06-06-2024, 03:40 AM
(06-05-2024, 10:44 AM)F Gump Wrote: 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.
I am totally fine with this idea. Bringing in a good 6th man would basically always require more than just THJ salary to go out, unless DJJ signs a 1+1 deal. But if he does, I still see plenty of minutes for Green. I think there will always be minutes for defenders that can do something on offense.
If Mavs get a good 6th man, than the guy that will be very unlikely to find minutes will be Hardy. Exum would likely also be relegated to "break in case of emergency" role in times of injuries. Without taking injuries into account, Mavs have roughly:
- 13 minutes behind Luka,
- 15 minutes behind Kyrie and
- 23 minutes behind DJJ.
That is 51 minutes, plenty of minutes for two guys, while rest mostly look for their opportunities in time of injuries.