01-31-2021, 03:32 PM
(This post was last modified: 01-31-2021, 03:34 PM by KillerLeft.)
(01-31-2021, 03:22 PM)cow Wrote: I'm not sure how they've improved and I'm not sure I'd call it knee jerk. It seems like the overarching goal from a team building standpoint is their stubborn view on cap flexibility and hoping their stars (first Dirk, now Luka) are enough to convince other big names to join the team. Free agency is still a nightmare. How are you ever going to get another star to come here when you can't even get a conversation with a Kemba Walker level player and you let players like Danny Green jerk you around while other free agents go off the board. They also miss out on quality MLE targets because they only want to give out minimal length contracts. The draft also feels like a complete mystery to them.
The only real improvement we've seen from them is that they've moved off the idea of thinking the 4th or 5th best guy on a good team could be elevated to a primary option (Parsons/Barnes).
There are a lot of assumptions here with which I disagree. Could write a lot of words, but here are the bullet points:
1) I don't think the ONLY reason to keep bad money off of your books is to try to convince stars to sign with your team. I think bad money on your books (like KP's will be, if he doesn't start playing well) is the single biggest road block to good roster building, regardless of what your overall plan might be.
2) Parsons/Barnes both predate the change in approach I'm talking about. Those are examples of them NOT having a good plan in place, imo. Having said that, I'd push back on the thought that the MBT was so clueless as to believe either could be franchise cornerstones. I legitimately believe that those were simply the best players they could get to come here while the league waited for Dirk to retire. It probably would've been better for the franchise in the long run if the Mavs had pressed the issue with Dirk a bit more, like "dude, it's time for us to be bad. You're not Dirk anymore. You are welcome to hang around, but we're not going to tread water just because you're still playing. We need to rebuild." Having said that, I get why it was too hard for them to do that, I really do. It doesn't mean they actually believed Harrison Barnes was a franchise player. Right or wrong, it was just a desperate attempt to keep Dirk relevant as long as possible.
(01-31-2021, 03:22 PM)cow Wrote: and I'm not sure I'd call it knee jerk.
Sorry, one more thing. I just want to make it clear that I'm not accusing @"hakeemfaan" of knee-jerking. I'm saying that buying 100% into the current doom and gloom would feel like a knee-jerk from ME, given how I've felt about the recent direction of the franchise. That's what I meant.