IZTOK ON KIDD'S DEFENSIVE SYSTEM AND THE ROSTER

[Razzmatazz_Hopskidillydoo]

No one is asking Steph Curry to stop running around attempting threes and protect the rim instead. A book's worth of analysis was devoted to the compensations the Nash Suns team made for Steve. Transcendent stars have to devote a great deal of effort on the court, and conservation of energy is a skill like any other. Squandering energy in efforts that can't achieve material results is not heroic -- it's dumb. 

If they want Luka to address deficiencies, it probably makes more sense for him to practice shooting (for example) than to devote his energies to trying to be a stopper or trying to sculpt his body to resemble Trae Young. 

.. even if he lost a third of his body weight, he still wouldn't be the gazelle twinkling down the court before you can blink an eye. He doesn't have an ectomorphic body, and all the effort in the world won't give him one.  

What I get from the first few sentences is the thought of not changing the way Luka plays. A team should build around phenoms and not ask the phenom to adjust to the system. But you probably mean not asking Luka to defend as much, which I agree as well. If it takes too much of a toll on him that his offense suffers, the Mavs should just go on with a Luka running a brilliant offense than a Luka at 70% offense and a minor improvement in defense.

For the weight issue however... people are throwing out the "he-can't-be-Morant-even-if-Luka-tries-his-hardest". The thing is, some of us aren't asking for a sculpted body of Trae for Luka, or Luka to run like a gazelle, none of those superlatives matter to us. We simply want him to tone down a few notches of weight which can lead to a bump of a few notches of quickness. Luka is already strong and he doesn't need more strength as it stands, unless he wants to become a power forward. The increase in speed and quickness can do him wonders, we already know he plays like an MVP when he is fit. His weight at this point doesn't allow him that.

Again, I'll point this out for emphasis.
The way I see it, Luka was like a 7 in strength and a 5 in quickness last 2 seasons ago.
Now he is an 8 in strength and a 4 in quickness. That will be okay if he isn't playing point guard, but he is. A point guard doesn't have to be quick to be effective, but the thing with Luka at PG is we do not want him to be just "effective", he must always be lethal as he can.

That said, I hope he gets back to a 7 and 5. 
7 and 5 doesn't give you Morant-like jumping ability or De'Aaron-Fox-like speed, but a 7 and 5 for Luka just means his fittest playing weight so far, and a likely MVP candidate.