Game 12: Dallas Mavericks (3-8) vs. Phoenix Suns (6-5) | 7:30pm

[Chicagojk]

P
I don't hate Caleb Martin as much as everyone else. Not yet, at least. He's fast and pretty athletic, and while I haven't seen a stretch of truly dominant defense from him yet, he's obviously defensive-minded. If he can just gain a little confidence with his catch-and-shoot game, he could be a very useful player, imho. Good enough to be a 9th-10th guy for sure, and good enough for me to feel like we could think in terms of moving one of the good forwards, not just one or two of the good bigs. I'm glad he's getting some time right now, so that we (and the team, obvs) can evaluate the validity of him possibly being a rotation player when the dust settles. He's not worth much, but PJW and Marshall are both worth quite a bit, I'd think. If Martin can be depended on as the 3rd or 4th forward (big if) that could open some interesting doors moving forward. I also think he's the RIGHT type of forward, given the team's current makeup, in that he's clearly a 3 and clearly not a 4. I know this distinction isn't the end all be all, but after ball-handling guards, I think the next biggest deficiency this roster has is that old school 2/3 swing type of guard/forward. Thompson is the closest thing they have to that, but he's about done, defensively, and it seems like a forgone conclusion that he's going to be gone by the deadline (though maybe not). Marshall is more of at 3/4 type, I think, and both Flagg and PJW are kind of 4/5/3 types (possibly even in that order, though I'm sure some will disagree).

Anyway...just some thoughts I had while watching last night.

He is going to be here for a while so we better get used to him .  His jumper is so bad now.   His form is different on about every shot.   His shot is so flat.  Then he has that hitch.  Ugly.   Because he is here for a bit, I have no problem with him being your 4th wing and probably outside the regular rotation.   The issue is he combines the poor shooting of the rest of the wings.   PJ isn't scaring anyone.   Same with Marshall.   Coop will get better but needs to.  Lets not even mention AD shooting threes as a 4.   It just seems like moving forward they need to find two floor spacers.   One is probably paired with Max, but I think one of PJ or Marshall will eventually get moved.   Even if AD is moved.   I think as Coop matures you are going to need space for him to get the most benefit.