Mavericks have two weeks to decide on Zaccharie Risacher’s $17.4 million option

The Mavericks have already said yes to Cooper Flagg’s 2027-28 salary. The harder rookie-scale call is still open: whether to guarantee Zaccharie Risacher $17.4 million for the same season, a decision Dallas has to make in the next two weeks.

Dallas exercised Flagg’s option on Saturday, October 17, and said nothing about Risacher, the first overall pick in 2024. Hoops Rumors pointed out that teams usually announce these decisions together, so leaving him out does not mean the answer is no. It does mean Dallas has not committed yet.

The numbers on the table

The Flagg figures and Risacher’s $17.4 million option come from Hoops Rumors. The $13.8 million salary for this season was reported by the Dallas Express and MavsRoundtable. These are reported numbers. The league does not publish team cap sheets.

That last option year costs more than the reigning Rookie of the Year’s salary. That is the cost of being the top pick on the rookie scale. Risacher was picked two drafts before Flagg, so he is now in his most expensive rookie season.

How Dallas took on the salary

Risacher came to Dallas on July 19 in a three-team trade. Lu Dort went from Oklahoma City to Atlanta, Ryan Nembhard went to the Hawks, and the Thunder got three heavily protected second-round picks, the AP reported. The Thunder did the deal mainly to get under the second apron.

Dallas sent out no matching salary for Risacher. According to the Dallas Express, his $13.8 million went into a $20.8 million traded player exception the Mavericks created in the Anthony Davis trade in February. The same outlet wrote that adding his salary pushes Dallas “right up against the tax.” Picking up the option would add $17.4 million to 2027-28, the summer when the Mavericks also face a decision on Dereck Lively II, whose contract runs through June 2027 on the site’s salary data.

Which rule decides it

This is the fourth-year option in a first-round rookie-scale contract, and the rules punish a team that says no. If Dallas declines, Risacher becomes an unrestricted free agent in July 2027, a year early. Dallas could still re-sign him, but the CBA caps his first-year salary on a new Mavericks deal at the $17.4 million it just turned down.

If Dallas exercises the option, the salary becomes guaranteed. Risacher is then eligible for a rookie-scale extension in the 2027 offseason, and if no deal is reached he becomes a restricted free agent in 2028, when Dallas can match any offer. Exercising the option keeps control for an extra year. Declining saves $17.4 million but gives up that control.

The basketball case is still being made. Risacher started all four of the Mavericks’ preseason games and produced 12.2 points a game with 5.0 boards across 24.2 minutes a night, according to reports. Across two seasons in Atlanta he averaged 11.1 points, the AP noted.

The date that matters

Most outlets give the deadline as Saturday, October 31. Reports list Monday, November 2 as Dallas’s final day. Either way, the decision comes during the first two weeks of the season, after the Mavericks have seen Risacher in five regular-season games at most.

What comes next

The Mavericks open their season at the Houston Rockets on Wednesday, October 21 at 8:30 p.m. ET (Game Center), then visit Indiana on Friday, October 23. Full payroll details are on the Mavericks salary page.