Cap Watch: Dallas Sits $2.5M Under The Tax With Options…

By the Mavericks Nightly Desk · Sunday, October 4

The Mavericks' 18 contracts total $197.9M, putting Dallas over the $165.0M cap but $2.5M under the $200.4M tax. Kyrie Irving's $39.5M leads the way, and his $42.4M player option for 2027-28 is the first domino in a cap sheet already thin on draft capital.

Payroll Against The Ladder

Dallas' 18 contracts add up to $197.9M, over the $165.0M cap and $2.5M shy of the $200.4M tax. Clearing that ceiling is still possible for the front office, but it would take a trade or a buyout, and no such move has surfaced. The $209.0M first apron and $221.7M second apron sit further off still, leaving some room if Dallas wants to add before the deadline. Guaranteeing Moussa Cisse's $2.2M salary on October 1 locked that figure into the total rather than freeing it up.

Where The Money Sits

Kyrie Irving's $39.5M is the 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 more than half the total payroll. Irving holds a $42.4M player option for 2027-28 that would push his number higher if he opts in, while Aldama's $17.0M salary that same season is a team option Dallas controls instead. Naji Marshall and Daniel Gafford are already locked into $18.2M and $18.1M for 2027-28 regardless of what Dallas decides, while Caleb Martin's $9.4M and Max Christie's $8.9M that same year are player options, and Tarik Biberovic's $3.0M is a team option.

Draft Capital Tied Up

Dallas has traded away control of nearly every first-round pick through 2030: the 2027 first is protected to Charlotte, and the selections in 2028, 2029 and 2030 are swap rights rather than outright picks. Both the 2028 and 2030 second-rounders are already committed elsewhere, to the Clippers and the Nets, and the 2029 second is owed to Brooklyn as well. That leaves the front office fewer cheap ways to add talent and makes every veteran salary on this sheet harder to move without taking money back.

Are the Mavericks over the salary cap?

Yes. Dallas carries $197.9M in payroll against a $165.0M cap, but that sits $2.5M under the $200.4M luxury tax line.

What is Kyrie Irving's cap hit?

Irving is set to make $39.5M in 2026-27, the largest contract on Dallas' roster, with a $42.4M player option for 2027-28.

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.