Trade & FA 2024-25:

[audiosway]

If he overachieved in Dallas then why is he playing better in LA?  He is shooting 37% from 3, scoring 15 points per 36 with a 60% TS.  He is turning into DFS.  If we had this years version of him, there would have been even less reason to let him go.

The easy answer is more touches and playing with a PG that has a much lower usage rate. The other real answer is different scheme and different role. He has improved slightly based on the bigger role he got with Dallas.

The real sticking point though is that while DJJ had a great year with Dallas they aren't winning a title starting him. Or DFS for that matter. I like both of those guys. The Mavs got to the finals and looked like world beaters until Boston turned it on. That series was ugly. They lost on offense and defense in that series.

Your argument of keeping DJJ and running it back with the whole team would be valid if the games in the finals had been close. The 4 games Dallas lost were by a total of 50 points. They broke 100 once in 5 games. Slight incremental improvements from DJJ aren't fixing that. That series was likely a wakeup call for Nico and Kidd.