It’s no secret that the Dallas Mavericks want to get a big star to pair with — and eventually take over the franchise mantle from — Dirk Nowitzki. And there are only two franchise-caliber players on the market this season, Chris Paul and Dwight Howard.
But to offer a max contract Dallas has to make a couple moves, and one of those may be trading the No. 13 pick in the draft, according to Chad Ford at ESPN.Multiple sources have told ESPN.com’s Chad Ford the Mavs are likely to shop the pick in hopes of creating the cap space necessary to make a run at Dwight Howard in free agency.
The 13th overall pick has a cap hold of $1,655,300.
A cap hold is just what it sounds like — the Mavs are required to sign (or trade) the No. 13 pick if they take him, and as NBA rookie salaries are slotted we know what that will cost. So the base amount is a “cap hold” against the Mavs cap space — it’s money they will have to spend on that player eventually, so they can’t spend it on someone else first.
Trade the pick, the cap hold goes away.
It’s widely thought around the league that Chris Paul isn’t going anywhere and will re-sign with Los Angles (the Clippers just let their coach go to make Paul happy).
Howard has said he will listen to other offers, and the Mavericks are expected to be one of those. It’s still a long shot, smart money bets he re-signs with the Lakers, but it’s worth the shot for Dallas.
If it doesn’t work out for Dallas this year, Nowitzki said next year he would take a pay cut to clear out more cap space to make moves.