In what was one of the most dismal seasons from an injury perspective in franchise history, the Dallas Mavericks needed everybody they could get down the stretch of the season, especially after Kyrie Irving tore his left ACL on March 3. Things got so rough that Dallas only had seven healthy players at one point last season, as they nearly had to forfeit a game due to not being able to suit up the league minimum requirement of eight players.

Dallas was forced to go to the outskirts of their rotation because of this, and it worked as well as it could’ve for them, as they found immense success with all three of their two-way contract players in Brandon Williams, Kai Jones, and Kessler Edwards. However, it looks like Dallas will only be retaining one of those three players, as Williams signed a standard deal with the Mavericks ahead of the playoffs last season, but Jones recently worked out for the Miami Heat, and Kessler Edwards signed an Exhibit 10 deal with the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday.

The Mavericks will already be forced to make a trade ahead of training camp to cut down their roster to 15 standard contracts, as they are currently at 16 standard contracts following Dante Exum’s deal. However, Dallas still has one two-way contract slot available after signing Ryan Nembhard and Miles Kelly to the first two slots, yet they can’t bring back either Jones or Edwards on the final two-way slot because of one ticky-tacky NBA rule.

Edwards being ineligible for another two-way deal screwed the Mavericks

Because Jones and Edwards both have played four seasons in the league, they are no longer eligible to sign a two-way contract. While there’s still a shot in the dark that Dallas could bring in Jones to training camp to see if he’s worthy of a standard deal, this specific rule has clearly prevented the Mavericks from retaining Edwards, as he’s now heading to Denver’s training camp in hopes of getting a standard deal.

If this rule wasn’t intact, the Mavericks could’ve picked their poison in terms of deciding between Jones or Edwards for their final two-way slot, but instead, it seems this rule will likely cause Dallas to lose both of them, given their main roster spots are already filled. Edwards was a talented prospect for Dallas last season, showcasing tremendous defensive versatility and shooting as efficiently as he ever had in his career from downtown.

Head coach Jason Kidd had Edwards active for all 50 of the games he was eligible to suit up for on his two-way deal last season, as Kidd even had to start staggering the two-way player’s minutes down the stretch of the season so they wouldn’t hit their maximum games played too quickly. Edwards was a feisty competitor and impressed with his roll-cut ability when he had to play out of position, and he’s the type of player every NBA team covets, given he’s a defensive-oriented bigger-bodied wing, so the Mavericks will miss him now that he joins former Maverick Tim Hardaway Jr. in Denver.

While this is unfortunate, this is nothing to lose sleep over at the same time for Mavericks fans. The NBA is as talented as ever, and for someone like Edwards to be forced to sign an Exhibit 10 deal after just being on a two-way contract is an indictment of how harsh the league can be and how few roster spots are available with the talent pool growing year after year.