Trade & FA 2024-25:

[F Gump]

Probably because in today's NBA, overpaying for the wrong guy could nuke your entire timeline. 

I mean the Mavs were nearly victims of this with the KP trade. 2 years ago everyone was worried Luka was out of here after they went all in on Kyrie and were void of any talent. It took 4 masterful trades and some luck to scrape out of that and even still the Mavs are close to an empty cupboard compared to other teams. 

Orlando has a lot of assets don't get me wrong, but just because they have that doesn't mean they should spend a portion of it on Simons. In a scenario where Simons doesn't work out, they're stuck paying that dude 20+ mil a year and are forced to carve out a role for him.

Of course there is a chance it works. But even if it does are you taking them over NYK/BOS/IND/MIL/PHI/CLE to make it out of the East?

I am not a fan of Simons.

But I don't think the assets in the cupboard (or lack thereof) matters at all IF you have the top level talent on the court. If you have a sucky team, then yes, definitely keep the cupboard as full as possible as you try to build up the talent base to where it can win big. But if you have a team that is one player away from being top tier and a threat to win a title over the next few years, AND YOU HAVE IDENTIFIED AND CAN GET THAT PLAYER, then you use whatever assets it takes.

If I'm ORL, that player looks more like Klay than Simons, by a sizable margin. Or probably any number of other players. But an up-and-coming team with some talent has a shelf life on the talent base, and the time is now if they are on the edge of being a real contender if they fill that hole.

To apply that to the Mavs, I believe the Mavs current "empty cupboard" is irrelevant, because they have amassed the talent to contend. Talent is what matters, not "cap room" and "future picks" (which are only a possible route to MAYBE getting talent some day.) If you have acquired the talent to truly contend, that was the point all along.

Also, the "empty cupboard" replenishes itself with new assets every year. You get 2 picks, and a whole buttload of money to spend. 

Also, when you stockpile too many assets, it can make them almost worthless because you only have 15 roster spaces and (just as vital) only 240 mpg to offer players. 

"Full cupboard" doesn't play games against "empty cupboard." It's talent you can put on the court now. As a case in point, when DAL played OKC in the playoffs, OKC won the cupboard game by a wide margin. But so what? And what if they used a pick or 2 (of which they have so many) for PJW at the deadline, instead of settling for the carcass of Hayward, or any other number of moves that would have made a diff?