Dallas Mavericks rumors: How a Lauri Markkanen deal could happen

Dallas Mavericks have a trade exception but is it enough to acquire Lauri Markkanen?

The Mavs created a $10.8 million trade exception when they sent Josh Richardson to the Boston Celtics, according to Spotrac. They have one year to use it to acquire a player without having to match salaries.

The trade exception may not help in acquiring Lauri Markkanen, though. The 24-year-old would need to accept a salary at the amount of the trade exception or lower. Trade exceptions cannot be combined with players or other exceptions (the Mavs created a $1.6 million one in the J.J. Redick deal with Pelicans) to acquire someone making more money.

According to Jake Fischer, the Mavericks are one of four teams that have expressed a desire to acquire Markkanen “to deals worth around $15 million in average annual value, sources said”. The 24-year-old wants to play in Dallas, but accepting $10.8 million in the first year is a hefty pay cut.

Sign-and-trade deals have to be for at least three seasons, so Markkanen cannot just take a short-term deal with Dallas. He would only be allowed to get five percent raises, so the maximum contract for three years would be $34.0 million. Markkanen would be leaving a lot of money on the table to fit into the Mavs’ trade exception.

Assuming this scenario is off the table, how can the Dallas Mavericks acquire Lauri Markkanen this offseason?