Why we need another big?
Cause there are exactly two centers in the whole league that have played every game: Powell and Looney. That´s a miracle in itself with Powell coming back from an Achilles at age 30. Then you got DFS, who functions as the PF in this set-up and played 78 games.
So our two starting "bigs" that have virtually no back-ups, played 158 of 160 games this year.
Maxi on the other hand has only played 50 and 59 games the last two years.
We need more at the 4/5 position. I don´t think we need a Holmes, but we need 1-2 players that we can actually rely on. There are more than enough veterans and young players out there that can provide this at the TPE, tax-payer MLE or even the minimum.
What I don´t get is the desire to add a player like Holmes on a large salary, who also has a lot of baggage.
Either you go big like Gobert/Turner...or you go for value/upside/veteran competency like I. Hartenstein, J. Smith, R. Lopez.
If we can convince either Jalen Smith or Hartenstein to join us at the tax-payer MLE that woud be a HUGE win for this franchise.
(04-08-2022, 01:24 PM)mvossman Wrote: [ -> ]So if we do draft a big and we don't expect him to be a contributor year one, but we need more big depth (I would suggest starting depth) then Holmes is probably our only reasonable option for starter quality (prior to this season) center without giving up the pick. But if you are drafting a center and trading for one, we have too many centers on the roster. At that point it might make sense to send Maxi out, or maybe it makes sense to send Bullock and Chriss (which would address the roster count issue).
Ideal for me would be a big falls into our draft range that could give us 10-15 minutes a game. I don't agree with drafting based on need, but I'm hoping the stars align. Trading Maxi for another big might upgrade the minutes you could get for them in the case of Holmes, but you still be as paper thin at the position. We are also running out of room for roster spots but I'm sure we could figure a way to get off of Brown, Bruke and Chriss.
I still like the idea of looking for a veteran on a 1 year deal. McGee would check those boxes, though he's getting up there in age. He's at 72 games this year and is getting 15 MPG.
Holmes has a 15% trade kicker according to some sites. He wouldn't fit into the Mavs' TPE unless he agrees to waive that extra money. You can add roughly $1.8M to the last 3 years of his deal to see what he would really be paid if he's traded.
(04-08-2022, 02:00 PM)Mavs2021 Wrote: [ -> ]Why we need another big?
Cause there are exactly two centers in the whole league that have played every game: Powell and Looney. That´s a miracle in itself with Powell coming back from an Achilles at age 30. Then you got DFS, who functions as the PF in this set-up and played 78 games.
So our two starting "bigs" that have virtually no back-ups, played 158 of 160 games this year.
Maxi on the other hand has only played 50 and 59 games the last two years.
We need more at the 4/5 position. I don´t think we need a Holmes, but we need 1-2 players that we can actually rely on. There are more than enough veterans and young players out there that can provide this at the TPE, tax-payer MLE or even the minimum.
What I don´t get is the desire to add a player like Holmes on a large salary, who also has a lot of baggage.
Either you go big like Gobert/Turner...or you go for value/upside/veteran competency like I. Hartenstein, J. Smith, R. Lopez.
If we can convince either Jalen Smith or Hartenstein to join us at the tax-payer MLE that woud be a HUGE win for this franchise.
Agree with a lot of this. My preference is to go big if you can. I just look at what our closing lineup is, and I think its missing a dominate defensive presence (unless Maxi pulls out of his funk, but don't think we can trust his offense in that role). That's my issue with the value/upside/veteran approach. They don't contribute to the hole in the closing lineup.
The exception for me would be Hartenstein, but I doubt the Clippers let him go for the tax MLE and we would be dealing with roster crunch issues (although we could figure that out).
(04-09-2022, 11:48 AM)juanc Wrote: [ -> ]https://twitter.com/MattGeorgeSAC/status...1136461824
Donte is a guy who would look great in Kidd's defensive scheme. Great in the passing lanes, very solid defender, also a better shooter than his averages show. Would love to get Donte for cheap.
I agree Donte on the cheap here would be an amazing addition. This is now the 2nd notable report of a Kings player being upset with their front office for driving down their value for no reason at all. I remember earlier this year Marvin Bagley also took to twitter (through his agent) to lambast the Kings.
(04-09-2022, 12:42 PM)SleepingHero Wrote: [ -> ]I agree Donte on the cheap here would be an amazing addition. This is now the 2nd notable report of a Kings player being upset with their front office for driving down their value for no reason at all. I remember earlier this year Marvin Bagley also took to twitter (through his agent) to lambast the Kings.
Didn't Holmes have some grumblings too?
(04-09-2022, 01:24 PM)Jmaciscool Wrote: [ -> ]Didn't Holmes have some grumblings too?
He did. Looks like it sucks to play for the Kings...
Now imagine being a Kigns fan... Poor souls
(04-08-2022, 02:12 PM)of the loki Wrote: [ -> ]Holmes has a 15% trade kicker according to some sites.
Yes he has a 15% kicker. Fortunately he can waive any of it. I'm figuring he'd cooperate as needed to make it easy to get out of town. (Plus, he can't get more money by killing the deal and staying. He gets $0 kicker if he's staying.)
Bamba is an interesting target, but the most the Mavs could theoretically offer is around 6-10 mil a year. Don't see why the Magic wouldn't match that and just trade him later on a team friendly contract.
(04-14-2022, 02:14 PM)fifteenth Wrote: [ -> ]Can Mo switch the pnr?
He can't do much of anything at a high level yet. It's all potential with him, whether you believe in it or not.
He's obviously a much better prospect than Moses Brown, for example, but on defense I'd say he's not likely to become the kind of center we've been discussing recently, since I feel like that's what you're getting at. Probably worth taking a look at, but not at a super high price, imo.
(04-14-2022, 02:21 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: [ -> ]It's all potential with him, whether you believe in it or not.
My belief in potential for his type of big men might be trending in the direction of my belief in unicorns
(04-14-2022, 02:21 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: [ -> ]He can't do much of anything at a high level yet. It's all potential with him, whether you believe in it or not.
He's obviously a much better prospect than Moses Brown, for example, but on defense I'd say he's not likely to become the kind of center we've been discussing recently, since I feel like that's what you're getting at. Probably worth taking a look at, but not at a super high price, imo.
He gets absolutely torched off the swtich in a PnR setting. Bamba ranked in the 19th percentile in defending PnR's (For reference, our very own Dwight Powell was in the 79th percentile in defending the PnR this year).
He has slow lateral movements which isn't out of the ordinary for the behemoth that he his. He isn't very good as a screener in the PnR setting either as he's ranked in the 23rd percentile for PnR screener. But is this because the system doesn't play to his strengths or is he just truly terrible at the PnR, the bread and butter of Luka?
What Bamba does bring though is a unique stretch big. He's in the 47th percentile for spot ups, where most of his threes comes from.
I don't see the fit for Bamba unless he's replacing Maxi, which is the role that most similarly plays to his current strengths. But we're also losing out on Maxi's elite D so it doesn't make sense to make Bamba a priority tbh.
Yeah Bamba is a work in progress, especially motor-wise. IIRC that was already a concern around the draft, not a good sign. He shot 38% from three though on 4 attempts per game. That's pretty darn good although the concerns about everything PnR-related (on both ends lol) are real, too. So meh. If we're looking at our limited ressources to improve the team he's a good name to keep in mind though probably. We're really in a tight spot all things considered.
Sean Deveney linked us to Malik Monk in his latest article btw. I always liked him and he had a good season but not with Luka/Brunson/Dinwiddie/Hardaway already here.
(04-14-2022, 02:39 PM)SleepingHero Wrote: [ -> ]He gets absolutely torched off the swtich in a PnR setting. Bamba ranked in the 19th percentile in defending PnR's (For reference, our very own Dwight Powell was in the 79th percentile in defending the PnR this year).
He has slow lateral movements which isn't out of the ordinary for the behemoth that he his. He isn't very good as a screener in the PnR setting either as he's ranked in the 23rd percentile for PnR screener. But is this because the system doesn't play to his strengths or is he just truly terrible at the PnR, the bread and butter of Luka?
What Bamba does bring though is a unique stretch big. He's in the 47th percentile for spot ups, where most of his threes comes from.
I don't see the fit for Bamba unless he's replacing Maxi, which is the role that most similarly plays to his current strengths. But we're also losing out on Maxi's elite D so it doesn't make sense to make Bamba a priority tbh.
I think you can exclusively view Bamba as a C here defensively, Maxi's ability to guard forwards / some wings needs a different replacement if we were to move on from him. I'd just keep Maxi though.
Maybe you can find someone in the draft to slowly grow into a replacement role though over the next years.
(04-14-2022, 02:39 PM)SleepingHero Wrote: [ -> ]I don't see the fit for Bamba unless he's replacing Maxi, which is the role that most similarly plays to his current strengths. But we're also losing out on Maxi's elite D so it doesn't make sense to make Bamba a priority tbh.
Agreed.
And by "replacing Maxi" I want to clarify that we're talking about Kleber the backup center, not Kleber the guy who can play the 4.
(04-14-2022, 02:58 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: [ -> ]Agreed.
And by "replacing Maxi" I want to clarify that we're talking about Kleber the backup center, not Kleber the guy who can play the 4.
Precisely that. Even in that role the Bamba fit is iffy just because of how horrendous his defense is. He's an above average shot blocker, but he seems to be cut more from the Hassan Whiteside cloth of defense vs. the Rudy Gobert cloth just from impact metrics.
Still. He's a legit 7ft guy with a ginormous wingspan that can hit a spot up 3 pretty regularly. Those don't grow on trees and he's still only 23. He still has time to learn how to win and become a force at the 5, even if only for a couple of years.
(04-14-2022, 02:55 PM)JamesConway912 Wrote: [ -> ]I think you can exclusively view Bamba as a C here defensively, Maxi's ability to guard forwards / some wings needs a different replacement if we were to move on from him. I'd just keep Maxi though.
Maybe you can find someone in the draft to slowly grow into a replacement role though over the next years
Yeah I wasn't trying to imply I viewed Bamba as a potential/realistic 4 here (though how funny would it be to roll out a starting lineup of Bamba+Boban).
If anything, I was trying to point out that Bamba has really only 2 things he's actually good at; spotting up behind the 3pt line and occasionally blocking a shot. Of the roles we currently have on the team, only Maxi's one really plays to those strengths consistently. Maxi of course brings A LOT more defensively and would still be the starter, but if we're looking to get 40-50% of what Maxi brings on defense and also bring in a guy who loves to camp around the 3pt line then Bamba kind of makes sense.
With that said I think that spot is currently Bertans' for the foreseeable future. And it's probably better that way.
On the positive side of the ledger, Mo probably doesn't complain about spreading the floor and lobby in the media for getting more post ups
(04-14-2022, 03:14 PM)fifteenth Wrote: [ -> ]On the positive side of the ledger, Mo probably doesn't complain about spreading the floor and lobby in the media for getting more post ups
To play Devil's Advocate to your Devil's Advocate, with 9/10 of these "not living up to potential on some team I don't follow" there's a
reason they've fallen out of favor. Sometimes, they become Brandan Wright, sure. Most of the time, I feel like there's a reason we'd only know if we watched their teams every night.
Example: Precious Achiuwa. From my perspective he's a fallen angel like Bamba, only much closer to the type of player who could actually matter if he eventually gets it. But, I recently heard Hollinger and Duncan tear his game to shreds. While I don't take their opinions as gospel, they're at least the type of media guys who
watch almost all of the games.