10-07-2022, 12:12 PM
(10-07-2022, 10:20 AM)dirkfansince1998 Wrote: Just to clarify a couple of things. The best defensive stretch of the season was in january when KP missed half of the month. Problem was the usual wear and tear that comes with smaller lineups. Wouldn´t be suprised if that was the time were they made the final decision to move him. Overall the Mavs defense was on pace to be better without KP but in the last 10-15 games they ran out of steam. Maxi missed a lot of games. DFS and Bullock looked tired. Luka was his usual lazy self. If the idea is to have McGee as a guy that can take a beating and reduces the load of key guys I wouldn´t be as concerned.
My biggest concern is the amount of available minutes. Personally I just don´t see any way to pair the Wood, Powell and McGee with each other. I don´t see any scenario where more than one of them can be on the floor.
If Wood shares the floor with Powell or McGee we will have the KP scenario of the past. Next to a non shooting big he probably ends up as a glorified floor spacer and with his questionable defense that´s not worth it. If Wood is on the floor he needs to be featured on offense.
As @"DanSchwartzgan" pointed out having Wood as the single big isn´t a good idea either. That leaves us with Wood/Kleber lineups as the only viable solution.
Making Maxi the most important big on the roster. In that sense I don´t think the Mavs have added flexibility. The pieces aren´t interchangeable and they are still heavily relying on Maxi. Can only hope that he stays healthy.
I'm not convinced the McGee/Wood combo will be as bad as you suggest, but lets assume it is for the moment. We still have the option of McGee/Powell/Wood as single big when Maxi is not on the court. That is more options than we had last season.
I agree that Maxi is our most important big and I would have loved to get another player like him in the offseason. I just don't think we had the assets to do it. The next best thing would be to get somebody who can take on some of the regular season wear and tear as you mention so that Maxi can stay fresh and healthy for when we need him. I think one of the reasons we made it to the WCF was because Maxi was out the last week or two and fully rested when the playoffs started.