(02-15-2022, 01:13 AM)Mavs2021 Wrote: Let´s hope they did not intend to trade Porzingis as early as last summer, cause that would only make the decision to not pursue Markkanen even dumber. Now they got the sh*tty Markkanen for the same 16M per year instead.

(02-15-2022, 10:27 AM)mvossman Wrote: I think Kam was right that they did have this plan all along.  In fact I wonder if Cuban told Rick this after Donnie left, and thats when Rick decided he didn't want to mess with trying to showcase KP for 2/3 a season and decided it was time to bail.

(02-15-2022, 09:48 AM)vfromlmf Wrote: Been away from the board for a while so haven't had the opportunity to provide my perspective on this trade. Count me among the cautiously optimistic. Seems the general consensus around this deal is that the Mavs made the trade to free themselves from KP's contract and open up flexibility to make additional moves in the future. Fair point. But I like this move from a pure basketball standpoint, especially for playoff basketball and especially for Luka.

We all know good defensive teams switch in the playoffs and the two recent Clips games offer a template for how to beat the Mavs in a seven game series. We saw it last year too. It's all about exploiting the Mavs personnel by switching on Luka and forcing him to be a scorer. Luka can (and likely will) go off for 40+ but Brunson was only one other guy on the roster who could consistently attack a switching defense, but he struggles with length. 

I'll go on record that Dinwiddie will play with Luka and Brunson when teams try to force Luka into being a scorer. Dinwiddie can attack defenses on his own and that will help keep Luka fresh for the fourth quarter. My best guess is he'll settle into a 25-32 minute role, essentially taking KP's 15 shots and scoring 16-18 points per game. If he can do it, this trade is a big win.

Of course, we also know good defensive teams tend to blitz Luka with double teams in the fourth quarter. When that happens you need shooters to space the floor and a secondary initiator to take the pressure off no 77. Dinwiddie has the potential to add value against blitzing defenses but Bertans adds value as an elite floor spacer. 

Bertans is a four-five in the modern NBA but in Washington he was often on the floor with two other bigs. Not ideal. I'll go on record that Bertans will never play with two bigs in Dallas and Chriss is the guy most likely to loose his spot in a playoff rotation. Bertans will come close to matching Kleber's 20-25 min but will outscore him many nights, taking 6-8 of THJ's shots and boosting the second unit 8-11 points per game. If he can do it this trade is a home run.

(02-15-2022, 10:36 AM)mvossman Wrote: I have a hard time thinking of Bertans as a big.  He gets two rebounds a game.  

(02-15-2022, 10:22 AM)vfromlmf Wrote: Adding to my notes above ... the big rotation will now likely be DFS-Powell-Kleber-Bertans. 

DFS is a 36-38 minute per game guy in the playoffs so you're talking about splitting 60 minutes between Powell, Kleber and Bertans. They can't all get 20-25 minutes so those guys will rotate situationally. 

My guess is Powell gets the most burn on most nights, but I don't see him exceeding 24-28 minutes. My best guess is 21-28 for Powell, depending on matchups. 

Stating the obvious here but between Kleber and Bertans, Maxi is the better defender but Davis is the better floor spacer, so again you'll see Kidd use them situationally, based on matchups. It may be hard for either player to average more than 20 minutes, but either could play more than 20 minutes on any given night.

(02-15-2022, 11:19 AM)mvossman Wrote: My expectation is the most likely minutes distribution for Bertans in playoffs is DNP.  However, if he does completely revive his career in the next 20 plus games and we feel like we need him on the court, then he will get more PF minutes and DFS will slide down to the 3 some.  In the event that Bertans is unplayable in the playoffs, you are looking at Powell/DFS/Maxi taking all of the 4/5 minutes.

(02-15-2022, 10:36 AM)mvossman Wrote: Kidd's defense seems to be predicated on bigs having quick feet.  Bertans makes KP look like Draymond in that regard

(02-15-2022, 11:19 AM)mvossman Wrote: I think the problem with this is that we need somebody that can be at least a small ball center.  There is no way you can play significant minutes with DFS or Bertans as your center.  So Powell and Maxi will be splitting the center minutes.  That means both will be getting roughly 24 minutes at the min.  I agree with DFS minutes, which leaves 10-12 left for Bertans.

My expectation is the most likely minutes distribution for Bertans in playoffs is DNP.  However, if he does completely revive his career in the next 20 plus games and we feel like we need him on the court, then he will get more PF minutes and DFS will slide down to the 3 some.  In the event that Bertans is unplayable in the playoffs, you are looking at Powell/DFS/Maxi taking all of the 4/5 minutes.

(02-15-2022, 01:35 PM)vfromlmf Wrote: The best way to defend Zubac isn't to play a big defensive center simply because the Mavs don't employ one other than Boban and we saw that movie last year. The best way to defend Zubac is for Luka to play him off the floor. That will happen if they meet in the playoffs this year, just like it did last year. The problem for Dallas was that they couldn't play small with an immobile KP at center and trapping Luka in the fourth. 

Here's the bottom line: Dinwiddie and Bertans better equip Dallas to play small when Luka plays the opposing center off the floor. Move, counter-move.

Don't forget, Dallas was in control of the series until the Clippers went small but Dallas had no answer. Now they do.

(02-15-2022, 03:22 PM)HAguiar95 Wrote: With Zubac/Adams OK, I trust Luka can play them off as he displayed a couple of times, but Luka is not playing Gobert/Ayton/Davis off the floor, so we better pray to god we can find an answer that doesn't rely on Luka going super sayan.

(02-15-2022, 01:35 PM)vfromlmf Wrote: The best way to defend Zubac isn't to play a big defensive center simply because the Mavs don't employ one other than Boban and we saw that movie last year. The best way to defend Zubac is for Luka to play him off the floor. That will happen if they meet in the playoffs this year, just like it did last year. The problem for Dallas was that they couldn't play small with an immobile KP at center and trapping Luka in the fourth. 

Here's the bottom line: Dinwiddie and Bertans better equip Dallas to play small when Luka plays the opposing center off the floor. Move, counter-move.

Don't forget, Dallas was in control of the series until the Clippers went small but Dallas had no answer. Now they do.

(02-15-2022, 04:18 PM)burekemde Wrote: Even if Luka wins the matchup with the center, which he does so extremely well. I still wont diversity on the offense.

(02-15-2022, 04:31 PM)ItsGoTime Wrote: I think the point to having 3 ball handlers on the floor is to have it coming from different positions. Having 3 pgs do it is a poor man’s version of ball handling on the court. Mann and Brooks are role player examples of this. We need more of those types, not more pgs. I hope they keep that in mind when building the roster back up.

(02-15-2022, 10:59 AM)vfromlmf Wrote: He may defensive rebound better than that in Dallas but Dallas is already a fantastic defensive rebounding team. Obviously, he'll never offensive rebound because he spaces 30 feet from the basket, but I don't see rebounding being a huge problem.