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Bobby Marks, an NBA front office insider for ESPN, says Tim Hardaway Jr. and Willie Cauley-Stein have both exercised their respective player options. This news was included in a free-agency tiers article published on Sunday morning.
Hardaway Jr.’s option is worth $18,950,000 while Cauley-Stein’s is worth $2,286,357. The use of these options gives the Mavericks 26 million dollars worth of room under the hard cap this season, per Marks. This limits the moves the Mavericks can make without shedding salary, although they still have a $9.3 mid-level exception available to use without entering the tax.
In Hardaway’s first full season as a Maverick, he averaged 15.8 points per game on 39.8 percent shooting on three-point attempts. He also made a career-best 204 three-point field goals over the course of the season. In the playoffs, he averaged 17.8 points while playing 34 minutes per game.
Cauley-Stein was acquired by the Mavericks after Dwight Powell suffered a season-ending Achilles injury. In just 13 games played for Dallas this season, the center averaged 5.2 points per game. He did not travel with the team to the playoff bubble in Orlando due to the birth of his child.
Update on 11/16:
Per Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News, the Mavericks have not received official opt ins from Tim Hardaway Jr. or Willie Cauley-Stein. Townsend reports the Mavericks anticipate Hardaway to opt in but expect Cauley-Stein to test the market. The players have until 4 p.m. Thursday to decide.
Mavs have not received formal word from Tim Hardaway Jr. of whether he will exercise his player option for this season. He has until 4 p.m. Thursday to make that call, though the Mavs anticipate he will opt in.
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) November 16, 2020
Right now, Mavs do not anticipate Willie Cauley-Stein opting in.