On March 16, Beijing time, according to ESPN salary expert Bobby Marks, if the number of players on the Dallas Mavericks' activated roster falls below the minimum standard of eight players required for the team to participate, they will face the risk of forfeiting the game. The situation is extremely complex, both in terms of the team's personnel shortages due to injuries and illnesses, as well as the league's salary cap rules. Marks dissected it comprehensively, and the key timing point is March 25, Beijing time, when the Mavericks take on the Nets on the road, and they may be forced to forfeit the game.

The Mavericks are faced with the first issue of players missing due to injury。 Owen (Torn anterior cruciate ligament), Prosper (Right wrist injury) and Exum (Left hand fracture) have all been reimbursed for the season. The Mavericks updated on March 8 with a bushy left adductor strain), Lively II (right ankle stress fracture) and Gafford (right knee sprain), indicating that all three players are recovering, but there is no exact date for their return.

Hardy (right ankle sprain) and Kai Jones (quadriceps injury) have not played since March 4, and PJ Washington (right ankle sprain) has been sidelined since March 2. However, before the team's 96-133 loss to the Houston Rockets, Jones and Washington were both listed as doubtful in injury reports, giving a glimmer of hope for their early return.

Currently, the team has only eight healthy players – Brandon Williams, Powell, Klay Thompson, Marshall, Caleb Martin, Christie, Dinwiddie and Kessler Edwards. Williams and Edwards are two-way contract players. According to the G-League's official website, two-way contract players are capped at 50 games on their NBA teams.

Edwards has played in 37 games, missing 10 games due to coach DNP arrangements, for a total of 47 games; Williams played in 25 games and was absent 19 due to coach DNP arrangements, for a total of 44 games. So, Edwards has three more games and Williams six more games.

Theoretically, Edwards could play in the team's next three games: Monday against the Philadelphia 76ers, Thursday against the Indiana Pacers and Saturday against the Detroit Pistons. But as a result, he won't be able to play for the rest of the season, starting with the Nets on March 25, which is the key point Marks emphasized.

This brings us to the second problem: the Mavericks don't have room to sign more players.They are just $51,000 short of the hard cap of the No. 1 local tycoon. This means that they can't bring in new players from the outside. Marks said Klay's sign-and-trade and Marshall's signings "triggered the hard cap limit" last offseason. After that, the Mavericks were not allowed to break this limit under any circumstances. "I've seen people talking about it being a luxury tax issue and the bosses don't want to spend money," Marks said. But no, there are no exceptions. ”

The Mavericks can't just recruit more players from the Texas Legends, a G League affiliate, like the minor leagues in baseball. They currently have three players on two-way contracts, Edwards, Williams and Kay Jones, and they are the only ones who can play for the Mavericks at the moment. None of the other players on the Texas Legends roster will be able to play for NBA teams this year.

This series of circumstances put the Mavericks in a potentially desperate situation. Of course, there is a chance that this extreme scenario can be avoided, as Washington and Jones are expected to return ahead of the game against the Nets.

Marks also mentioned a countermeasure that the Mavericks could falsify on the team's injury reports, activating injured players to avoid waivers. However, this kind of falsification of injury reports is sure to cause displeasure in the league, although it is better than simply forfeitting a game.

At the end of the day, it's a tough situation for the Mavericks, who have a 33-35 record. Although they have lost nine of their last 11 matches, they are still in contention for the play-offs. Currently, the Mavericks are 10th in the West, 1.5 wins ahead of the Suns. In the meantime, the Mavericks will continue to fight and they will next face the 76ers, who are also plagued by injuries.