07-04-2024, 09:00 AM
(This post was last modified: 07-04-2024, 09:44 AM by DanSchwartzgan.)
Now that my mandatory period of mourning over Josh Green is over, I’m not sure I have too much to add to what has been said (kidding on the mourning thing….kind of). I do think it will be interesting to see how Josh does in Charlotte. There will be things about his game I will miss. I’m not sure that Grimes is better than him, but $4mm is better than $12mm and that is a key factor in everything else that happened.
As I pointed out a few weeks ago, I think Green was signed a year ago with this possibility in mind. It isn’t an accident that his salary fits snugly into the NT MLE. That may be why he seemed off almost immediately after signing. He knew his time here probably had an expiration date. Note: It isn’t certain yet if Charlotte will operate over or under the cap. So, he may or may not actually go into the NT MLE for Charlotte as he might also go into their space. Either way, this was good cap management and flexibility on the part of the Mav’s and it started a year ago.
We are done. I don’t see the point of continuing to plot out ‘one more move’. We do this every summer and every summer that one more move doesn’t happen (and if it did, we’d still want one more move as we are never satisfied). There is some money left over that isn’t enough for a 15th player (great job by FG in all the explanations and sharing his cap sheet). My belief is this extra money was flexibility for someone other than Thompson. There is about $1.5mm of extra space after Player 14 and the cushion. So, Dallas could have traded Green for someone making up to the low/mid $17mm range had Thompson not happened. Given the kind of player they ultimately got, I think Bogdan might have been in play.
I love the O that we now have. Thompson vs. THJ is massive. I think an undersold piece of this is Marshall’s ability to dribble and pass. I think he will be dramatically better than DJJ at this (and arguably worse at other things). I really don’t know how teams will stop Luka/Kyrie/Thompson/PJ/Lively. We now can keep two superior offensive players on the floor at all times. I’ll be curious to watch the effectiveness (mainly on D) of what I’ll call the “Big 3 minutes” versus the minutes when one of Luka, Kyrie or Thompson are sitting.
Most of the D comes off the bench between Gafford, Maxi, Marshall and Grimes. It isn’t the same as it was before, but I suspect it will work. Top 3-4 Offense and Top 10 D is a formula for success. Boston and OKC look FANTASTIC on paper. But, we won’t play those games on paper. Just get there healthy and stay on the other side of the bracket from OKC. We improved our offense a bunch (the biggest issue in the finals) and I don’t think we hurt our D by much.
If Grimes pans out, I think we are really strong 9 deep. Exum was very good in the regular season also. I’m really not sure what happens with Hardy if Grimes is good to go. We have time with OMax to get him some developmental minutes. But, it feels like there is probably only one rotation slot to be shared between Grimes, Hardy and Exum. Hardy/Exum are nice to have when the stars inevitably miss time. If no one emerges from this group of three guards, that seems to me to be something we might look to upgrade next summer as we’d have RFA rights (to S&T possibly) on Grimes and Hardy and/or we’d have 2025 to pair with some outgoing salary. I’m actually more interested in seeing that OMax gets some developmental minutes behind Maxi than I am about arguing PT for Grimes, Hardy and Exum. I feel good that somewhere amongst those 3 we have an answer. Maybe Marshall would get the minutes behind PJ (if Maxi is out), but I’d be giving OMax a small role 82 times next season to see what you have there.
In Nico I believe!
As I pointed out a few weeks ago, I think Green was signed a year ago with this possibility in mind. It isn’t an accident that his salary fits snugly into the NT MLE. That may be why he seemed off almost immediately after signing. He knew his time here probably had an expiration date. Note: It isn’t certain yet if Charlotte will operate over or under the cap. So, he may or may not actually go into the NT MLE for Charlotte as he might also go into their space. Either way, this was good cap management and flexibility on the part of the Mav’s and it started a year ago.
We are done. I don’t see the point of continuing to plot out ‘one more move’. We do this every summer and every summer that one more move doesn’t happen (and if it did, we’d still want one more move as we are never satisfied). There is some money left over that isn’t enough for a 15th player (great job by FG in all the explanations and sharing his cap sheet). My belief is this extra money was flexibility for someone other than Thompson. There is about $1.5mm of extra space after Player 14 and the cushion. So, Dallas could have traded Green for someone making up to the low/mid $17mm range had Thompson not happened. Given the kind of player they ultimately got, I think Bogdan might have been in play.
I love the O that we now have. Thompson vs. THJ is massive. I think an undersold piece of this is Marshall’s ability to dribble and pass. I think he will be dramatically better than DJJ at this (and arguably worse at other things). I really don’t know how teams will stop Luka/Kyrie/Thompson/PJ/Lively. We now can keep two superior offensive players on the floor at all times. I’ll be curious to watch the effectiveness (mainly on D) of what I’ll call the “Big 3 minutes” versus the minutes when one of Luka, Kyrie or Thompson are sitting.
Most of the D comes off the bench between Gafford, Maxi, Marshall and Grimes. It isn’t the same as it was before, but I suspect it will work. Top 3-4 Offense and Top 10 D is a formula for success. Boston and OKC look FANTASTIC on paper. But, we won’t play those games on paper. Just get there healthy and stay on the other side of the bracket from OKC. We improved our offense a bunch (the biggest issue in the finals) and I don’t think we hurt our D by much.
If Grimes pans out, I think we are really strong 9 deep. Exum was very good in the regular season also. I’m really not sure what happens with Hardy if Grimes is good to go. We have time with OMax to get him some developmental minutes. But, it feels like there is probably only one rotation slot to be shared between Grimes, Hardy and Exum. Hardy/Exum are nice to have when the stars inevitably miss time. If no one emerges from this group of three guards, that seems to me to be something we might look to upgrade next summer as we’d have RFA rights (to S&T possibly) on Grimes and Hardy and/or we’d have 2025 to pair with some outgoing salary. I’m actually more interested in seeing that OMax gets some developmental minutes behind Maxi than I am about arguing PT for Grimes, Hardy and Exum. I feel good that somewhere amongst those 3 we have an answer. Maybe Marshall would get the minutes behind PJ (if Maxi is out), but I’d be giving OMax a small role 82 times next season to see what you have there.
In Nico I believe!
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