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The Big D Breakdown · By the numbers

The Big D Breakdown: Four Numbers Setting Up Mavericks Camp

Payroll math, last season's rough numbers, and one lineup that actually worked, before Dallas plays a game.

$197.9MPayrollunder the $200.4M tax line
+2.2Best Lineup Net14 games, 73 minutes, last season
$39.5MIrving Cap Hithighest number on the roster
-5.2Last Season Net110.3 offense, 115.5 defense
By the Mavericks Nightly Desk · Tuesday, September 29

Dallas sits at 0-0 with training camp open, and four numbers already frame what this roster carries into it. Payroll, last season's team-wide results and one standout five-man unit say more about the road ahead than any single camp headline so far, and none of them erase last season's 26-56 finish.

$197.9M: Payroll

The Tax Line Sits Close

Dallas carries $197.9M in payroll, over the $165.0M salary cap but under the $200.4M luxury tax line. That gap buys little room to maneuver: the roster's own draft capital is mostly swapped or owed out into 2030, with the 2027 first-round pick protected to Charlotte. The number proves Dallas avoided the tax; it does not prove the front office has capital to add size or shooting before opening night. The rest of the return through 2030 is swaps too: a 2027 second, 2028 first and second, a 2029 first and second, and a 2030 first and second are all swapped or owed away.

One Lineup Already Worked

The five of P.J. Washington, Daniel Gafford, B. Williams, Max Christie and Cooper Flagg posted a +2.2 net over 73 minutes across 14 games last season, built on a 116.8 offense and a 114.6 defense. Swap in Naji Marshall for Williams and the same core logged 92 minutes at only -0.6. A third grouping with Anthony Davis at center collapsed to -10.9 over 72 minutes. Those are 2025-26 samples from a roster that has since turned over at center and forward; they show what produced, not what Dusty May will start in October. Flagg anchored all three groups at 21.0 points a game last season, the clearest constant across otherwise different fives.

The Price Tag Outpaces the Product

Kyrie Irving's $39.5M is the single largest number on the books, ahead of Washington's $19.8M, Klay Thompson's $17.5M, Gafford's $17.3M and Santi Aldama's $17.0M. Those five contracts anchor the $197.9M payroll. Last season that roster produced a -5.2 net, built on a 110.3 offense and a 115.5 defense, across a 26-56 finish. The cost is fixed heading into camp; whether this season's results finally match it is still open. That -5.2 net and 26-56 record are what Dusty May's staff, including Willie Green's arrival in September, is being paid to fix.

How close are the Mavericks to the luxury tax?

Dallas carries $197.9M in payroll, below the $200.4M luxury tax line, with most of its own draft picks already swapped or owed out through 2030.

What was Dallas's best lineup last season?

The Washington-Gafford-Williams-Christie-Flagg five posted a +2.2 net over 73 minutes in 14 games, the top mark among the lineups tracked from 2025-26.

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.

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