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[michaeltex]

Also, can’t count out injuries. No Maxi, PJ, and Lively early on has definitely been felt.

I see it as a progression of issues starting with Luka's calf injury in training camp that eliminated his participation for most of the preseason. A lot of other players would possibly have started on the bench until they got their game legs back, but Luka was on court from the opening tip of game one.

By the time he started coming around then the injuries to teammates started and the level of competition ramped up. Feels like he's trying to do too much sometimes. He seems more committed to defense, but is supposed to do that at a high level, initiate the offense, approach triple double stats and score 30+ a night? That's a heavy lift.

TBH, I'm disappointed with how Klay is contributing offensively. He doesn't seem to be as accurate as his reputation says. Maybe blame it on the scrambled rotation, but I suggest he's not scaring any opponents right now. He was OK in the first 3 games, but in the last 7 games he's 14/49 (28.6%) on 3pt shots. 

I really like Marshall's game. Decent ball skills, seems to play good defense and is shooting 50% overall despite only hitting 20% beyond the arc (on only 2 attempts per game). He's definitely part of the rotation as the injury list clears.

To me, the jury is still out on Grimes, he needs to start showing something or he'll get the Grant Williams treatment. Hardy shows flashes but doesn't seem to sustain anything game to game. OMax looks like he should be a monster, but I'm wondering if he and Hardy are here come March 1st. 

I have to give respect to Powell. Going from regular rotation (sometimes starting) to a deep bench role has to be hard, but he's there when asked and plays with the energy we have come to expect. Could not ask for a better teammate.

Really looking forward to getting everybody back and finding the rotation rhythm. Kidd's DAL teams always seem to start slow, but I hope he doesn't wait until 1/1/2025 to get it figured out.

Sorry, didn't mean for this to be a team summary. Just train of thought typing.