03-14-2022, 03:34 PM
(03-14-2022, 02:18 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: Well, other than Gobert, who's a freak, and Denver/Philly, who are built around their centers, offensively, who are you comparing the Mavs to?
Ayton isn't strong, really. GS will play Green at center in the playoffs more than anyone else. BRK's plan is to roll Simmons/KD out there together as the front line. Giannis will play the 5 most often in the playoffs. Etc, Etc.
The Celtics (even better defense than the Mavs) play a guy who's smaller than Powell (though he plays pretty big, I'll admit).
I'm just saying that there are way more threats like that than there are Embiid's. It would be great if the Mavs had Adabayo in place, but there just aren't many players like that in the world. It would also be great if the guy in Boban's spot could actually play in the NBA so you'd have someone to throw at Embiid and others like him, but then again, if doing so requires you to play an entirely different style of defense than what's working for you I think it might be a zero sum game.
I would argue every one of those guys are better rebounders and rim protectors, and the only ones that are close (Green, Simmons) are elite defensive talents. Most importantly, all of those guys represent defensive anchors. The only thing we have close to that is Maxi, but his offensive has been a significant liability in crunch time. If we are going to finish games with 3 PGs, none of whom are better than average defenders, we really need a defensive anchor that won't kill our offense.