuts the remaining amount in half.  That is the credit Dallas would get - about $1.1mm in the case of Klay signing for the Vet Min somewhere.

It has bugged me that Dallas has the $20.8mm TPE, but only the ability to use $16.075mm and stay under the tax.  That amount isn’t enough to take back someone like Max Strus and stay below the tax.  But, when you add the $1.1mm buyout benefit to the $16.075mm space under the tax, you land at $17.2mm or about $500k above the Strus salary.  The same logic applies to Jovic if LeBron goes to Miami.  

Bottom line, if Dallas ends up getting someone like Strus, expect Klay to be gone.  This is also the kind of thing that matters regarding the Cisse match.  The point I made is a Cisse match takes us closer to the tax (and further away from a Strus deal under the tax).  So, if LeBron were to announce before the Monday deadline and Strus were to be traded here, I would predict Cisse would not get matched.