Rotations and Ideas

[KillerLeft]

I agree that Dinwiddie can and probably will have a bigger role than what I posted. He’ll likely spot start when one of Luka or Kyrie are out. And he might be closer to 20+ mpg in his normal bench role. Exum however has something none of the guards have, if we’re saying Grimes is a wing, and that’s defense. You’ve pointed out that the Mavs may have gone a bit too far on the offense side of things this offseason and in my opinion Exum has shown to be a valuable regular season player, especially on the defensive end. For now, I’d like to count him as a rotational piece to start the year. It’ll all work itself out eventually either way.

That's mostly Mvossman's position, I think. I'm holding my opinion until I see how the team is played, because I think I can see some ways to do it where the defense actually improves (but it's obviously possible the defense suffers without DJJ). 

Agreed that Exum will play in the regular season, and I think a case can be made that he's the guy who needs to figure out some stuff and make it into the playoff rotation for this team to reach its full potential. He does so many good things as a defender and a connector. But, to my thinking, even just the choice to target a guy like Dinwiddie signals that they think they need more offensive creation, as in they don't trust Exum (or Hardy, sadly) even to take a slightly increased offensive role temporarily if Luka or Kyrie misses some time. I realize that's the very definition of "insurance," but I also don't think it indicates that they expect Exum will be able to make the playoff rotation this time around.

I might go as far as to say the Exum/Dinwiddie/Hardy situation might be the single most interesting (and possibly the only) question mark for me heading into the season.