The Dallas Mavericks had one goal when they traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers. That is to win an NBA title with Anthony Davis helming the team alongside Kyrie Irving. But more than a month later, that goal seem to be over
First an injury to Davis in his first ever game for his new team sidelined him for an extended period of time. But he was not the only one to not suit up to play. At that time, all the Mavericks big men were out with various injuries.
During that period, Irving did his best to keep the team afloat. They won some games and lost some but kept their play in spot intact. The second game this month though, changed that situation. The All-Star guard suffered a season ending ACL tear
The Mavericks are $50,000 below the first Apron. This means, despite their hefty $4.7 billion valuation, they do not have the cap space to sign a free agent to fulfill the league minimum eight players per game. To avoid forfeiting games, the franchise has approached commissioner Adam Silver to give them a salary cap relief.
The Dallas Mavericks’ trades resulted in this situation
The Dallas Mavericks currently have seven players injured and an eighth on the observation table. Out of those injured, two players, Anthony Davis and Caleb Martin came in via trades. One of the reasons the franchise traded Luka Doncic away was his inability to remain healthy.
But they seem to have forgotten that Davis also struggles with injuries from time to time. They also sent out more players than they received in that multi-team trade. The second trade was made to ensure they get back a veteran wing player on a reduced salary.
They sent out Quentin Grimes to the Philadelphia 76ers as they did not want to pay him an exorbitant contract next offseason. Now Grimes is starring for the 76ers whereas Martin is yet to play. Both trades now have directly resulted in this situation.
The team still are in the play-in positions. The teams below them have their own set of struggles and may not be able to take the Mavericks’ spot. Davis is scheduled to return at some point and along with other players, can help their already disgruntled fans have some playoff excitement.
Franchise cannot resort to two-way contracts or any short-term deals
At this stage, the problem the Dallas Mavericks face is that they just cannot go out and sign two-way players or sign them on short term deals. The rules do not allow teams to sign two-way contracts this late in the season.
Which means, they have to sign free agents. It could be either through full season contracts or shorter 10-day deals. The shorter ones will make sense if the team’s medical staff believe they will have some of their injured players back in time.
If not, GM Nico Harrison will have to ask Adam Silver to give them some sort of relief. But Brian Windhorst does not believe it will happen. The reason is that is the new CBA, and the second apron rules were introduced to ensure teams do not exploit signing players later into the season.
If Adam Silver caves in, he will have to provide similar relief packages to teams down the line. That will go against the interests of the current CBA. Therefore, if the team is right up against the cap, they cannot go out and sign a player.