Teams continue to jockey for playoff positioning as Houston shot up to third in the West, while Milwaukee and Toronto became the first teams to punch their tickets to the postseason. With the regular season concluding in under a month, every game becomes vital for those stuck on the outside looking in.

1. Bogut rejoins Warriors ahead of playoffs

The Golden State Warriors have reunited with their former center Andrew Bogut, signing the veteran for what the team hopes is its third straight run to an NBA Championship. The end-of-season deal is worth $487,892, carrying a cap hit of $307,648. Already owners of the league’s highest payroll with just one open roster spot remaining, the organization once again demonstrated their resourcefulness in bringing aboard the Australian native at minimal cost. The signing of Bogut will cost them just $1.15M more in luxury tax fees, though that bill already stands at a daunting $51.49M for the season.

First joining the Warriors in 2012, Bogut started 230 regular season games over his time with the club, winning an NBA Championship in 2015 and reaching the finals the following season. Though the now 34-year-old’s on-court abilities have declined in recent years, he should prove to be effective in his second stint with Golden State. In addition to providing the locker room with another highly respected veteran presence, the 7-footer is expected to anchor a defense which has fallen to 15th in the NBA.

Having just wrapped up his season with the Sydney Kings in Australia – where the Warriors had been scouting him – Bogut first needed to obtain a work visa and receive clearance from FIBA, before alas making his return to the Bay Area official.

2. Pau Gasol agrees to deal with NBA-leading Bucks

Milwaukee has come to terms with veteran big man Pau Gasol on a contract that will pay him $527,467 for the remainder of the season. The move was made possible after Gasol and his former club, the San Antonio Spurs, agreed to part ways via a buyout agreement on his contract. In bringing Gasol into the fold and reaching the maximum roster size of 15, the Bucks have officially locked in what they firmly believe is a championship-calibre team.

Though Gasol’s production has sharply declined this season, as he’s averaged just 4.2 points, 4.7 rebounds in 12.2 minutes of action a night, in Milwaukee he will not be asked to shoulder a workload of much significance. Already owners of the best record in the Association at 50-17, the Bucks have simply put a contingency plan in place with this signing – deploying Gasol in the event that Lopez, Mirotic, or any other vital piece of their rotation becomes injured. As a six-time All-Star, four-time All-NBA selection, and two-time NBA Champion, the 38-year-old Gasol’s experience and leadership will be valued greatly by a young Bucks team looking to prove themselves in the postseason.

3. CBA Term of the Week

Luxury Tax:

The luxury tax is the tax that must be paid by teams who's total salary has exceeded the luxury tax threshold – which was set at $123,733,000 for the 2018-19 season. It is incremental in nature, meaning that the further a team chooses to spend over the threshold, the higher the tax rate for which they will be charged. The purpose of this system is to disincentivize teams from spending at free will and in turn helps to keep the playing field relatively level.

Teams subject to taxation are taxed depending on whether or not they are a repeat offender. A repeat offender, or "repeater", is any team who was also a taxpayer in at least three of the last four seasons. The table below outlines the tax rates for both non-repeaters and repeaters. The incremental maximum is the most a team can pay in tax for that given luxury tax tier. If they still have untaxed salary remaining after they have reached the incremental maximum, then that salary will be taxed at the higher tax rate of the next tier, and so on and so forth.

Worth a Listen: S&J Podcast

Courterly Report is proudly in partnership with the S&J Podcast. Jordan Sobot and Sam Knight provide excellent commentary and their own hot takes on everything going down in the NBA, as well as every other major sport.

Be sure to tune in to their podcasts, with new episodes regularly being released.

Other news of note:

• March 4: Houston signs Terrence Jones to a 10-day contract.
• March 7: Division II standout Amir Hinton declares for the NBA Draft.
• March 8: Tyler Zeller signs a 10-day contract with Atlanta.
• March 9: Lakers announce Brandon Ingram out for the season with arm injury.

Weekly Forecast:

• Monday: Thunder vs. Jazz
• Tuesday: Trail Blazers vs. Clippers
• Wednesday: Warriors vs. Rockets (Rematch of 2018 WCF)
• Thursday: Mavericks vs. Nuggets
• Friday: Bucks vs. Heat
• Saturday: Warriors vs. Thunder
• Sunday: 76ers vs. Bucks