MAVS NEWS:

[DanSchwartzgan]

We've joked before that the "trade" would actually be known as the Max Christie trade when it's all said and done. Good to see him playing really good basketball on both ends.


This season:

12.3 PPG
1.3 RPG
1.3 APG
55.2% FG
56.5% 3PT (5.8 3PA)
100% FT

I'm a big Christie fan, but I wasn't all that excited to watch the Point-Christie experiment that was going on last night.  I'm OK with efforts to throw Flagg into the deep end and hopefully improve his skills as a swimmer.  That's an investment and that kind of investment has paid off before with superstars like Tatum and Giannis.  But, I think Christie is a guy whose confidence and effectiveness are hurt by asking him to do too much.  He's good at certain things.  Let him do those things.

Scattershooting:

I've yet to see a single person disagree when someone posts something about trading AD.  Yet, posting those words seems to be a badge of honor for some.  What would be helpful would be if someone could come up with suggestions on cap legal trades that actually make sense for the other team.  I've been looking and it isn't easy to do.  So far, Atlanta is about the only thing I've come up with.  Are they crazy enough to try to add AD to their Trae/KP core?  Even if the answer was yes, I suspect it would be a summer trade rather than a TDL trade.

As much as I'd like the team (and AD) to succeed, I worry that success might not be in our best interest.  AD is extension eligible this summer.  I don't think he's much of a threat to opt out of his 27/28 PO, but I worry that success either this season or next will cause Nico to want to double down and add some years to AD's deal.  No thank you.  What we need is enough AD success to peak another teams interest, but not so much success that Nico gives him more money.  BTW, I'm not enamored with the idea of picks in an AD trade.  Give me guys who fit well with Cooper's skill set and timeline.

Welcome back Mr. Williams and congrats to FG for his steadfast belief in his game.

As I said earlier, I don't hate Kidd's efforts to expand Flagg's game (or test his game...maybe).  Its not like he had a choice while Williams was out.  The problem I have is Flagg tends to defer to AD when he's in the game.  That, plus the game is pretty slow in those minutes.  I'm not sure playing a PG (when we have two or more healthy ones who aren't in jail) helps Flagg that much when AD is in the game.  Flagg playing with a bunch of ball movers, some of whom can hit open shots?  Sign me up for more of that.  The other problem with inserting Williams or D'Lo into the starting lineup is you have to sit someone if everyone is healthy.  PJ has arguably been our best player...so, not him.  Lively?  No, his development is important to me.  The obvious candidate would be Klay, but that screws up the bench rotation and will hurt Max's development.  Bad Klay is really a problem for this team.

My thought entering the season was hang around .500 until Kyrie returns and then maybe we can win 60% of our games from that point forward.  If Kyrie gets back at the halfway mark, that makes you a 45 win team.  Injuries and a new system with new people playing key roles is making the first part of the equation difficult to envision at this point.  But, if we hadn't laid an egg in that Washington game we'd be 3-2.  I don't think Kidd really cares what the record is right now.  there will be enough teams crowded around the 6th-11th spots that teams can control their destiny in the last month of the season.  6th in the west would be ideal if we are good enough when Kyrie returns.  Falling into the lottery isn't the end of the world either.  It would make this season brutal to watch, but it would probably be better for us in the long run.