The NBA season typically ends in June. This year, due to coronavirus, players are set to enter a bubble at Disney World in July and stay through as late as October.
That schedule doesn’t work for Mavericks center Willie Cauley-Stein, but does open the door for Trey Burke.
Shams Charania of The Athletic:
Mavericks center Willie Cauley-Stein has decided to sit out the resumed NBA season, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium. Cauley-Stein and his partner are expecting a newborn child in July.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 25, 2020
Free agent guard Trey Burke has agreed to a deal with the Dallas Mavericks for the rest of the season, sources tell @TheAthleticNBA @Stadium.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 25, 2020
In some ways, this feels unfair to Cauley-Stein. Sitting out will cost him $188,119 of base salary plus $23,515 for each play-in and playoff game Dallas plays (up to $329,209 in total lost base salary).* But players often miss time to attend birth of children without having their pay docked.
Yet, coronavirus has forced the NBA to take special precautions. It’s unsafe for players to freely enter and exit the campus at Disney World. Cauley-Stein would face a long quarantine. Playing is also much more burdensome than usual, and continuing players are increasing the salary pot for all players.
On the other other hand, if Cauley-Stein were on one of the eight done teams, he could stay outside the bubble AND keep his salary.*
*With league-wide revenue way down, no players will get a full share of their base salary.
Coronavirus has created numerous difficult situations. This is one of them.
The Mavericks traded for Cauley-Stein in January to replace injured center Dwight Powell. Burke won’t help there, but he will add depth in the backcourt with Courtney Lee and Jalen Brunson also injured. Dallas coach Rick Carlisle often uses two-point-guard lineups, and Burke should fit.
Maybe the Mavericks will make another move to address center. Waiving Lee, who’s on an expiring contract, is an option.
Or Dallas could just roll with Kristaps Porzingis, Boban Marjanovic, Maxi Kleber, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Dorian Finney-Smith in creative lineups. Porzingis is very talented and very effective at center, but he’s too slight for some matchups, and he’s not the ideal roll threat to complement Luka Doncic. Marjanovic is too lumbering for many matchups. Kleber, Kidd-Gilchrist and Finney-Smith are small-ball options.
The Mavericks would benefit from having a more-prototypical center (like Powell and Cauley-Stein were). But it’s not paramount.
