In Chad Ford’s latest mock draft, he wrote about how the Dallas Mavericks could draft a player like Dario Saric and then stated that “Dallas can get him off the cap with an agreement from Saric that he won't come to the NBA this season.”

Section 4(e)(2) on page 165 of the CBA states that:

In the event that a First Round Pick signs with a non-NBA team, the player’s applicable Rookie Scale Amount shall be excluded from the Team Salary of the Team that holds his draft rights, beginning on the date he signs such non-NBA contract or the first day of the Regular Season, whichever is later.

This means that the cap hold for any first round pick stays on the books until the first day of the NBA regular season even if Saric or any other player drafted in the first round (no matter their nationality) signs a deal with a non-NBA team at any point during the summer. While there would be a small savings over having the pick on roster for 2013-14 since nearly every first round pick signs for more than slot in practice, that is different than clearing the contract off the ledgers and getting to use that cap space.

But Section 4(e)(3) allows a team to have the player's applicable Rookie Scale Amount excluded from its Team Salary prior to the first day of any Regular Season as long as the NBA is notified in writing.

Editor's Note: A previous edition of this article incorrectly stated that it would not be possible for the Mavericks to draft a European players and have his salary be taken off their cap.

The Chicago Bulls have used that provision to remove Nikola Mirotic's cap hold, as have the Mavericks with Petteri Koponen.

Leroux's Correction: I made a mistake in interpreting a separate but relevant part of the pertinent section. While (2) reads as above (and is interpreted correctly, incidentally), a subsequent section discusses an alternate possibility that could potentially be used here as well. (3) of the same section and sub-section details a circumstance where separate and accompanying written statements from both the team and the player in question submitted before the start of the regular season can take the hold off the books for that league year while retaining future rights.

While strange because it functionally weakens what comes directly before it in the CBA, (3) dictates that these twin statements could take the hold off the books one year at a time. It is a frustrating mistake and I take full responsibility for making it while also apologizing fully to both Mr. Ford and my readers. I sincerely regret my misread and will do my absolute best moving forward to not make similar mistakes.