12-22-2025, 10:54 PM
(12-22-2025, 07:16 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: No argument.
But, look at it a different way: What odds would you give me that Kyrie/AD are the literal two best players Flagg ever has a chance to play with here in Dallas, no matter how long he plays here?
You can call it optimistic on my part to wonder if that team can be good enough, but I'd say it's more optimistic to think replacing that amount of talent is a simple matter of time or resources. Meanwhile, slight failure on staying the course might mean a couple of 50-win seasons and maybe a conference finals berth, which should help Flagg prepare for the next nucleus, in theory. Slight failure in the other direction, and we don't get a single second of meaningful basketball around here until he's halfway through his second contract, if he's even still here.
Just saying, the worry can cut both ways. I think they should A) hire a good to great GM and B) do what he thinks, given all the info available. That could end up with the team headed in a variety of directions, but what I'm pushing back against with Mvossman, specifically, is that I don't feel the need to hope for anything just because I think they'll screw up less than they might if a different direction is chosen. They'll either be a good front office or they won't. If they're not, they'll find a way to blow it.
A couple of 50 win seasons and a finals birth is not a slight failure, its the ceiling. The more likely scenario is injuries keep you on the mediocre train for years.
The single best way for this team to speed up the reset process is in the upcoming draft. The best way to improve those draft odds is to fire sale all of the older vets (AD, Klay, Dlo, etc) at the TDL.
You have made comments in the past that we can't start a rebuild until we have access to our own firsts. By then Flagg will be in his prime and those firsts will be limited in value. Not sure why getting a couple firsts in AD trade would be any less valuable than the Mavs firsts?
There are ways to get quality complementary pieces without assets. DJJ and Naji were both cheap on the open market. Grimes was salary dump and some second rounders. They also have legit assets in PJ, Gafford and Naji. There are plenty of options.
If Flagg turns out to be the superstar we need him to be, it won't be that hard to build a team around him rather quickly that should be making the playoffs every season. I certainly don't think they will have to wait 6 years for meaningful games, especially if they get a lottery pick in the coming draft and a couple of assets from AD.