09-23-2021, 03:56 PM
TAKE DAT WIT YOU 9/22
Brian and Mark with their latest thoughts.
Who is getting cut?
After learning of FN's contractual arrangement, it doesn’t appear that he is just a training camp audition, but either he or someone has to go by the start of the regular season. Money-wise, it looks like Moses is the odd man out, but other things could happen. There might be a trade market for someone on the roster, for example. At the time Willie was re-signed, there was some buzz that they anticipated trading him. We’ll know in a few weeks.
WHERE DO THE MAVS STAND?
Compared to previous seasons
The offense was historic season before last, and it declined only a little bit last season. They went from 1st to 8th in net rating, but this was more a matter of their more or less running in place and other teams improving and leapfrogging them.
They’re not that far off in an absolute sense from climbing to top four status. They need to aim at being in the top ten on both ends of the floor. That would require a little bit of improvement offensively and a somewhat more substantial improvement on D.
Rotations
Kidd may try a number of things in camp in pre-season. Pending seeing that, the podcasters predict the follow places on the roster (order alphabetical within categories)—
1-5 Bullock, Luka, THJ, KP, DFS
6-7 JB, Maxi
8-9 DP, WCS
10-15 SBrown, Burke, Boban, Ntilikina, Terry (MBrown sub if he is kept)
16-17 Two-way players
There is room for a lot of mixing and matching, of course. It is possible that Maxi could be the go-to starter instead of DFS, but the podcasters think that coming off the bench would be a tough pill to swallow for Doe-Doe, whereas a somewhat lighter role might be a good thing for Maxi. THJ mostly served as a sixth man last season, but given his new contract, they look for him to assume a starting position. They look for the finishing lineups to consist of LD-KP-THJ and some combination of the others, depending on the matchup and how the game is going.
The offense benefits greatly from a big who can play vertically. Who will do that? DP played the role well once he recovered from his injury, but he doesn’t spread the floor. Also, he was good but not great at the vertical role, and they didn’t go to that very much in the playoffs, perhaps due to the matchup.
Since the Mavs did not make the offseason changes necessary to do much more than stay on the treadmill, they must look for improvement within the roster. Brunson can be expected to take another leap. KP is of course critical, but we won’t know for a while whether the hoped-for improvement materializes or not. Can he be the vertical guy? TBD. Kidd will surely use him in some different manners than Rick did, and a number of possibilities will probably be tried. For example, if he can’t/doesn’t want to post up guys and bully them for physical reasons, he could always turn around and do a fadeaway, a la Dirk, if he can develop that kind of attack.
Compared to other teams
They are a little higher on the Mavs compared to other teams than Stein is, possibly as a result of the fact that Stein’s estimates are based on the teams as they exist today, and the podders are estimating based on the prospective season as a whole. Dameris has them 4th in the West, behind the Lakers, Phoenix and Utah. Mark wasn’t willing to go that far, but said he thought they were in a position to compete for that spot. Realistically, they need to attain at least the fifth seed to have a good shot at the second round (a “real” fifth seed, as opposed to a flukey rules-based tie for 5-7 like last season). They predict the Mavs to have wins in the neighborhood of the high forties or low fifties, and think they need to win 50 games to be a serious candidate for the second round. If they are healthy all season and fail to win 50 games, that should constitute the reddest of alerts.
They think the fourth or fifth seed is a realistic target for the Mavs, and that the goal should be second round or bust. It is possible that they could make the WCF and/or the finals, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
With the front office and coaching changes, this promises to be a very interesting season, despite the lackluster roster moves. Training camp opens next week!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/training-camp-56487691?utm_medium=post_notification_email&utm_source=post_link&utm_campaign=patron_engagement&token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWRpc19rZXkiOiJpbnN0YW50LWFjY2VzczozZjM1NmU3Zi03NjUwLTRjYTEtOTdlYy03NGEyMjg1NDM0ZDIifQ.RzYPGaY7BNVCiMMi_dom7Cqal318V7EtxcllTyVhz8M
Brian and Mark with their latest thoughts.
Who is getting cut?
After learning of FN's contractual arrangement, it doesn’t appear that he is just a training camp audition, but either he or someone has to go by the start of the regular season. Money-wise, it looks like Moses is the odd man out, but other things could happen. There might be a trade market for someone on the roster, for example. At the time Willie was re-signed, there was some buzz that they anticipated trading him. We’ll know in a few weeks.
WHERE DO THE MAVS STAND?
Compared to previous seasons
The offense was historic season before last, and it declined only a little bit last season. They went from 1st to 8th in net rating, but this was more a matter of their more or less running in place and other teams improving and leapfrogging them.
They’re not that far off in an absolute sense from climbing to top four status. They need to aim at being in the top ten on both ends of the floor. That would require a little bit of improvement offensively and a somewhat more substantial improvement on D.
Rotations
Kidd may try a number of things in camp in pre-season. Pending seeing that, the podcasters predict the follow places on the roster (order alphabetical within categories)—
1-5 Bullock, Luka, THJ, KP, DFS
6-7 JB, Maxi
8-9 DP, WCS
10-15 SBrown, Burke, Boban, Ntilikina, Terry (MBrown sub if he is kept)
16-17 Two-way players
There is room for a lot of mixing and matching, of course. It is possible that Maxi could be the go-to starter instead of DFS, but the podcasters think that coming off the bench would be a tough pill to swallow for Doe-Doe, whereas a somewhat lighter role might be a good thing for Maxi. THJ mostly served as a sixth man last season, but given his new contract, they look for him to assume a starting position. They look for the finishing lineups to consist of LD-KP-THJ and some combination of the others, depending on the matchup and how the game is going.
The offense benefits greatly from a big who can play vertically. Who will do that? DP played the role well once he recovered from his injury, but he doesn’t spread the floor. Also, he was good but not great at the vertical role, and they didn’t go to that very much in the playoffs, perhaps due to the matchup.
Since the Mavs did not make the offseason changes necessary to do much more than stay on the treadmill, they must look for improvement within the roster. Brunson can be expected to take another leap. KP is of course critical, but we won’t know for a while whether the hoped-for improvement materializes or not. Can he be the vertical guy? TBD. Kidd will surely use him in some different manners than Rick did, and a number of possibilities will probably be tried. For example, if he can’t/doesn’t want to post up guys and bully them for physical reasons, he could always turn around and do a fadeaway, a la Dirk, if he can develop that kind of attack.
Compared to other teams
They are a little higher on the Mavs compared to other teams than Stein is, possibly as a result of the fact that Stein’s estimates are based on the teams as they exist today, and the podders are estimating based on the prospective season as a whole. Dameris has them 4th in the West, behind the Lakers, Phoenix and Utah. Mark wasn’t willing to go that far, but said he thought they were in a position to compete for that spot. Realistically, they need to attain at least the fifth seed to have a good shot at the second round (a “real” fifth seed, as opposed to a flukey rules-based tie for 5-7 like last season). They predict the Mavs to have wins in the neighborhood of the high forties or low fifties, and think they need to win 50 games to be a serious candidate for the second round. If they are healthy all season and fail to win 50 games, that should constitute the reddest of alerts.
They think the fourth or fifth seed is a realistic target for the Mavs, and that the goal should be second round or bust. It is possible that they could make the WCF and/or the finals, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
With the front office and coaching changes, this promises to be a very interesting season, despite the lackluster roster moves. Training camp opens next week!
https://www.patreon.com/posts/training-camp-56487691?utm_medium=post_notification_email&utm_source=post_link&utm_campaign=patron_engagement&token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJyZWRpc19rZXkiOiJpbnN0YW50LWFjY2VzczozZjM1NmU3Zi03NjUwLTRjYTEtOTdlYy03NGEyMjg1NDM0ZDIifQ.RzYPGaY7BNVCiMMi_dom7Cqal318V7EtxcllTyVhz8M
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