(04-09-2026, 11:09 PM)F Gump Wrote: "... No way am I undervaluing him..." -- I think you are, and considerably so.
I'm very much a believer in the difference-making value of an ELITELY talented player. I don't think (and I believe NBA history has proven over and over) that multiple good players don't make up for 1 great one. The further away you get from what you can find readily available, the less replaceable that player is.
When I say you are wanting to get rid of Kyrie, and you object to that as 'not my words' but then tell me all the reasons it's a good idea to get rid of him, I think you have demonstrated that I was truly addressing your pov.
OTOH, count me out of a Kyrie trade - I do NOT want to get rid of Kyrie. I think he's integral to getting this thing off the ground and flying again. And he's even more vital in light of the Mavs extreme need for PG/offense creation. Trade him and next year is likely to be even uglier.
It has always seemed to me, throughout the year really, that the Mavs FO has already decided they want to put Kyrie and Flagg together.
I'm not sure what they know or what metrics they are looking at, but everytime the AD trade discussion came up earlier, a secondary comment from people like Stein always included something about keeping Kyrie. Maybe it's contract related, but whatever it is the tone from the FO has always been about keeping Kyrie. They never really gave that impression about AD once he got hurt.