(06-13-2021, 02:50 PM)StepBackJay Wrote: My list of "dump" players you can potentially get without using cap space or MLE:

• Rubio
  
• Adams
  
• G. Harris
  
• D. Green in a S&T
  
• Aminu
  
• Eric Gordon
  
• DJJ
  
• Dinwiddie
  
• Horford (would take J Rich, WCS, Burke combined for salary matching)
  

• Eric Bledsoe 
  
• Aaron Baynes (though he has a team option and doesn't really make much sense to guarantee his contract only to dump)
  
• John Wall (I think HOU will pay a handsome ransom for anyone to take this contract off their hands and Wall does provide a certain level of playmaking the Mavs don't have)
  

1. Steven Adams: Ideally THE center we should be striving for to put next to Luka. Hard screener. Great rebounder. Can defend in space. Love the guy/
   
2. Horford: Older and pricier contract but can space the floor well and is still a fantastic defender. 
   
3. Rubio: BE PREPARED.....? He's a great playmaker, the contract isn't nauseating, and he's a great locker room guy. Great 1st guard off the bench we should be striving for. 
   
4. Gary Harris: He can't really score, but he can defend. I don't think he's a big time minute getter on a team with real championship aspirations but the Mavs could do ALOT worse for a 2nd unit SG. 
   
5. Aaron Baynes: Has the toughness we're looking for in Steven Adams and the shooting touch of Al Horford. Too bad he doesn't have much other skills. Still, as a Powell replacement he'd be PERFECT. 
   
6. Danny Green: Honestly he's this far down because of how he played us last free agency. It left an awful taste in my mouth and to be fair while Green does bring the skillset we're looking for off the bench the guy can suck it. Still if he wants to sign here on a reasonable deal I could overlook his annoying behavior 2 years ago. 
   
7. Eric Gordon: In my initial post I accidentally left out EG all together in these rankings, which should tell you how much I really think of him and the guys below him. Though Gordon is a knockdown shooter, his best days are behind him. And that contract makes me want to gouge my eyes out. But if the Rockets want to gift us a couple of picks to take him on and/or take on our own bad contracts I wouldn't be mad at all. 
   
8. John Wall: Ok now here me out, there aren't many 20ppg creators out there that can be had for pennies on the dollar. There is a very high chance HOU would pay US to take Wall off their hands. A theoretical Wall trade could turn out to be this teams CP3 trade like for the Suns. Or it could crash and burn and be like Westbrook next to Harden except worse.... A hefty risk, but a creative route to perhaps restock the trade cupboard while netting a scorer/playmaker we're pining for. 
   
9. Eric Bledsoe: He can't score, his defense is waning, but is he better than Trey Burke? Yes. So I wouldn't mind him in that role. 
   
10. Derrick Jones Jr: A highly athletic 3/4 that could shine next to Luka. He doesn't have any noticeable skills besides jumping really high. Sometimes that's all you need, see Brandan Wright's career for the evidence. But I wouldn't make him a priority. Put it this way, POR mirrors our team in a lot of needs. If DJJ filled what we were looking for POR wouldn't be letting him go. 
    
11. Spencer Dinwiddie: A smart guy off the court that seems to be buddy-buddy with Cubes already, but I can't see why the Mavs would go after a guard that cannot shoot for the life of him coming off an ACL tear. 
    
12. Aminu: Someone had to be last. Aminu is on his last legs, and I don't think he can contribute anything meaningful to a good team anymore. As a 15th guy we could do a lot worse but the Mavs need to set their sights way higher if they want to break through the glass ceiling that is the 2nd round.  
    

(06-13-2021, 03:29 PM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: Instead though, I'm going to convince Charlotte I want Devonte Graham instead of THJ.  Charlotte desperately needs a center.   Their plan would be to hang onto his $4.7mm hold, grab a center with space and sign Graham above the cap.  Yes, Graham is restricted, but if a team signs him to an offer, they can't match AND get their center.  They only have $20.6mm to work with if you assume they want to keep the Graham hold, the Martin brothers and Jalen McDaniels (and I do).  BTW, that $20.6mm in space does not include the cost of their pick.  They are walking away from holds on Monk, Zeller and Biyombo in this scenario.  

(06-14-2021, 04:07 AM)SleepingHero Wrote: Can someone please illuminate to me how signing a 6'1 shooting guard who's career splits are 37/37/85 to a massive deal fixes our problems?

(06-14-2021, 04:07 AM)SleepingHero Wrote: It's near impossible to win anything big with undersized guys eating up a lot of minutes. The only 2 having any consistent championship level success being Isiah Thomas and Allen Iverson.

(06-14-2021, 04:40 AM)omahen Wrote: I don't think anyone is speaking about a massive deal related to Graham. Roughly 15 per is not massive imho. 

Graham plays defense, can shoot a three and can create for others to some extent. So he is a guy who could look well next to Luka. Of course not a star by any account.

(06-14-2021, 04:40 AM)omahen Wrote: Raptors won it with Lowry and FVV both at 6'0. In SA championship days Parker was 6'2 and Mills 6'0. Phil Jackson Lakers featured Fisher at 6'1. Boston had Rondo at 6'1. Probably many more cases showing it is not really a problem having a smaller guy as your starter. We would not expect Graham to be our main star.

(06-14-2021, 05:01 AM)SleepingHero Wrote: I think 15 per is massive for a guy like Graham. He's at best a 25mpg kind of guy on a good team that would probably be served best as a 15mpg spot microwave guy. 

In terms of defense, a quick look at Grahams counting stats says he's a below average defender with limitations.  

I just think there are several better options before Graham that the Mavs should focus on. If they want an RFA that can create for others and shoot well then Lonzo Ball is there. 

(06-14-2021, 03:10 AM)SleepingHero Wrote:

1. Gary Harris: He can't really score, but he can defend. I don't think he's a big time minute getter on a team with real championship aspirations but the Mavs could do ALOT worse for a 2nd unit SG. 

(06-14-2021, 08:05 AM)khaled1987 Wrote: What happened to the guy? In 17/18 he was really good scorer, and even in 18/19 playoffs he was decent playoff performer. Loved him back then but didn't follow him after.
Is it related to injury? or was his game exposed?
If it isn't for injury, then he might be a reclamation project I would love to get

(06-14-2021, 08:29 AM)omahen Wrote: He is JRich with twice as high salary. I see absolutely no sense in trading for him, unless it is part of "dump KP" campaign.

(06-14-2021, 07:19 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: I'm not sure I'd consider $14.2mm "a lot of love" for Graham.  The ProFitX website places his value at about $10 million.  I think I was pretty clear to say there is a range of numbers that will trade match JRich and satisfy BYC.  In a world where all possibilities are on the table, there are certainly guys you'd rather have.  But, that isn't the world we live in.  We are NOT likely to have cap room.  THJ is coming back.  JRich very well could opt-in.  So, unless KP is traded, we are dealing with the MLE and trades...period.  Oh, and we really don't have any assets to send out in deals.  What we are really looking for is teams that are in a pinch that might believe JRich or WCS to be "better than nothing".  

I guess you could apply the Bob Myers quote to anyone you don't happen to like.  Lonzo's profile from three is very similar to (Graham's).  He's in the 57th (52nd) percentile on Pull Up 3's, the 69th (81st) percentile on Corner 3's and 78th (86th) percentile on C&S 3's.  Neither player gets many open looks.  How does Bob Myers apply to one and not the other.  BTW, on a team with Luka and in the role either would play here...Advantage Graham.

Graham has led his team two years in a row in Simple Rating (82games.com).  Charlotte was 5.4 points better defensively when he was on the floor (NO is 1.6 points worse defensively when Lonzo is on the floor).  Graham was a team leading +7.5 in total On - Off (+8.0 the year before).  He's the 6th best PG in the league in total RPM and 7th best at D-RPM (Lonzo is 3rd and 11th).  There is something odd in Graham's counting stats because a lot of the compilation stats (LEBRON, RAPTOR and BPM) aren't kind to him defensively.  But, those stats love him offensively (90th percentile plus on average).  I'm not sure how to handicap the two guys defensively.  Both spend a high percentage of their time guarding the point of attack.  Just what we need.  Ball has better counting stats and Graham appears to have better on-court impact.  Still, I probably take the taller more switchable guy.

Neither Graham nor Lonzo get to the rim very often or very effectively.  But Graham has a 90th percentile assist rate on drives and is in the 95th percentile in Isolation PPP.  Ball is in the 66th percentile in Drive Assist Rate and the 5th percentile in PPP in Isolation.  Again, on the Mav's we are talking about a "secondary" playmaker.  Off the ball, but when things break down we need you to hit an open three or create something for yourself of for your teammates.  Graham crushes Ball on both counts and is better than Ball at Corner 3's.

We have tried two guys who can't hit 3's or won't take them in this spot the last two years and neither has panned out.  Graham isn't shy and is used to playing with another guard who can create and his on-court data says it worked.  Lonzo was so good at running his team that NO turned to Point-Zion late in the season.  One guy costs $20 million and is basically unattainable.  The other costs something between $10mm and $14mm and plays for a team that just drafted a potential superstar at the same position.

(06-13-2021, 10:44 PM)RedFlag41 Wrote: How much would Lonzo Ball command in the free agency market do you think?

(06-13-2021, 11:10 PM)mvossman Wrote: That would be a terribly disappointing off season.  This is our last year where we have any room to maneuver and we don't improve the starting lineup at all?

I'm not sure why we would be penciling in Powell as a starter?  He rarely started all year and got hardly any minutes in the playoff series.  That does not scream starter to me.  The 4 spot is definitely our biggest weakness right now.

This team has no chance to contend until we add some legit starters that can play quality defense.  We tried last year and failed with JRich, but it is still the highest priority from a long-term standpoint.

If KP gets back to his prior levels of defense, you don't have to have another big at the 4.  I think you could add another wing to the starting lineup and DFS and Luka could share 4 duties.  Something like KP/DFS/Luka/Ball/THJ would probably work.

If KP's mobility is going to be what it was this year, then he has to go, even if its for air.  There is no chance you can have a starting lineup including the version of KP with Luka and THJ that could possibly be good enough defensively.  I am leaning towards needing to go this route regardless in the long term.  Get a true defensive anchor at the 5 (sign Holmes or trade for Turner or Adams) to go with Luka/DFS/THJ and work with that.

(06-14-2021, 03:10 AM)SleepingHero Wrote: Love this list. I'd add some others: 

• Eric Bledsoe 
  
• Aaron Baynes (though he has a team option and doesn't really make much sense to guarantee his contract only to dump)
  
• John Wall (I think HOU will pay a handsome ransom for anyone to take this contract off their hands and Wall does provide a certain level of playmaking the Mavs don't have)
  

(06-14-2021, 04:07 AM)SleepingHero Wrote: I've been seeing off and on a lot of Devonte Graham love and for the life of me I just don't understand it.