MAVS NEWS:

[mvossman]

I think Kidd will throw us a curveball to start the season whether it is Lively or Thompson.  I'm not a fan of the experimenting he does to start each season but two deep playoff runs the last three seasons says I should shut up and let him do his job.  The investment in depth tells me they may take regular season record more seriously (for seeding purposes), but who knows.

One thing about experimenting (if they continue to do it) is you don't start out with what you plan to finish with.  You start out with something different, try a few things and eventually land on the best thing.  If he starts out with Luka, Irving, Thompson, PJ and Lively for a few weeks and then goes to something else, then it is a demotion for the player who moves to the bench.  But, if he tests out starting Naji or Grimes or Gafford and then moves to the obviously better player then it feels like we spent some time trying things and eventually landed on what everyone knew was the best lineup.

Personally, I'd probably keep bringing Lively off the bench.  I liked your point about having a 'game-changer' off the bench.  I don't think Thompson will be the full time starter here for the entirety of his contract.  But, I suspect he starts to begin the season and either transitions later this season or next season (maybe in conjunction with Lively moving to the starting lineup).  I do think it is easier for Dallas to bring him off the bench than it was for GS to do so.  I could see Naji looking really good as a starter when Klay misses 2-3 weeks with an injury and that being the catalyst for a change.  But, it doesn't necessarily have to be soon (or even this season).  It doesn't have to happen at all as Kidd is not afraid to use "pseudo-starters" and then bring them out 4 minutes into the game.  That might also be what happens with Thompson so the crowd can cheer for the 'star' player during introductions.

I think in the past Kidd's experimenting had a lot to do with finding what works with flawed rosters.  This next season the Mavs will be starting with by far the best and deepest roster Kidd has had to work with.  Because of this, I think most lineups will "work" at least to some degree.  The team will take less of a hit for "bad" lineups and will be more equipped to overcome small inefficiencies in those lineups because they are simply better.  It didn't help last season that we had so many injuries.  Hopefully we will have less of that, but with the increased depth even that will be less punishing.