11-12-2025, 03:28 PM
(This post was last modified: 11-13-2025, 11:20 AM by KillerLeft.)
(11-12-2025, 03:21 PM)fifteenth Wrote: Good stuff. Thanks!
What he is NOT, is the type of player you can build an offense around. We've known the end of that movie since back when it was called "New Orleans: Rise of the Pelicans."
I think the fact that he's only played like 14 games since coming here is a valid thing to be upset about. I don't really understand why the very abnormal case of him reporting out of shape is such a big deal since we factually know it's due to the weird eye injury he had, and not on laziness or unprofessionalism, but I do get the irony of that in regards to the trade, sure. I think for some (many?) fans, it's just too much to ask for them to separate their emotions about the trade from their level of investment into AD as a Maverick.
But honestly, what I really think is that a ton of casual fans (mostly not from this board) expected AD to be a dominant offensive player, and we should never have expected that. He's not a shooter. He's not a low post guy, really. He's not a 1-on-1 guy, even in his spots, like Dirk was. He can be a dominant finisher of plays, and teams for sure have to know where he is when they're defending, but without a dominant offensive player for him to complement, it's tough to like AD on offense.