MAVS NEWS:

[RasheedsBigWhiteSpot]

If forced to choose one over the other, based on probability, you have to choose B. But, try to win is what they're GOING TO DO, no matter what we here believe to be the right path. 

And, I personally think it's the right thing to do. Not because I think the team is necessarily well-positioned to make a championship run, but because they're better positioned for that than they are to stockpile meaningful draft picks. If we weren't about to enter the period where their own draft capital is completely mortgaged, I'd be all about using AD/Kyrie/Thompson and possibly some of the other late-20's guys to pile a little more on top, but the reality is that being bad AT THIS SPECIFIC TIME gets you nothing, outside of maybe next year's pick being another lottery dice roll. That one chance doesn't do much for me, and the type of picks they'd get for those guys (other than AD, MAYBE) won't be unprotected, and won't be from bad teams. In other words, they'd be of little value in trades when bundled together and far more likely to result in drafting Jaden Hardy types than Jalen Brunson types if kept. 

Meanwhile, championship or not, a TON can be gained for Flagg by ensuring he at least gets to be around high-functioning, respected pros on a day-to-day over the course of his first contract, and he's very likely to experience a few playoff series during his early years here, at least. That's not an opportunity every #1 pick has, and it could accelerate his growth quite a bit, I think. There's major value in putting him next to a guy like Davis that's being overlooked around here. Value for FLAGG and his longterm career, not just for the next 2-3 seasons. 

It's an absolute no-brainer, from my POV. Now, if the Mavs had access to their own picks over the next several years, I'd at least consider blowing it up. But, they don't, and that bell can't be un-rung by moving anything they have here, I don't think. I mean, you could probably get a few unprotected picks from a team that might be bad FOR FLAGG, but that would obviously defeat the whole purpose.

Okay, I wanted at least a few reasoned responses to my posite, before I go further. 

Like all of us, I was caught up in the Flagg Lottery Euphoria, but now that my high has dissipated, I think that it's a fatal error of Titanic proportions in continuing to have Nico in any form of decision making (I know, not exactly a mind blowing opinion), especially one that just landed a player that allows it to hit restart. 

- Yes, there's the fact that he's previously traded a 25 year old, top 3 player in his prime. There's the fact that he got so little in return. But my overwhelming issue is that Nico repeatedly chooses to paint himself into corners. First, he entered landed the position after stating and, thus, made decisions based on the fact that, he only sees himself in the job for five years. For me, hearing that, makes me rage drunk that Cuban would ever hire Nico or that, based on his track record, Dumont letting him remain at the helm. Nico is making generational organizational decisions in the most narcissistic of ways: based on his own, personal timeline -- fallout be damned. And, he again shows that he negotiates with preconceived notions like getting AD because he fits his own timeline and relationship rather than casting a wide net that would be in the best longterm interest of the team -- and one that may transcend his own presence. 

The fact that I asked that question and it was met with apathy that, regardless of what would be most prudent we're all just continually subject to "the whims of a madman!!!" (Thank you, Dennis Hopper in 'Speed')

No, KL, I disagree that AD has limited trade appeal. I think, at a minimum, he would get the Mavs back to neutral from the lack of 1sts dealt to build around Luka. In fact, I can think of a number of teams who would pay handsomely to return AD to his valuable Tier One "Robin" role. 

I think we currently find ourselves at a crossroads where the Mavs will look back and realize they were once again gifted the ability to build around a cheap, generational talent, but are going to waste those years rushing (just like the KP trade), rather than cleaning the slate while you are flush with assets (AD, Kyrie, PJ, Gafford) who will all, very quickly, for a variety of reasons, lose their value. 

I'd take Flagg, Lively, possibly Christie and B. Williams, the 5 to 8 1sts and young players you could get in return by trading them, plus the boatload of cap space left any day rather than the void of Cooper and (what) post-26-27 Season will look like. In fact, I'm afraid it's going to generate posts like, "Do we trade Flagg so we can rebuild?", rather than doing a soft rebuild now and being able to do so with Cooper as the centerpiece.