Preseason Game 4: Dallas Mavericks (2-1) vs. Los Angeles Lakers (1-3) | 9:30pm EST

[Deebo]

Dlo can go. I rather play Williams and nembhard

[myconsumerclub]

I concur it is starting to look like DLo is odd man out against Nembhard and Williams.

[david75090]

The end of the Mavs bench ended up blowing out the end of the Lakers bench.

[meistermatze]

Alright, so I've watched every preseason game (at least as long as the starters were playing), and here are my observations:

- It feels like our lineups work better if we only play one center (Dereck Lively or AD), which actually makes AD kind of expendable because...

- I already officially hate AD’s game. He feels too soft to do the dirty work and attack inside. He just settles for long 2s or 3s — and he simply can’t shoot them (career best was 34%, and most seasons he’s below 30%).

- Sure, AD looks pretty much unstoppable inside, but he rarely goes there (afraid of injury?). I almost had to puke when he brought the ball up at the end of the first half and jacked up a 3 like he was Luka or something.

- Yes, I would trade AD because I don’t trust his game — and I definitely don’t trust his body. But I know that’s never going to happen, because Nico would basically be admitting defeat. So, on to the positives:

- Even with AD, I think we have a good team on our hands. It’ll be frustrating to watch him play, but if he can stay healthy, we’re solid. We’re obviously great at rebounding due to our sheer size, and if we decide to mostly play only one center, I think we’ll be very strong defensively too.

- PJ needs to play big minutes — maybe even start. He looked great in preseason, and he’s not a spark plug type off the bench.

- DLo has been disappointing so far, but his shooting splits are awful and should regress to the mean. If they do, he’ll look fine. I still think he should play a 6th-man type role, and we should experiment with huge lineups featuring Cooper at the point and run our dribble-handoff offense — which, surprisingly, seems to work quite well.

- Nembhard was a pleasant surprise — he looks super comfortable, not like a rookie at all. I’d definitely give him some burn.

- I’m done with Hardy. I don’t want to see him play.

- DP is the best 4th-string center in league history, and I hope we never have to see him on the court — especially once Gafford is back. But, like I said at the beginning, we have too many bodies in the frontcourt. In an ideal world, we’d move on from AD, but since that’s not happening — and the Mavs seem sold on trying this “even bigger than Cleveland” approach — it’s going to be an interesting season.

- Obviously, our 3-point shooting has been awful (30% over four games). It’ll improve a little over time, but we’re going to be bad in that department and have to make it up by dominating the glass and controlling the paint.
If the team stays healthy and locked in defensively, we’ll be tough to beat. Without Kyrie, though, I don’t see a closer on this roster — and we’re in for some AD hero-ball, which will not work. It might be better with both Kyrie and AD on the floor, because defenses can’t just focus on one of them. But until Ky is back, that’s going to be a huge problem for us.

Flagg is great on both ends of the floor and will inly improve. Not worried about him at all. If we had not won the lottery, I might be done with this team but now I am REALLY excited for what they can do. But I am also prepared for misery (lack of shooting and, most likely, lack of health. Looking at you, AD).

[ThisIStheYear]

Flagg won’t help the team if he’s playing point guard this season. It may advance his development, but it will cost the Mavs games. He’s more of a secondary playmaker, all around Swiss Army knife than a primary shot creator.

[Dahlsim]

Alright, so I've watched every preseason game (at least as long as the starters were playing), and here are my observations:

- It feels like our lineups work better if we only play one center (Dereck Lively or AD), which actually makes AD kind of expendable because...

- I already officially hate AD’s game. He feels too soft to do the dirty work and attack inside. He just settles for long 2s or 3s — and he simply can’t shoot them (career best was 34%, and most seasons he’s below 30%).

- Sure, AD looks pretty much unstoppable inside, but he rarely goes there (afraid of injury?). I almost had to puke when he brought the ball up at the end of the first half and jacked up a 3 like he was Luka or something.

- Yes, I would trade AD because I don’t trust his game — and I definitely don’t trust his body. But I know that’s never going to happen, because Nico would basically be admitting defeat. So, on to the positives:....
....

This is the reality.  AD is expendable.  AD is not really in NBA basketball shape right now.  Eye surgery, recovery from last year's injury, whatever the reason, he's playing himself into condition now. 

Given the 2-timeline age distribution on the roster, the ideal scenario for Dallas right now is to get AD into peak shape, which depends on health and then flip him into assets in sync with the younger Coop timeline.  IF AD can have a healthy season, you have the trade deadline target or more likely get a max performance out of him this season then look for a youth oriented trade similar to the Durant trade that reset the Suns.

[Chicagojk]

You really have to be careful about making any conclusions in preseason.  The lack of shooting and some of the defense on good creators is concerning.

I am not crazy about the starting lineup they threw out there last night.   Although, I don't think I am too pumped about a DLO/Klay starting backcourt either.    Real tricky how to get this to work.  Especially when your four best players are all front court players (Cooper at least in size).   That is not even counting Gafford who may also be one of your top 7 players.  

Has a team ever started a two way guy for their first game?  LOL.   It won't happen but Nembhard made a strong case in the past few games that he deserves rotation minutes.   Limited mistakes and just gets the ball to the open player.  

I think the Vincent threes to start the game were more "tip your hat to him" than poor defense.   Maybe not all of them.  It just feels like teams are getting good three point looks though on penetration.  In today's game you just can't be dominated on three point shooting.  You can play good defense, be physical, control the boards, limit turnover, etc.  But if the other teams makes 10 more threes than you, it may even everything else out.

[Chicagojk]

really forgetful preseason for DSJ.  He wasn't making the roster but he didn't play yesterday and the few times he did play he very rarely had the ball.  He was playing off ball.   In his limited runs, you didn't even see if he still has that explosion.   Whatever he does, he needs to play basketball in a league this year.  Last year, he didn't play.  It is easy to be forgotton about if you aren't playing.  He will have a hard road back to the NBA, but he needs to play to have a chance.  It is probably a low chance at this stage.

I wonder who Dallas gets for that final two way spot. Robinson Earl is not two eligible right? It appears Kidd's comments about him and liking his game was something you say before you release him. I was not a believer in Cisse and his production in college was limited, but thought he looked decent in preseason. Although, he probably would not be my first choice for a two way.

[mvossman]

I try not to read too much into preseason, but its hard not to when it confirms all of your concerns. This team is lacking in creation, shooting and perimeter defense, and playing two bigs exasperates all of those issues. Its hard to watch these games and not think this team should trade one of its bigs for a shooting guard that addresses the above issues.

Having said that, I don't think there is any chance that big being traded will be AD. There is no way Nico pulls that trigger, and it would be a difficult trigger to pull. With his massive salary and age, its hard to see a trade out there that would make any sense. The obvious answer is to send out Gafford (who they signed to a contract seemingly tailor made to trade) plus salary filler and assets for somebody who addresses their weaknesses.