By The Numbers: Dallas's Cap Math, Flagg's Load And One…

By the Mavericks Nightly Desk · Friday, October 16

Dallas enters tonight's game against the Hawks at 1-2 in the preseason and 0-0 in games that count, with last season's numbers still the best read on where this roster needs to improve. The payroll, the team-wide splits and one five-man group that's actually working all point to the same story heading into tonight: talent at the top, thin margins everywhere else.

The Books Leave Little Room

Dallas carries a $197.9 million payroll, over the $165.0 million salary cap and just $2.5 million under the $200.4 million luxury tax line. Kyrie Irving's $39.5 million anchors that number, with P.J. Washington, Klay Thompson, Daniel Gafford and Santi Aldama rounding out the top five contracts. The first tax apron sits at $209.0 million, so Dallas has some room above the line before the harder penalties start, but not much. That gap leaves the front office little flexibility to add salary in-season without real consequences.

Offense Was The Problem, Not Defense

Last season's splits tell you where the issues sit: Dallas scored at a 110.3 offensive rating, 27th in the league, while its defense held at 115.5, better but still not enough to offset the gap. The result was a -5.2 differential that ranked 22nd, on a pace of 102.6. Fix the offense and the defense already does enough to make this a competitive team.

Flagg Carried A Rookie Year, Now He Has Help

Cooper Flagg averaged 21.0 points, 6.7 boards and 4.5 assists over 70 games as a 19-year-old last season, shooting just 29.5 percent from three-point range. That blend of volume and inefficiency is this roster's whole ceiling question. Through 14 games this preseason, the lineup of Washington, Gafford, Flagg, Christie and Williams has posted a +2.2 differential across 73 minutes, the only group among Dallas's top three combinations to finish positive. That's the formula if Dallas wants tonight's group against Atlanta to repeat it.

Why is Dallas's payroll close to the luxury tax?

The Mavericks carry $197.9 million in salary, just $2.5 million under the $200.4 million tax line, driven by Kyrie Irving's $39.5 million deal and four other contracts above $17 million.

What were the Mavericks' offensive and defensive ratings last season?

Dallas finished 2025-26 with a 110.3 offensive rating, 27th in the league, and a 115.5 defensive rating, 19th, for a -5.2 differential that ranked 22nd overall.

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.