07-02-2024, 03:14 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-02-2024, 03:15 PM by KillerLeft.)
(07-02-2024, 03:06 PM)Winter Wrote: One other think about Klay.
The reference to him as "old" or "worn out" may be over-stating it. At 34 years old, he's had a bum knee and an achilles problem. He didn't play a single game for two years, so he's really only played for eleven seasons - not thirteen. During those other seasons when he played, he was a remarkably durable playing over 70 games six times (80 games three times). He played 77 games last year! It's not like we're seeing a guy who is frequently injured. He's been significantly more reliable than guys like Kawhi, George or a host of other players around his age who are making more money.
Offensively, Klay's 20 PPG were generally reliable most nights and defenses will have to work a lot harder to contain him. He won't be as good defensively as he was earlier in his career when he was exceptional, but he's no slacker. As a whole, this team will have to work defensively, but we have some rotation players that will hopefully allow us to do more than just tread water.
From an availability standpoint, he's a much better bet than either Green or Kleber, both of whom were depended upon last season. From that angle, this is a move in the right direction.
I think the "worn out" and "old" and "injured" takes are more about the decline in his ability to move laterally and defend. People are concerned that he's basically going to be Luka on defense (I think he'll be a little better than that) and will be taking the minutes-role of DJJ, who was literally the Mavs' best in covering up for the deficiencies of Luka and Kyrie on that end. Having said that, the more I think about what I expect to be the likely rotation choices, the more hopeful I am that this can be washed in the aggregate and that the team has a chance to be better on the other side.
It's not nearly this simple, but you can kind of imagine him in a 3-way rotation with PJ and Luka, defensively, and then this all starts to make more sense, imo. There are ways the Mavs can keep Marshall and/or Grimes (assuming their bet on him to bounce back is a good one) on the floor a lot more than we might have immediately assumed the other night, especially given the imrproved offensive skills both of those guys bring to the table over DJJ and Green.
I'm not entirely sure this is going to work yet, but I thiiiiiink I'm starting to see what they're gong for.