In Nico We Trust

[Scott41theMavs]

First of all, I like the "new" Mavs2021.  Hope it lasts.

I hope you are right, but suspect the role will be a smaller one.  I'd expect the bigger pop for Hardy the year after.

The main thing I wanted to address was the "only logical path" comment regarding Hardaway.  I'm torn here.  He played well last season and I like his contract term as an asset next summer.  I'm certainly not heartbroken if he's moved, but my leaning is if they do something to clear minutes for Hardy, moving Reggie is also a viable path.

I think that Prosper is a bust if he isn't in the 8-man rotation by the playoffs, and - hint - I don't think he's a bust.

Hardy is the closest thing to a potential star that the Mavs have on their roster outside of Luka and Kyrie. Once again, he, too, should be in the playoff rotation. The one thing Kidd is good at is developing... kids. The only way I see Hardy not being in the playoff 8-man is if he's injured.

Of course Lively isn't going to be ready for 8-man minutes this season, but if he gets meaningful minutes in the playoffs, that means Kidd did great work.

Not sure what the Mavs are going to end up doing in the next two weeks, but I think most of the "grown-ups" currently on roster - Reggie, THJ, McGee, maybe even Powell if he won't take the minimum - are gone. Nico did well on draft night, but there's a lot more work to do in trades and free agency. Kyrie is the key. If they throw all of their money out the window by giving him a full 4-5 year max, that's going to be killer. $40 mil a year is way more than enough and already makes his contract arguably the single worst in the NBA given his reputation. If they keep Kyrie going less than that amount, Nico should be the frontrunner for GM of the year. The problem with Kyrie is that 1) he doesn't fit with Luka, and 2) that contract is going to be untradeable. A creative and intelligent coach could figure out the Luka/Kyrie mesh, but that's not Kidd. The smartest move right now would be 1) to hardball Kyrie down to a much, much smaller yearly number, 2) if he doesn't like that, tell him to go find his team and work out a sign-and-trade, 3) if he does accept it, start the season with Kidd as coach, fire him mid-season, and go get the coach that can make Lukai work.