Trade & FA 2023-24: Sexton On the Market? | ORL Likes Hartenstein?

[F Gump]

We were speaking about trading THJ only and I outlined where the minutes would be coming from. Luka and Kai play less minutes in regular season. There are injuries and so on. THJ was also playing significant minutes in the regular season and Mavs still had regular minutes for Green, Exum and regular development minutes for Hardy. The time where minutes could be scarce and roles reduced is playoffs only. But all guys will get their fair chance of opportunities to fight for their roles.

Yeah, I get it, but I just didn't buy all that.

The fact is that THJ has been eased out of minutes, and it's really not just a playoff equation anymore. The addition of PJW and Gafford sopped up minutes and there was a ripple effect. Then DJJ got elevated with more minutes, as they went to a defensive approach. Green got healthy. And whatever minutes remained for a shooter with crappy D, Hardy got those minutes.

They aren't going back to THJ. He has 0 minutes on this roster. In the present paradigm, if the Mavs played a regular season game, with a regular lineup, THJ is probably the 11th-15th man, and sitting next to Morris. They have PLENTY of better players to more than fill all the minutes, and more (if needed). The reality is, THJ's a 0 minutes guy now, and if you trade him for a player who you plan to play for 30 mpg more or less, you don't have those minutes to offer

So if your answer is to give 0 minutes to others who would otherwise play, the answer is not "well, THJ got minutes in 2023-24" because that ship has sailed. You gotta deal with the here and now, and plan accordingly.

In particular, that's about Green. If you add a 6th man who will gets significant regular minutes, there's no point in keeping him, because Green's getting 0 minutes (and they really can't afford to spend 12.6M on a lightly used 3rd-stringer, either. THAT MEANS if you trade THJ for a guy getting Green's minutes, then you might as well do another trade and move Green as well. I like his good shooting (if he shoots) and his defensive disruption and his speed, but his continued lack of productiveness makes him a real luxury that may just be too expensive to be practical, in a cap world with real limits on payroll.

TAKING THAT TO ITS PRACTICAL CONCLUSION, HERE'S HOW IT PLAYS OUT

1 The Mavs trade away BOTH Green and THJ. They get back 1 player from some part of that, who will be in your plans to be 6th man/JET-type player off the bench.
2 You leave enough room to sign DJJ to whatever amount it takes within MLE limits.
3 Your 15-man roster looks something like this

C - Gafford, Lively, DP
PF - PJW, Maxi, Omax, Morris (DC)  
SF - DJJ, 6th Man
SG - Kyrie, Hardy, Lawson
PG - Luka, Exum
 .... You have one more roster slot to fill. It might be a ring-chasing vet. It might be a development guy. But it's a player getting minimum salary, one year contract.

4 Your payroll limits - hard cap at Apron 1 (about 179M).
5 Your roster-building limits:
For paying DJJ and 6th Man (combined), you have around 27M to work with in total.