Luka Dealt to Lakers: Nico Harrison is a Basketball Terrorist

[michaeltex]

I don't consider myself a Mavs hater, but here are the reasons I don't think they are currently a contender:

Continuity.  Your core needs time to play together and our core will have virtually none of that due to the trade and injuries.

Fit.  This team was built to be P&R centered around Luka.  Now we have no true P&R PG with P&R centers.  Lots of questions.

Creation.  Most NBA champions have an elite (top 5) creator.  Kyrie is better off ball and AD does not create a lot for others.

To be fair, I only really consider OKC, Cleveland and Boston to be true contenders.  There is a big drop off after those three teams.  Dallas is probably in that second tier, but its hard to know even that without seeing the team healthy.

I don't disagree. Those are valid points.

I will, however point out that last season's team had it's core also changed at the trade deadline and it went on to play in the finals. 

I agree with your PnR comment, although I will point out that Gafford was feasting quite regularly after DLive got injured and before his own freak accident.

I do think creation is an issue, however this team has been successful over the last month playing without either bigs or dedicated shot creation. Improved ball movement and whole team involvement has worked in place of standing around waiting to see what Luka's gonna do this time.

I agree it's hard to understand without seeing the healthy team together, but there are glimpses that could be exciting.