John Collins...Our Third Star

[StepBackJay]

2 Questions:

1) How can we resign THJ if we're offering Collins a max or near max deal?

2) Do we have the full MLE at our disposal?

Great question. So Collins max would be 27 mil for year 1 or 29 yr 1 in a S&T. My guess is that Mavs would be working with the 27 number. For salary matching you need to send out 18 mil in salary to get the 150% match, as long as they stay under the luxury tax line.

Mavs offered Maxi at the TDL and so I think he is a central piece of this deal. Maxi's outgoing salary would be 8.75. Josh Richardson's opt-in number would be 11.6. That adds up to over 20 which satisfies the matching rule.

Either the Hawks would take both players directly or if they don't care about say Richardson, he could be routed to a third team. Mavs may need more sweeteners but the max number is important in my view because it a) is a number Collins really wants (players want to be a "max" player not a "in the neighborhood of max: player) b) it's a number that makes Atlanta uncomfortable to match and thus is the leverage the Mavs have in this negotiation.

With the salary matching Mavs would be able to keep any of their guys and have the full MLE as long as they can stay under that 132 luxury tax number (it should be pretty close after all is said and done).

If the Hawks scoff then the Mavs can still clear up space to offer Collins a big deal and sign THJ but then it's harder to stretch their cap space. Starting with 34 if they pay Collins 27, that leaves only 7 mil. Moving Kleber would get you to 16. I bet you could offer Maxi "for free" to someone who also would take Burke. That gets you to 19-ish which I think is close enough to THJ's first year number. I believe THJ will fall somewhere btwn 15-20 for that first year.

You only make those additional moves if Atlanta matches, but you probably have it lined up beforehand. Atlanta if they don't match get no assets and if they do match they have a very tough cap situation going forward. They will be motivated to make a deal.

If Mavs did get Collins for a straight max offer sheet then they lose rights/holds to several guys including WCS. Mavs will have the rMLE but that's it for finding a ball-handler and center.

I am pretty sure signing Collins for cap space will not happen because it doesn't help Atlanta or Dallas to operate this way. Mavs lose over-the-cap tools and Hawks don't get any assets.

What's most likely the happen is Mavs come to an agreement with the Hawks before FA even begins so that they can offer Collins a max deal at the start of FA, knowing that they already have a trade in place. For Collins it should be an easy decision because I don't see any of the other talent-starved teams going all-in on Collins with a max contract.

Of the teams with max cap space, Dallas is the only one hot for Collins.

I really think this is a deal Mavs feel very confident in because they know they have a very competitive offer not only for Collins but also for the cap-strapped Hawks.