(08-06-2024, 08:07 PM)F Gump Wrote: ECONOMICS. The salary match can almost work as a simple 1 for 1: UT has about 30M in open cap room, and the difference in salary is about 33M. So UT would have to add almost any salary alongside Kessler's to make work. 
....NO is about 3M over the tax line, and presumably determined to do something to reduce salary by 3-4M at least. This would certainly be designed to provide that solution, and easily do so.
....UT also has incentive to increase their payroll, as they are about 17M below the team minimum (they do have 3 open roster spots they can fill towards that end). The penalties for being below the minimum are harsh enough that no team will go there. The deadline to get up to that number is opening day.

(08-06-2024, 11:29 AM)SleepingHero Wrote: NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral)
Warriors final offer for Lauri Markkanen:

Moses Moody, multiple first-round picks, pick swaps and second-rounders, per @ShamsCharania

Golden State refused to offer Brandin Podziemski

(08-07-2024, 01:18 PM)SleepingHero Wrote: After the Lauri extension today, Lauri's active roster is at 133 mil with 32 mil of cap holds in Kira Lewis Jr and THT. They've managed to give Lauri an extra 18mil to his current salary so they've crossed the team minimum salary threshold you've pointed out.  

(08-18-2024, 01:27 PM)HoosierDaddyKid Wrote: Good pickup for Sixers. Added depth. His Olympics performance drew a lot of attention.

(08-18-2024, 06:39 PM)Scott41theMavs Wrote: We could have used him. If this was the Donnie era, I'd be engaging in some serious pitchfork sharpening, but Nico gets something of a pass here. We still need a legit backup for PJ other than the sometimes-reliable Maxi.

(08-18-2024, 06:39 PM)Scott41theMavs Wrote: We could have used him. If this was the Donnie era, I'd be engaging in some serious pitchfork sharpening, but Nico gets something of a pass here. We still need a legit backup for PJ other than the sometimes-reliable Maxi.

(08-18-2024, 08:07 PM)SleepingHero Wrote: The only objection I have to this line of thinking is asking "isn't that what OMAX is for?"


We all want him to take the next step. How can we ask of that if we have a bonafide backup eating up his minutes? 

Another question I guess could be asked is can Omax even get minutes on this team?

(08-18-2024, 08:15 PM)mvossman Wrote: Naji.

(08-19-2024, 10:14 AM)Ghost of Podkolzin Wrote: I hope we use Naji more at the 3 than the 4, like DJJ last year.  Luka/Kyrie/BigSF/PJ/Lively...  is ideal.

IMO, backup PF is our biggest roster need.

(08-19-2024, 10:33 AM)mvossman Wrote: DJJ played plenty of backup 4, especially when Maxi was out.  Naji is more suited to that role than DJJ was.  He is taller, longer, bigger, stronger and more aggressive.  He is a big wing who can defend either forward position as needed.  A backup PF would need multiple injuries to see significant playing time.

(08-19-2024, 10:55 AM)Ghost of Podkolzin Wrote: Not sure you're looking at it from total minutes, rather than starter/bench.  Overtime aside, each of the five spots have 3,936 minutes in the regular season (82 x 48).  PJ played 2,219 minutes last year.  That leaves 1,717 minutes left at backup PF.  If you split Naji's 1,254 minutes and split them between SF and PF, that leaves 1,090 minutes (approximately Maxi's minutes last year).  Do we really want to keep riding Maxi?  IMO it's a hole.

(08-19-2024, 11:08 AM)mvossman Wrote: If you are looking at it from a total minutes standpoint, Luka is more than capable of playing the PF spot defensively, especially against second units.  There will also be developmental minutes for Omax as well as a lot of garbage minutes where it doesn't matter who is out there.  Last season Omax and Morris combined for roughly 550 minutes and I expect Omax to get a lot more this coming season.

(08-19-2024, 11:08 AM)mvossman Wrote: 1 If you are looking at it from a total minutes standpoint, Luka is more than capable of playing the PF spot defensively, especially against second units. 

2  There will also be developmental minutes for Omax as well as a lot of garbage minutes where it doesn't matter who is out there.  Last season Omax and Morris combined for roughly 550 minutes and I expect Omax to get a lot more this coming season.

(08-19-2024, 12:28 PM)F Gump Wrote: I think the question of minutes by position is not possible to define in any meaningful way. The Mavs will play maybe 150-200* combos in the early games, not just starters and backups in platoons, and players will slide across multiple positions within the very same play. They will change who defends whom depending on the opponent's players. Sometimes they will play zone, adding a completely different nuance.

* That estimate is based on the playoffs, when they played a MUCH tighter set of players; in only 22 games they played 154 different lineups.

And once you get a single injury, it all changes. Last year they played 643 different combos

1 As for PF, I just think the Mavs will have a normal PF-type backup to PJW, rather than an oversized PG that they can slide into the position to make do. I also observe that Luka, as a starter, is going to typically be playing against starters. So the opportunity to have him playing regular and significant minutes as a backup PF against backups - and that being their answer for a backup PF -  will tend to be limited. Just how I see it.

Another factor to consider is that Luka has also expressed a preference for the Mavs having a size advantage when he's on the floor. That happens more naturally when he plays PG not PF, so that his size advantage is not lost, and I would think they will skew more towards ways to play bully ball if they can (with a size advantage and dunks galore) rather than small ball.

2 I can't envision either OMax or Morris being a meaningful answer to excellent backup play at PF. OMax is not good, and not close, and should be in GL. When (if?) he ever gets his skills at a much higher level, by showing excellence in them at a lower level, okay -- but he is world's away right now. And we all know Morris is not an answer to playing time except in a catastrophic emergency.

(08-19-2024, 12:28 PM)F Gump Wrote: I think the question of minutes by position is not possible to define in any meaningful way. The Mavs will play maybe 150-200 combos in the early games, not just starters and backups in platoons, and players will slide across multiple positions within the very same play. They will change who defends whom depending on the opponent's players. Sometimes they will play zone, adding a completely different nuance.

And once you get a single injury, it all changes. Last year they played 643 different combos

1 As for PF, I just think the Mavs will have a normal PF-type backup to PJW, rather than an oversized PG that they can slide into the position to make do. I also observe that Luka, as a starter, is going to typically be playing against starters. So the opportunity to have him playing regular and significant minutes as a backup PF against backups - and that being their answer for a backup PF -  will tend to be limited. Just how I see it.

Another factor to consider is that Luka has also expressed a preference for the Mavs having a size advantage when he's on the floor. That happens more naturally when he plays PG not PF, so that his size advantage is not lost, and I would think they will skew more towards ways to play bully ball if they can (with a size advantage and dunks galore) rather than small ball.

2 I can't envision either OMax or Morris being a meaningful answer to excellent backup play at PF. OMax is not good, and not close, and should be in GL. When (if?) he ever gets his skills at a much higher level, by showing excellence in them at a lower level, okay -- but he is world's away right now. And we all know Morris is not an answer to playing time except in a catastrophic emergency.