(07-09-2025, 09:58 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: I think calling Flagg a PG is overstating things. He's a wing/forward who will be charged with some creation responsibility. We have plenty of examples of this around the league...many of which are on All NBA teams and none of which are called PG's except maybe Luka.
I also think it is an overstatement to say we have an "arsenal of 5 PG's". We wouldn't give Nembhard a moments thought if he was on some other team and had a different last name. But, because he's ours, he's suddenly a legitimate NBA prospect. The sample is incredibly small on Williams. 3 missed 3's takes him from a .400 shooter from deep to .350. One more miss and he's .333. He's not the answer to anything really other than the PG on the 12-15 part of the roster. We know exactly what Exum is. He's a 3 & D wing who has some ability to handle the ball better than most 3 & D wings. If you are relying on him to be your full-time starting PG, you probably have issues. He's a rotation piece sure, but there is a limit to his upside and we have a pretty good idea what those limits are. Availability is always a question, so he needs to be a luxury in your rotation, not something critical to your success.
I think it is an open question as to whether we get the 24/25 version of DLo or the version from the two years prior. If the latter, then he's a really good and helpful 6th/7th man type who will be unfortunately thrust into a starting role until Kyrie comes back. I doubt we ever see much DLo/Kyrie together except for O-for-D switches in the final seconds of a game. Kyrie is the "PG" that matters here. He, Flagg and AD are the locks to close games. I think Lively or PJ will be 4th in line and the real question that needs to be answered is who is the 5th guy (and is it one of the guards you mention...including Klay or Max). Right now our 5 best players (Kyrie, Flagg, AD, Lively and PJ) probably don't form the ideal closing lineup. I don't think DLo or Exum have the 2-way chops to fill the role that needs to be filled and we already saw Kidd going away from Klay as a closer last season.
I think the development we need to watch for is Max Christie building on his first month here. In his 11 games in February he played 33 minutes a game and was 14.1/4.3/3.4 and +8.8. He shot .440 from deep. He's a great FT shooter (important late in games) and is probably our best point-of-attack defender along with Exum. He fell about after that, which corresponded exactly to Kyrie getting hurt. So, is he really good when surrounded by really good players and really mediocre when forced to do too much? We need to hope so as he's probably our best hope for filling the guard need we have. If February was a fluke and if he doesn't progress any, then we have a hole in our lineup no matter how many small guards are on the roster.
Agree with all of this. I think Max is a little like Josh Green in that he is better surrounded by good players, and he is the most likely one to end up as 5th starter in the finishing lineup. I still think they will probably need to upgrade that spot to become a legit contender, but a big Max leap would be huge.
![[-]](https://www.mavsboard.com/images/collapse.png)