Mavs 108, Rockets 133

[KillerLeft]

For instance, a year ago I would have ranked Powell ahead of Maxi (the team did too in deciding what to pay and for how long...Maxi’s 2022 in non-guaranteed).  This season, I think the answer is Maxi.  But Powell has spent much more time on a defensive island than Maxi has.   So, the comparison isn’t apples to apples.  With that said, Maxi based lineups have had dramatically more offensive success than Powell based lineups.  Dare I say Maxi is putting up a “Powell-like” O-Rating so far this season.  What we have no idea about is what Powell will look like with KP next to him and whether we will ever see .650 TS% Powell again.

Another way context (which we don’t have) matters is who plays with who.  This is a team largely made up of specialists.  When forced to do more than they should, things don’t go well.  Right now we have a lot of people doing more than they should.  It is pretty clear (at least to me) that THJ is better than DFS or JRich.  But, when dealing with specialists, what is meant by “better”.  DFS and JRich provide needed D.  THJ provides needed spacing and scoring.  The team is kind of a fragile eco-system and getting to play your best role is really important.  Put another way, when you have multiple defensive specialists, someone who can provide “O” is important.  Same thing in reverse if you have a bunch of “O” oriented specialists in your lineup.

I liked what Kamm wrote about who he would try in terms of big man pairings.  The only thing I would add is if you are going to start Powell, THJ probably needs to start also.  If you start Maxi, you can better afford a non-shooter in the starting lineup.  But, it is simply too early to tell what level Powell will return to and whether KP will make him look better than he looked w/o KP.  I think (or thought before the last two disastrous WCS games) that we’d have one shooting big and one rim running big together until the final few minutes when we would go to KP/Maxi to close.  I’ve always said 5-out with KP at center is probably best used as a gimmick lineup...probably in the w/o Luka minutes in the early 2nd/4th quarters.  

Finally, watch out for Brunson.  He’s got it going on right now and threatens to join the THJ/DFS/JRich/Maxi tier behind Luka and KP.  I’ve got Powell in a TBD slot after that.  I’m kind of resigned to the idea WCS will have nights where he’s in our top 5 players and games where he’s in the bottom five.

Well, you didn't follow the instructions laid out in the assignment, but I'll give you an "A" anyway. Good stuff.