(01-19-2021, 11:10 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: I honestly don't think people are watching Randle play. It's true he's having a great season, but that's because NY is playing to his strengths, finally. He is at his best when he has the ball in his hands going downhill. 

For perspective, imagine someone who plays like Johnson (better) who expects and needs the ball to succeed. Sure, Johnson's versatility is intriguing here, as it's something we haven't seen on the Mavs in quite some time. Maybe ever. But, is anyone looking at his offensive game and thinking "yeah, I see EXACTLY how that fits in with this group and think the team needs to double down on that"?

Randle isn't a spacer or a screen and roll guy. He's like Johnson. The Mavs currently have a version of that player they're having trouble integrating, but at least this version is expiring, grateful for the opportunity and happy to come off of the bench. He'll probably be ok with a more limited role as the rotation tightens up, too.

(01-19-2021, 11:41 PM)cow Wrote: I like Randle a lot for the same reason I've always liked Kanter.  They are the type of players I want to run my second team offense through as they can just get buckets.  Randle's not at that point in his career and he wouldn't thrive here with the ball in Luka's hand so much.

(01-20-2021, 12:22 AM)SleepingHero Wrote: To be fair our offense is on life support currently. Outside of Luka and KP, there isn't anyone on the roster that I can say that can reliably get a bucket when needed. 

Maybe Randle is exactly what the Mavs need hmmmm

(01-20-2021, 01:07 AM)cow Wrote: I've been getting this vibe from KP of late that he isn't in love with being Robin to Luka's Batman

(01-20-2021, 01:07 AM)cow Wrote: Would he be willing to take a sixth man role and feast on second units?  I'm not sure.  He's young and getting more minutes is going to be important for his next contract.

(01-20-2021, 01:07 AM)cow Wrote: What would he cost?  New York's been a trade partner in the past but we owe them our pick this year.  Helping us improve our team hurts them in the short term.  If it costs us a future first and I certainly think it would, I don't think I would.  I'm not sure a bunch of seconds and lifting protections gets the deal done (assuming they don't want THJ back, Johnson + Brunson works).  If our 2021 conveys to New York this offseason, we'd finally be at a place to offer two FRPs in future deals which is the starting point for getting a 3rd piece. 

(01-20-2021, 01:31 AM)SleepingHero Wrote: What makes you say that? I noticed Luka missing KP a bit early on and KP sulking for the play, but other than that it seems like both are on good terms in my eyes? Did I miss something? 

(01-19-2021, 09:32 PM)Scott41theMavs Wrote: Hanspard's take on Burke is hyperbolic. He had a 15+ PER in the bubble, in his earlier stint with the Mavs, and as the starting point guard in NY before the trade. He's good at what he does. He just happens to be slumping right now. He's just fine as a scorer off the bench.

(01-19-2021, 09:01 PM)omahen Wrote: You made a great example of Mavs options. As they don't have near enough assets to go after best "surefire" options like Beal or other disgruntled star that might appear on the market, they will have to take educated risks with guys that are "damaged goods" to a certain extent. This includes overpaid guys (Tobias), injury proned guys (like KP), dominantly one way guys (LaVine), guys who performed better in the past but are underperforming at the moment (Oladipo in the bubble) or guys that we believe have potential but didn't show it yet (Bagley  ). The price for such a guy fluctuates based on where he is. Randle is a perfect example - he would be likely very cheap in the summer. He is not cheap now after a good start of the season. Same goes for Oladipo, LaVine and many others. Might be Mavs don't have assets for them when they are playing well. So we should start looking for potential stars that are underperforming based on their contracts or expectations. 

I think we desperately need an upgrade but I totally agree it makes no sense to pay remaining assets for someone who is perhaps just on a hot streak. We should more likely be looking at players that are underperforming at the moment. As strange as it may sound

(01-20-2021, 02:13 AM)HanspardsShowerVoice Wrote: This is exactly right.  The Mavs have to be value investors, not momentum investors.  This is why I wouldn't discount the Talen Horton-Tucker rumors.   That's the type of free agent the Mavs should be researching.  Players who might be undervalued to their talent level now compared to where they will be down the road.     In THT's case  1) He just turned 20 years old.  2) He's buried on easily the best team in the NBA where it's hard to earn minutes and shots.  Whereas if he played for a lesser talented non-contender he would be given more opportunities  3)  People irrationally anchor their opinions on where players are drafted which is why they desperately want to believe there must be more to WCS/Nerlens Noel than there really is and less to Christian Wood than there really is.

(01-19-2021, 11:33 PM)SleepingHero Wrote: The thing is though, Randle will not be played to his strengths here. He will not be the focal point of the team while he's on the court. That will be Luka. And when Luka sits that will be KP.

So the question is, how effective does Randle become in a role like Johnson's? Is he still worth that kind of package with worse defense? I lean towards no. We've seen that play out and he's anywhere from a 10-15ppg game on mediocre metrics across the board. Is that what this team needs? 

(01-20-2021, 08:44 AM)HanspardsShowerVoice Wrote: I think a good trade possibility to upgrade the offense is Derrick Rose. He's a vet on an expiring deal on a rebuilding franchise, so he shouldn't cost much. You don't have to really change what Luka or KP does to fit him into the team, he slots in easily as an upgrade over Burke in the same role without disrupting continuity. He's providing a pretty steady 20 PER player at 20-25 MPG since he embraced being a 6th man. Carlisle has done well with former stars who are now in the 2nd or 3rd Act of their careers. While he can still get a basket off the dribble, he's changed his game and not the same ball dominant player he was when he was a star in Chicago. Since he's been in Detroit his AST% has been around ~40%. He now feasts on 2nd units, and I actually think Luka, Rose and Richardson would a pretty nice complementary 3 guard lineup if you wanted to play small in the final 4 minutes. If you're going to have Richardson and DFS in your Final 5 lineup, you're going to need offense.

(01-20-2021, 10:30 AM)SkenfromLMF Wrote: I would like to see how it plays out with Luka, Richardson, DFS, Maxi/THJ, KP before I jump to the conclusion that we need more for the closing lineup...
I would look to improve the team if given the opportunity, but we don't have to make a move YET. AND we don't have to take someone's offer because they call, we are actually in a position of strength when it comes to making a deal (ie we don't need to pay for the privilege of moving Powell)

(01-20-2021, 11:46 AM)RDB Wrote: I know there was some discussion on this board about him late last year but I think it was mostly around TDL assets (or lack thereof).  I have also read that there has been some friction around how Trae is running the team.  My question is could the Mavs be LEGITIMATE players in free agency (if he makes it past the TDL)?  Does he have any power or because he is a RFA, does Atl. hold all the cards on his destination?  As a 23 year old who has likely not reached his ceiling, do others think this could be a good improvement now and a potentially great improvement in the future?  He and C. Wood seem to have a lot of similarities but Collins has done it for 3 years and seems to be more well rounded.

(01-20-2021, 11:34 AM)HanspardsShowerVoice Wrote: I like Josh Richardson.  H fixed a lot of Dallas' perimeter defense from last year so I want him on the floor, but at the same time we should be clear about who he is offensively.   He is 27 years old in his 6th year in the league with a career 12.6 PER and negative offensive plus/minus.  I don't think he has a lot of ceiling left to reach at this point in his career,  pretty much is what he is.   Which isn't bad per se, but it's hard to compete at a Championship Level in the modern NBA with both him and DFS on the floor as your crunchtime 5, unless you are getting a whole lot of offense from the other 3 players.   Especially when Luka  is the only threat to play on-ball. Mavs will run into the same issue that Milwaukee does in the playoffs ... opponents will just endlessly throw bodies at Luka and make someone else beat them, and that's hard to do when you don't play on ball unless you have just insane efficiency. I dunno ...maybe KP becomes a Top 15-20 player. That's the only hope I see with the current roster.

(01-20-2021, 01:36 PM)Jommybone Wrote: After 13 games (Richardson has played in 8), how off was our opinion on THJ? Rich needs more familiarity with his role and his open spots. The offense will improve. Just hard to know by how much.

On the other side of the ball, Rich looks like the answer for defending point guards. And the big question that remains is who can stop the bully ball that keeps getting us torched by the likes of Chicago and Toronto.

(01-20-2021, 11:46 AM)RDB Wrote: I don’t follow other teams closely so my knowledge of other players is somewhat limited...maybe others can fill in some blanks.

The player I find SUPER intriguing is John Collins.  He seems to check a lot of the right boxes for the Mavs: basically 20/10 (per 36) for the last 3 years, super efficient shooting %, can stretch the floor, can create, rim runner, great P&R, can guard multiple positions (per Atl. writer, not my observation), doesn’t require heavy usage, good in space, and is only 23.

I know there was some discussion on this board about him late last year but I think it was mostly around TDL assets (or lack thereof).  I have also read that there has been some friction around how Trae is running the team.  My question is could the Mavs be LEGITIMATE players in free agency (if he makes it past the TDL)?  Does he have any power or because he is a RFA, does Atl. hold all the cards on his destination?  As a 23 year old who has likely not reached his ceiling, do others think this could be a good improvement now and a potentially great improvement in the future?  He and C. Wood seem to have a lot of similarities but Collins has done it for 3 years and seems to be more well rounded.

(01-20-2021, 02:33 PM)HanspardsShowerVoice Wrote: Maybe they just don't view him as a max player.