(08-30-2021, 12:50 PM)omahen Wrote: [ -> ]I don't think that is fair. Of course there is a certain level of subjectivity when assigning grades and one can agree or not with them. But I think author provided reasonable argumentation for them.
That's fair and I see where you're coming from. Agree to disagree then.
Only 4th...
Fire everyone....sell the team...
(08-30-2021, 04:15 PM)ClutchDirk Wrote: [ -> ]Only 4th...
Fire everyone....sell the team...
4th is accurate and deserved IMO. And yet, somehow the sky seems to be falling around here. *shrug*
Sure if the Mavs could have found the right deal for KP they might have jumped into the top 2-3, but that deal probably isn't there right now and there is no need to panic. There is a ton of statistical evidence that the Mavs are quite close, if not already in the "contender" conversation. If Bullock is the player I think he is based on a deep dive into the statistics, then he alone is going to help this team take the next step.
Lol
For the last 6 months: Mavs have to trade KP. That is the only thing they must accomplish this offseason before his value goes even lower. Mavs have to pursue John Collins. Mavs have to do X, Y, and Z. Can't wait to see Nico work.
Now: Not sure why everyone else is so down. We had a nice offseason. Reggie Bullock replacing Josh Richardson turns us into a contender. Replacing Carlisle with Kidd saves the locker room from quitting.
You can't convince me this guy isn't on Cuban's payroll.
Mavs were predicted to be 6th at exact same point last season by same source. The difference is not that Mavs improved but that Clippers and Denver have their key men injured for most of the season. So yes, I agree Mavs are placed reasonably correctly in the rankings. I guess same as last season, the fight will be very tight with little things moving teams considerably in the rankings. Kawhi less Clippers are slotted as 5th in those rankings. I guess Luka less Mavs would be far lower...
In my opinion: Assuming this is a team Mavs will have, I am sure they will be fun to watch during regular season. They will live and die with Luka and we saw last season there are games Luka is not 100 % locked in (fatigue, minor injury, illness, hangover, underestimation, bad day, whatever) and Mavs mostly lost those games. It will be the same this season as Mavs have no one else to turn to. Of course Luka will be great most of the time and offense will be awesome in those games with all that shooting around him. Unless KP makes a major progress, defense will be likely similar as it was. There are just too many holes with Luka and THJ on the perimeter playing heavy minutes. Once things will get serious the overreliance on Luka and not good enough defense will be exposed. Same as last season. There is little reason it would be different.
Key thing to watch for me: are Mavs able to hold Luka accountable? Bitching against the refs went too far even for my taste at the Olympics and there was no one on the team (coaching stuff included) who would dare to tell Luka to shut up. Mavs desperately need a respected vet imho, so I really hope they manage to get at least Dragic. And soon.
P.S.: regarding the rankings. I am surprised they see Portland so low. They are basically same team that finished sixth last season, arguably a bit better with Nance instead of Anthony. I guess this just confirms my previous thought that differences between the playoff contenders in the West are very small.
(08-30-2021, 04:28 PM)Kammrath Wrote: [ -> ]4th is accurate and deserved IMO. And yet, somehow the sky seems to be falling around here. *shrug*
Sure if the Mavs could have found the right deal for KP they might have jumped into the top 2-3, but that deal probably isn't there right now and there is no need to panic. There is a ton of statistical evidence that the Mavs are quite close, if not already in the "contender" conversation. If Bullock is the player I think he is based on a deep dive into the statistics, then he alone is going to help this team take the next step.
I don’t get it either. We are a consensus top team in the west. So many west teams have question marks looming even larger than ours(Klay, Kawhi, Murray, Lakers)
Bullock needs more love. He’s a legit 2 way wing, which IMO(and Nico’s) was our biggest need this offseason.
We obviously still have work to do to find a secondary playmaker. We have until the TDL if necessary
On KP, hey, at least we aren’t Philly with a Simmons problem? It’s the smart move to wait until the right deal. Our easiest path to a 2nd star is KP. Best to make sure we want to move on. No rush
So we were 5th seed last year. We have a young player with talent coming off injuries and a terrible season. We kept everyone who was important. Added a legit 2 way player. In June we gain the flexibility to trade 3 FRP’s. There’s a fresh FO and coaching staff. Oh yeah, we have the best player in the world too.
Why aren’t more fans optimistic about the coming season? There’s solid reasons to think we will be better
Oh look, I tune in and Kamm posting about trading KP again (either who to trade for or lamenting not doing it or fantasizing about how much better we'd be if).... Some things never change...
If the Mavs were to win a ring, and KP played a major role, Kamm will be in the old folks home posting "Yeah, we won a ring, but if we would have just traded KP..."
Singular focus - Tunnel vision.
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(08-30-2021, 06:15 PM)Jason Terry Wrote: [ -> ]Why aren’t more fans optimistic about the coming season? There’s solid reasons to think we will be better
Yeah I think we're going to win a ton of regular season games if we stay healthy and out of quarantine. A top one or 2 seed would not surprise me at all.
The problem is the playoffs but then there getting one of those top seeds would help so much. We'll probably be a bit behind the other top 4 or 5 teams in terms of playoff potential unless we pull off a trade
(08-30-2021, 05:56 PM)omahen Wrote: [ -> ]P.S.: regarding the rankings. I am surprised they see Portland so low. They are basically same team that finished sixth last season, arguably a bit better with Nance instead of Anthony. I guess this just confirms my previous thought that differences between the playoff contenders in the West are very small.
Agree on Portland. I think the Nance acquisition will prove more significant than people realize. I’ll take the under on Portland at 8 and the over on LAL at 2. I suspect they will be nursing Lebron and AD injuries from here on out. Not sure Westbrook is the answer.
Mav’s at four feels about right. I’ve been preaching we were better than our record showed (probably more reflective of the post 3/1 Mavs than the entire season Mav’s). I think the Bullock/JRich swap, like Nance in Portland, will help more than people realize.
I’d feel better if we had another bench scorer…especially if THJ is a starter, I’d like one more guy who can score off the bench. I really want to see more of a platooned approach than what we’ve done the last two seasons. Our starting lineups have tended to work. But we get killed in the non-Luka minutes. Can WCS/Maxi/THJ/Brunson with some minutes from Green and Sterling stand on its own? I think so. But, if you put DFS or Bullock on the bench instead of THJ, then absolutely not. The other place our bench is lacking is PG. We are dead if Luka or even Brunson has to sit for any length of time.
I believe the Mavs will be a top 4 seed this next season. We went from 13th to 5th in a stacked conference after a disastrous start. While I don't necessarily believe that Porzingis will ever be the Robin to Luka's Batman, I still think he will be alot better than last season. I think Bullock will be a big upgrade from Richardson as well.
(08-30-2021, 07:13 PM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: [ -> ]I’ll take the under on Portland at 8 and the over on LAL at 2. I suspect they will be nursing Lebron and AD injuries from here on out. Not sure Westbrook is the answer.
I think Westbrook experiment might work fine in regular season. He basically enables LeBron to rest and they won't lose games against mediocre/bad teams. However, when things get serious, I don't see them being competitive. I also think Utah will be closer to number 1 than number 3. That team is seriously good for the regular season and they are more or less running it back.
(08-30-2021, 07:13 PM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: [ -> ]I’d feel better if we had another bench scorer
Mavs are not a contender without another facilitator/scorer/PG, imho. It looks like Dragic is the target, unless something good comes along. I have my doubts how him and Luka (and KP and THJ) could provide anything remotely resembling defense if on the court together, but Dragic would absolutely hold his own against opponent bench units, even with that WCS/Brunson/Kleber/DFS or Bullock unit. Would that be enough? Not sure, but it would at least make me hope.
“There are no feelings about it because it was not Giannis’ book. The cool thing is my relationship with Giannis goes beyond basketball,” Kidd said. “I talked to him a couple of hours after his son was born. Cool little name, ‘
Maverick.’
“See, you guys didn’t know that. That’s how close we are.”
![[Image: giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e47wqv5xjnn0thkh9ndl2...y.gif&ct=g]](https://media.giphy.com/media/kPtv3UIPrv36cjxqLs/giphy.gif?cid=ecf05e47wqv5xjnn0thkh9ndl2f2swepyz8l42yesap6z6dw&rid=giphy.gif&ct=g)
I think 4th is a bit high, though I agree it's possible.
My guess would be 6th or 7th.
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