AROUND the NBA:

[F Gump]

Expansion drafts have usually been much easier to navigate than they looked like a few years prior. That's because you don't have to protect players who are FAs, you only HAVE TO leave one player available, and expansion teams tend to avoid big contracts. So smart teams just work their roster accordingly, in the prior years. For example, if they decide on 2028 as the year, you set a certain number of contracts to expire then, in effect expanding your set of keepers..

I also tend to think the current Mavs roster will be whittling itself a bit over the next few years. Some players will not be the contributors we hope, and there are only so many minutes to go around.