Updated
Updated · hoopsrumors.com · Jul 8
Six NBA Teams Combine Middleton, Collins Trades to Unlock Cap Relief in $68.6 Million Signings
Updated
Updated · hoopsrumors.com · Jul 8

Six NBA Teams Combine Middleton, Collins Trades to Unlock Cap Relief in $68.6 Million Signings

2 articles · Updated · hoopsrumors.com · Jul 8

Summary

  • ESPN detailed an unofficial six-team NBA trade that would send Khris Middleton to Washington on a three-year, $17.6 million deal and John Collins to Detroit on a three-year, $51 million contract.
  • The package rolls together deals involving the Wizards, Mavericks, Grizzlies, Pistons, Bucks and Clippers so teams can satisfy salary-matching rules and preserve key trade exceptions instead of burning them in separate transactions.
  • Dallas would keep its full $20.8 million Anthony Davis traded-player exception by aggregating Middleton and AJ Johnson to take in Santi Aldama, while Memphis would avoid using its $28.9 million Jaren Jackson Jr. exception to acquire Isaiah Stewart.
  • Detroit would use Caris LeVert's $14.8 million outgoing salary to match Collins and create new exceptions tied to Stewart and Marcus Sasser, while Washington uses an expiring $5.34 million exception to absorb Middleton and then creates a new one for D'Angelo Russell.
  • When finalized, all six teams are expected to be hard-capped at the first tax apron, with the Mavericks, Grizzlies and Bucks joining the Pistons, Clippers and Wizards because of expanded traded exceptions.

Insights

How will this six-team mega-deal reshape trade strategies under the NBA's restrictive salary cap rules?
Is John Collins' $51 million contract a franchise-altering move or a costly mistake for the rebuilding Detroit Pistons?
With Dallas preserving a key trade exception, what is the Mavericks' next big move to build a championship contender?