You’re now the Mavs’ GM. What are you going to build?

[mvossman]

MV, words have meaning beyond the exact literal words on the page. That's how language works. I may have used words in responding that were not your exact words, but they were still definitely your ideas.

[Let me illustrate.
1 Say I said, 'Kidd is a bum, he can't coach hoops, he's bad for the team, he's the worst, he is ruining the Mavs chances, he will never be any good, the Mavs could win a title this year if Kidd wasn't the coach, etc.' 
2 Then even though I didn't say the exact words that 'I think Kidd needs to be fired asap' the idea is definitely within what I wrote.
3 So if you replied 'I can't believe you think Kidd needs to be fired,'...
4 ... and I came back with 'How dare you put words in my mouth, I never said Kidd should be fired, how dare you!', ...
5 ... then you would go "Wait, what??" because even though I didn't say those exact words, the meaning was very much part of what I said.]

The point is, I have only said what your words CLEARLY convey, by the implications and greater meaning that flow from your words, and it is NOT putting words in your mouth to speak to the broad ideas included. Now you can walk back your words if you want and say "I didn't want to mean THAT, instead here is what I meant." That's fine with me, if you wish to undo and/or clarify. But instead you say "How dare you, I am not making any extreme negative assumptions here" and of course you have been, they are everywhere within what you are writing. 

I'll speak to your first 2 examples, but they are characteristic. 
1 You said "I did not imply "that Kyrie at 34 is headed over a cliff." I think he is due for age related decline." -- Potato, potato. Not your exact words, but definitely your ideas. Age certainly has a gradual effect on all players, but in your various comments you are assuming an EXTREME decline at 34 as a certainty, and to the point where it is a significant issue. In light of the fact that Kyrie was ALL-NBA level at 33, it would have to be going over a cliff for him not to still be a highly valuable player at 34 and perhaps even play at an All-NBA level once he's healthy again. Some of your words were "I think Kyrie will miss most of the season and will likely never be fully back to what he was" which CLEARLY indicate the idea that his game is now headed over the cliff ("never be fully back") because he's 34 ("age related decline") and also certainly seems to say you think he will never truly get over his injury (or, as I put it to speak to what you said, "injured for life"). Not your exact words, but definitely your ideas, and an extremely negative assumptions to the max.
 
2 You said "I did not state "each minute AD plays as a 4 is bad" or "flatly assumes that he can't play well as a 4 at all." I think he is better at the 5" --- Uh huh. You said it was "too bad he will be playing a lot of minutes at the 4." So what DOES that mean, if not how I took it? I took that to mean that you think he can't play well at the 4. If you instead think he can play well at the 4, then why is him playing there "too bad"? Isn't it a plus that he can play both and play them well, rather than a minus? [As I see it, AD's play is not likely to be a problem at all, no matter how they use him. He has and creates other question marks for the team, to be sure, but he's a really top player because he's very impactful on both ends of the floor.] Anyhow, saying that AD's time on the court is going to somehow be undesirable is an extremely negative take.

Oh, and by the way, you complain when I don't address your words, and then object when I do (which you call parsing them). You can't have it both ways. I'll do the best I can with my responses, and you do you, and I'll do me.

BOTTOM LINE. I've tried to respond to what YOU have said, and I spoke to YOUR words from the get-go, but your response that I am making things up (never did) has made no sense. The implications and thoughts have been true to what you wrote AND keep writing, even if they weren't your exact words. All of your ideas were written in a context of how bad things are likely to go, so if they aren't intended to be negative after all, and highly so, I'm not sure what your opinion really is intended to be.

So the phrase "likely never gets back to what he was" equates to "an extreme decline at age 34 is a certainty"?  Do you honestly not see the difference between those two statements?  You are doing this across the board (and often more blatantly than this).  

If you actually want to understand what my original point was, then I will try to put it more clearly.

I think as long as Nico is here they are going to do everything they can to win with AD (which I refer as window one).

I think it very unlikely that they will trade AD or Kyrie during window one, both because I don't think Nico has any interest, and because its hard to see it from a logistical standpoint.  I don't see this in any way a bad thing.  

I don't think this team is currently a contender.  I think they are light on creation, are unevenly constructed (overbalanced to the frontcourt) and need time to play with each other, which won't fully start until late in season due to Kyrie injury.  It should be better the following season, but my guess is they will still need to add a piece to get there.  I think they will have a better idea of what that piece needs to be by the end of this season (or possibly even at the TDL).  

At some point, window one is going to end.  I think that most likely happens when Kyrie and AD are no longer playing at a high level.  I don't know when this will happen, but when it does they are probably past the point of being traded for significant assets.  This will a point that a lot of teams reach, when your stars age out and you have spent most of your future assets to win now.  It could be a long road to get to window two.

You can get most of this just by reading through this thread.  If you think the view that this team is not a contender is overly negative, then I think you are going to run into a lot of negativity regarding the Mavs.  The rest is just observation and speculation.