FA: Spencer Dinwiddie Heads to DAL | 1 yr/vet min

[KillerLeft]

While I agree that Maxi will be the player they use as a "small ball center," I think that he will be used mostly as a PF, and only minimally as a C, because I don't think they want to be a small ball team. I think playing Gafford-Lively has become an advantage that they will continue to embrace. Having the personnel on the floor for lots of dunks is a great complement to players who benefit from wide open 3's.

What leads you to this belief? Is there some info I missed, or is it your own preference? 

From my POV, they used Kleber almost exclusively at the 5 down the stretch of the regular season, when those wins were stacking up, and then to start the playoffs. The lineup with Kleber at the 5 and PJ at the 4 was so clearly the best thing the Mavs had to offer defensively (at that time, at least - Lively continued to grow throughout the playoffs) and that's why they were closing many games that way.  Once Kleber came back from injury they tried him at the 4 a little in the Finals, but that was when Kidd was desperately trying anything, and those Kleber at the 4 minutes didn't exactly go well. All of that to say...my interpretation of what we just saw leads me to believe they absolutely view him as a center first. 

I also don't think playing him at the 5 makes them "small"...he's basically the same size as Gafford, length wise. Gafford is obviously a more vertical athlete. I think there are trade offs from one to the other in terms of skill sets, strengths, weaknesses, etc, and they are therefore a good set of options to have, personally, but neither is a 7-footer, or even 6'11", unless I'm mistaken. Both are more than strong enough to hold their own in the paint. Gafford is a little stronger, Kleber is a little quicker.