11-11-2021, 03:29 PM
(11-11-2021, 10:08 AM)mavsluvr Wrote: We have a little more intel (via Brian Dameris) on some of these big man lineups, including continuing to start Powell. The buzz is that their number one objective for the bigs at this point is not to overtax KP. They hope they don't have to give up games on that account, but they are willing to do so in support of that goal if they have to. They need a big man who can sprint out to the perimeter to defend, and they don't want to impose too much of that on KP for load-management purposes. Out of the remaining big men, with Maxi being out, they deem Powell the least of the evils. Hmm.
My hope...and it is only a hope...and probably wrong, was the reason the Mavs are starting Powell are for two reasons. One, if the Mavs want to start a center that is not KP their options are very limited. Powell is probably the tallest midget of the group. He is also reliable who will play hard every second on the court and won't make many mental mistakes. But the second reason was that they are using this lineup to evaluate KP as a 4. Can he play the 4 with another center for 20-25 minutes a night? You want to have that answer before you throw more money at another center. That could be the reason why WCS was retained too. If he can't play this way, the focus needs to be adding a PF type. With limited resources it would be nice to just fill one spot....either starting PF or starting C will be a big need moving forward.
I am probably just hoping for things to be but my hope is they are trying to stick with this lineup to gauge if KP can play with another big guy and if he can defend well enough in this type of lineup.