Cap Watch: Dallas Sits $2.5M Under the Tax With Little Draft…

By the Mavericks Nightly Desk · Sunday, September 27

The Mavericks are $197.9M into payroll, over the $165.0M cap and $2.5M below the $200.4M tax threshold, before the first apron even enters the picture at $209.0M and the second at $221.7M. Kyrie Irving's $39.5M salary anchors a five-man core that also includes P.J. Washington at $19.8M, Klay Thompson at $17.5M, Daniel Gafford at $17.3M and Santi Aldama at $17.0M, while a Seth Lundy camp deal added September 27 doesn't move the number.

Payroll Against the Cap and Aprons

Dallas carries $197.9M in salary, clearing the $165.0M cap by a wide margin but staying $2.5M under the $200.4M tax threshold. Cross that number and the $209.0M first apron and $221.7M second apron start restricting trade and roster tools; for now the Mavericks operate under all three. Next season's commitments already climb further, with Kyrie Irving's $42.4M player option, P.J. Washington's $21.4M and Naji Marshall's $18.2M penciled in for 2027-28 before free agency opens.

Five Contracts Carrying the Number

Kyrie Irving's $39.5M is the single largest figure on the books, followed by P.J. Washington at $19.8M, Klay Thompson at $17.5M, Daniel Gafford at $17.3M and Santi Aldama at $17.0M. Those five alone account for over half the $197.9M total. Below them, Cooper Flagg's rookie-scale $14.5M, Zaccharie Risacher's $13.8M, Caleb Martin's $10.0M and Naji Marshall's $9.4M round out the deeper spending before the roster thins into minimums like Sergio de Larrea's $3.2M and Moussa Cisse's $2.2M.

Draft Picks Are Mostly Swaps

Dallas' 2027 first-round pick is protected and owed to Charlotte, and the first-rounders in 2028, 2029 and 2030 are all swaps rather than clean selections. Second-round picks are just as thin: 2027 is a swap, 2028 is owed outright to the Clippers, and both 2029 and 2030 are owed outright to Brooklyn. That leaves the front office without a single unencumbered first-round pick on the board through the end of the decade, working instead with swap rights that depend on how other rosters age.

Are the Mavericks over the salary cap?

Yes. Dallas carries $197.9M in salary against a $165.0M cap, though the team sits $2.5M below the $200.4M tax threshold.

How many first-round picks do the Mavericks control outright?

None outright through 2030. The 2027 first-rounder is protected to Charlotte, and the 2028, 2029 and 2030 first-round picks are all swaps rather than Dallas' own selections.

By the Mavericks Nightly Desk, written from the club's data and the reports on file, with every name and number checked against them. How the desks work.