05-17-2024, 01:02 AM
I think you're sleeping on Exum. There's a lot of recency bias on him in these discussions (not just you), and I am in the opposite camp. It wasn't so long ago that he was seen here as the IDEAL 3rd guard to rotate with Luka and Kyrie, because of his skills, his improved shooting, and his defense.
He got injured. While he's healed enough to play, I am guessing he's still a bit hobbled, impacting his effectiveness and shooting in the moment. And now he's seen as yesterdays news, readily discardable.
But I'm guessing the Mavs see him through a different lens than right now, and rightly so. In addition, I suspect that he will at some point again look like the guy we thought was the ideal 3rd guard.
If the Mavs trade THJ for Caruso (which is far from a given, of course, but sticking with the scenario), I find the DS concept valueless. Won't miss THJ. Won't wish we had someone like him. Will be comfortable if the shots are spread around, with multiple players who can hit a 3. Thinking PJW might be even better next year, and need to shoot more, making it all moot (as there's only 1 ball). Will be glad to have plenty of defenders and both-end players at all times, rather than adding matadors.
One other note in general - because of the hard cap issue re Mavs overall payroll, if they are working on a path to more salary for DJJ, those final minimum salary slots will have to either go to players on pure one-year deals, or to players who are rookie, or entering 2nd or 3rd year. Otherwise the minimum salary uses up more of the room under the hard cap, of which they might be needing every bit they can get. The point being, players who are outside those limits probably won't end up on their radar because of the payroll impact. Gotta keep their eye on the target -- DJJ.
He got injured. While he's healed enough to play, I am guessing he's still a bit hobbled, impacting his effectiveness and shooting in the moment. And now he's seen as yesterdays news, readily discardable.
But I'm guessing the Mavs see him through a different lens than right now, and rightly so. In addition, I suspect that he will at some point again look like the guy we thought was the ideal 3rd guard.
If the Mavs trade THJ for Caruso (which is far from a given, of course, but sticking with the scenario), I find the DS concept valueless. Won't miss THJ. Won't wish we had someone like him. Will be comfortable if the shots are spread around, with multiple players who can hit a 3. Thinking PJW might be even better next year, and need to shoot more, making it all moot (as there's only 1 ball). Will be glad to have plenty of defenders and both-end players at all times, rather than adding matadors.
One other note in general - because of the hard cap issue re Mavs overall payroll, if they are working on a path to more salary for DJJ, those final minimum salary slots will have to either go to players on pure one-year deals, or to players who are rookie, or entering 2nd or 3rd year. Otherwise the minimum salary uses up more of the room under the hard cap, of which they might be needing every bit they can get. The point being, players who are outside those limits probably won't end up on their radar because of the payroll impact. Gotta keep their eye on the target -- DJJ.
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