IZTOK ON KIDD'S DEFENSIVE SYSTEM AND THE ROSTER

[mavsluvr]

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.

I think you get it. 


The weight issue was just an example, but let's use your hypothetical. That there is a tradeoff to be made between strength and quickness when a weight choice is made. Where should these changes be made? 

Fan K thinks if Luka loses a couple of notches of weight, the team would improve markedly, and if he loses even more, the team could tear the league up. 

The Coaching staff thinks if Luka loses a couple of notches of weight, it wouldn't make any difference, but that if he loses more than a couple of notches, he will shed effectiveness and will no longer have the ability to rumble like a freight train across the court. 

What are we to do with these varying articles of belief? Maybe make Luka cycle through all the weight choices to see if there is a magic weight that turns him into a lithe version of  Hercules?