MAVS NEWS:

[KillerLeft]

You seem focused on Luka's style (heliocentric) and I am more focused on the simple fact that he is one of the two best creators in the NBA.  That is very hard to replace (regardless of style).  Most of the NBA champions/contenders had an elite offensive creator (generally not as heliocentric as Luka).  I don't think a 34 year old Kyrie coming off an ACL tear is going to be that guy.  He is an elite secondary creator.  And AD is not that guy.  And if Flagg is ever going to be that guy (which would make him MVP with everything else he brings to the table) it will take significant time/development for him to get there.  That means in the shorter Kyrie/AD window they are going to have to create by committee.  Not a lot of history of that being successful unless you count Boston, but Tatum is at least near elite and he was surrounded by an insane amount of talent.  If that is the model to follow (I think their only option) then the move would be to play out this season and then trade for your Jrue (or even Derrick White) next offseason.

It's an interesting conversation. 

Are Luka, SGA and Harden so great, or do they just have the ball 99% of the time? Is the fact that they have the ball simultaneously making them great AND ultimately holding their teams back? I think Haliburton is (or was) becoming close to that same level of player, only with the understanding that his job was to get his teammates into position to score, not always score himself. But, does an offense predicated on beautiful ball movement need a player that good to succeed? When you see a great offense clicking on all cylinders, working with synergy, does it always include 1-2 guys who could put up Luka/Harden style of play if they wanted?

Difficult questions to answer, all, and part of why I love basketball so much. 

I think you're probably right about there not being enough offensive skill here at the moment in a general sense. As an aside, I agree with you even more about the potential defensive problems they're likely to face. But, I also kind of see where Gump is coming from, too. I am so done with the heliocentric Luka/Harden/SGA crap that I almost welcome the idea of avoiding having that type of player. Ideally, you want a version of that type of player, like Haliburton, who understands how to make the team work, not just how to be "the system," in Harden's recent words. But, I don't think that's ever going to be Luka. I think he's kind of selfish, truth be told. So, in a weird way, while the offense will clearly miss his impact until something is put back in its place (which I take to be your main point), I think the team might weirdly be on an elevated path at this point, even without knowing what their plan is with that. And, I don't necessarily think we'll see the plan coming. If/when the offense is next successful, I'm trying to stay open-minded to the idea that it will work in a way I don't currently expect.