2020-2021 ROSTER TALK: Archived

[WillE]

Getting waived as a bench player on a lottery-bound, rebuilding team sounds like a door slamming on an NBA career.

This is definately a potentail turning point for his career: I'd be surprised, if gets signed again this season for the reasons you just said.

Maybe he should look for a place with guaranteed playing time, to just develop his game. I feel like he always had the tools to be a solid rotation player, however he couldn't show that consistently yet. Really wondering what holds him back...

[HanspardShowerVoice]

Getting waived as a bench player on a lottery-bound, rebuilding team sounds like a door slamming on an NBA career.

I don't know what plus tool he has in his toolbox to even make it as a role specialist.  Can't shoot.    Not a good enough athlete to defend at a high level.   Not a rebounder.   Not a playmaker.   He has a pretty nice floater, but you can't build an NBA career on that.

[michaeltex]

Branduil Wrote:  [url=https://www.mavsboard.com/showthread.php?pid=73189#pid73189][/url]TBF the Blazers have the worst defense in the league and their undersized backcourt has clearly limited their ceiling over the years. Now, that's not to say you can't start a guy as small as Brunson and be a contender, teams have obviously done it before, but the Mavs will have to decide if that's the way they're going, and soon.

I guess it helps a lot if your star can confidently shoot a high percentage from the parking garage. Dame may not be quite Steph Curry level, but he's definitely up there.

[michaeltex]

I don't know what plus tool he has in his toolbox to even make it as a role specialist.  Can't shoot.    Not a good enough athlete to defend at a high level.   Not a rebounder.   He has a pretty nice floater, but you can't build an NBA career on that.

Unfortunately this isn't an isolated story. It's a big leap to the pros that not everybody can make or have the level of commitment to develop into. And the best a lot (most?) can hope for is to be a rotation bench player.

If you want to know how big of a difference, go find a recent video of Brian Scalabrine playing a smart ass high school kid for sneakers. Scal is nobody's example of a prime NBA player, even when he was in the league, but it wasn't even close what he did to that kid.

[soog]

This is definately a potentail turning point for his career: I'd be surprised, if gets signed again this season for the reasons you just said.

Maybe he should look for a place with guaranteed playing time, to just develop his game. I feel like he always had the tools to be a solid rotation player, however he couldn't show that consistently yet. Really wondering what holds him back...

He needs to be looking for a paycheck and a high yield savings account right now.

[haveitall]

What the mavericks need is a player like Karl Malone.  They need a beefy enforcer who can convert everything off the pick and roll, play lockdown defense and set bone crushing screens.  Which player in free agency most resembles Karl Malone?  The only thing that Markkanen has in common with Malone is the first 2 letters of their names.  I would rather have Rachaun Holmes.

[SkenfromLMF]

I could be wrong, but I don't think any of us questioning the idea of starting Brunson long term question his value to the team.  He has been great offensively lately and a crucial part of the bench.  

However, it's a real shame they did not do his contract with a player option instead of non-guaranteed.  If they could make him restricted this year it would be a no brainer.  My concern is that next year when they will be over the cap his agent will have all the leverage and he may get really expensive.  My preference would be that they offer him an extension this year (to be executed after they get everything else done) and if they can't come to an agreement, then they need to seriously explore trading him when his value will potentially be at its highest.

I vehemently disagree with this sentiment - I am going to go all in on keeping the band together OVER THE CAP and adding the Full MLE caliber player to the wings/4, which means Jalen Brunson is going to get paid as a Bird FA with Dallas, UNLESS they are blown away by a team who will take him and Powell and give up a near All-Star caliber player in order to get those Bird Rights. This team is direly short on assets and throwing away Brunson (he will get paid too much to keep) or even Richardson and THJ in the chase for non-existent FA's is not the way to improve that base. 

Face it, this team will operate over the cap and most likely over the TAX after Luka extends... and if mark refuses to accept that as an owner he is no better than the Perot/Zachanelli penny pinching morons that gave away Jason Kidd as he neared the apex of his career. Teams with ALL-NBA ALPHAS must spend to keep them happy - I don't want to be Orlando (Shaq, Penny, T-MAC..) and none of them stayed.

[omahen]

https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2021/4/5/2...-porzingis

[ItsGoTime]

What the mavericks need is a player like Karl Malone.  They need a beefy enforcer who can convert everything off the pick and roll, play lockdown defense and set bone crushing screens.  Which player in free agency most resembles Karl Malone?  The only thing that Markkanen has in common with Malone is the first 2 letters of their names.  I would rather have Rachaun Holmes.

I think the closest thing to Malone is Favors, who has been available in some form or fashion for the last few years. I don't think the Mavs are all that interested in this thought (BTW, I've been right there with you on the thought for quite a while).

[ItsGoTime]

Unfortunately this isn't an isolated story. It's a big leap to the pros that not everybody can make or have the level of commitment to develop into. And the best a lot (most?) can hope for is to be a rotation bench player.

If you want to know how big of a difference, go find a recent video of Brian Scalabrine playing a smart ass high school kid for sneakers. Scal is nobody's example of a prime NBA player, even when he was in the league, but it wasn't even close what he did to that kid.

https://youtu.be/_vZDm6IeeKQ

[StepBackJay]

I´d agree 100% with this statement, if we didn´t have so many extension coming up. Let´s say things work out well this summer.

We trade Powell +Burke +Terry for Markkanen 84/4

Extend THJ and Richardson 56/4 each.

Luka extension 150/5 whatever that max will be.

Dorian 50/4 + Brunson 50/4

Now your 2022 pay-roll roughly looks like this:

Porzingis 34
Luka 30
Markkanen 21
THJ 14
Richardson 14
Brunson 12.5
DFS 12.5
Kleber 9
Green 3

Over 150M for nine guys.

These are pretty fair numbers, even so this sh*t gonna be expensive. You can even allow THJ or Richardson to walk, you´ll still need a MLE replacement, which hardly saves you money. Or you can just ignore Markkanen, but then you still paying Powell + Burke. Not that much of a difference either.

Cuban better be ready to spend money soon.

I don't know why people think that the same Mavs that figured how to keep DFS for 4/yr, Maxi for 8/yr (and remember Curry for 8/yr) are going to suddenly start throwing around huge money for role players. I don't see that happening.

I don't really have much of an opinion on Markkanen other than I don't really see where he would fit on the Mavs in terms of roster construction. He seems to me to overlap stuff KP is doing offensively so I don't know why Mavs would bring him in.

[StepBackJay]

My biggest issue with starting Brunson is that it will kill our already thin bench. 

RC has been running an 8 man rotation since February. Pushing JRich to the bench means we have no playmaker to come in when Luka sits. Trey Burke isn't anywhere close where we need him to be and neither is JRich. That's why getting a guy like TJ McConnell is interesting imo. 

We can easily start Brunson if we have a guy like McConnell to come in after 6 minutes.

Well right I don't think I or anyone is advocating him starting this year. This is a next year thing. Start Brunson and rebuild your bench with 30+ mil dollars.

[cow]

20+ million for Markkanen seems crazy.

[StepBackJay]

Also, does Luka HAVE to accept the 150/5 extension? Could he turn it down for a bigger payday the next year?

I don't know the economics of how it all works, so I'm asking the assembled geniuses here.

Never happened before, don't think Luka is going to be the one to be the first to turn down a max RFA extension

[BasketballJones41]

Well...when you google Lauri Markannen

result 1:  Less of Lauri Markkanen has been more for the Bulls

result 2:  Stock down: Lauri Markkanen.  Chicago doesn't see him and Vucevic as a long term fit next to each other.

I've been a fan of his also but I dont really see his fit next to KP for the Mavs to invest in him heavily.  If they move KP, I'd definitely be more interested.  He has one of the best looking shots I've seen for a big man.

That’s a fair point but allow me to counter it. I don’t get to watch many Bulls games since I live here in Texas but I’ve been doing my best to keep up with Markkanen‘s situation. His first two years in the league he was very good. In his second year he was already looking like he was well on his way to becoming a legitimate Robin in this league. And then Chicago hired Jim Boylan. Just take a look at what Bulls fans have to say about him. Nothing good I can promise. He pretty much just used Markkanen as a spot up shooter. The whole Boylan experience set Lauri’s player development back by a whole season. Then he bounced back this year under Billy Donovan and was having a very good season of until the trade deadline. He struggled once he was moved to the bench for sure but I think a lot of that has to do with disappointment with not getting traded at the deadline. In fact I believe he’s wanted out of Chicago ever since last year. He even half ass requested to be traded in the off-season. To me he seems like a player desperate for a new start. And we’ve seen what a difference that can make sometimes in professional sports. Just ask Julius Randle. 

I disagree with those saying that he wouldn’t fit with KP. Just look back at the numbers that Luka/KP/DP put up together last year. Now imagine how that would’ve looked if Powell could’ve also shot the three at a 36-40% clip. That’s what you get by adding Markkanen to this team. Luka/KP/LM might be impossible to guard. Just my opinion of course.

[DanSchwartzgan]

I disagree with those saying that he wouldn’t fit with KP. Just look back at the numbers that Luka/KP/DP put up together last year. Now imagine how that would’ve looked if Powell could’ve also shot the three at a 36-40% clip. That’s what you get by adding Markkanen to this team. Luka/KP/LM might be impossible to guard. Just my opinion of course.

I think it is the other side of the ball that people worry about.  Can that trio guard anyone enough to be a true contender.  Completely agree with the rest of your narrative about his situation.

[F Gump]

What the mavericks need is a player like Karl Malone.  They need a beefy enforcer who can convert everything off the pick and roll, play lockdown defense and set bone crushing screens.  Which player in free agency most resembles Karl Malone?  

Fortunately there are boatloads of Karl Malone clones out there, and the Mavs can just take their pick.

Or not.

[StepBackJay]

I don't see the fit with Markkanen. Obv the Bulls had him and were like let's go get a better version of this player in Vuc and bring Lauri off the bench. That's not a vote of confidence. The fit with the Mavs doesn't seem to be there. I imagine he can get a starting job with a rebuilding team. Here he would sort of overlap too much offensively with KP. The thing ab Collins is that he would bring some things that compliment KP at least on paper (altho some have criticized the fit there too).

In my view a young team that doesn't have a PF really but has a good defensive center would be more interested in signing 23-yr-old Lauri to a multi-year deal.

[BasketballJones41]

I think it is the other side of the ball that people worry about.  Can that trio guard anyone enough to be a true contender.  Completely agree with the rest of your narrative about his situation.

That’s the unknown of it. I believe Markkanen has the tools and athleticism to be a good defender and Rick could get it out of him. Maybe I’m wrong. No way to know unless he ends up here. I hope he does but if not there’s other free agents I like as well.

[StepBackJay]

I think it is the other side of the ball that people worry about.  Can that trio guard anyone enough to be a true contender.  Completely agree with the rest of your narrative about his situation.

MBT would say that Luka/KP/Collins is the offensive trio they want that's unguardable.