The Dallas Mavericks are—in every way, shape, and form—down bad.
In addition to fan ire and economic fallout following the trade of superstar Luka Doncic, the team's roster is littered with injuries at the minute, so much so there are concerns they might have to forfeit games if circumstances fall a certain way. There are ways of getting around that; for example, the team could dress and activate an injured player who would never come off the bench. But, with just about $50,000 of room under the first apron hard cap, the front office doesn't have the space to sign anyone new right now, which is also a problem.
Seemingly to that effect, the team has actually asked the NBA for "relief," per a new report from ESPN's Brian Windhorst. Speaking on an episode of Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective released Monday, Windhorst said, "From what I understand, [the Mavs] have asked the league for relief and the league to this point has not offered them relief."
The "relief" the team is looking for was not explicitly identified. But in the context of the conversation, however, it would seem Windhorst is saying the Dallas front office wants the league to make an exception and possibly allow them to exceed the first apron, at which they are hard capped, due to extenuating injury circumstances.
But "here's the thing," countered Tim Bontemps. "The league can't offer them relief. Because this is why you have hard salary cap limits. If you say, 'Oh, well hey, you had all these injuries, so we're going to let you get away with skipping past this apron to sign players,' all the other teams are gonna understandably go, 'Hey, wait a second. Why are they getting any breaks? Everybody's got to follow the rules.' That's why you leave yourself cushion with these kinds of deals and don't put yourself $50,000 below the apron."
Watch that exchange starting at 30:00 below:
The Mavs might find themselves in a bit of a bind here soon, but Bontemps is right; the rules are there for a reason. It probably wouldn't go over well with the rest of the league if Dallas got a free pass for its own mismanagement.
The slightly good news is the team could sign a player under the hardship exception eventually, but due to cap constraints and rules, they'd have to wait until April 10.
Overall, Windhorst summed it up nicely: "The Mavericks have put themselves in such a pickle because they've had a set of circumstances that has never been before seen. [But] some lack of foresight has compounded the issue."
More NBA on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Mavs Reportedly Asked NBA for Salary Cap Relief Amid Injury Struggles.
