05-26-2021, 11:12 AM
(This post was last modified: 05-26-2021, 11:14 AM by Scott41theMavs.)
(05-26-2021, 10:26 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: Isn’t that the question. IF we are flawed, how can we win two playoff series (possibly against the teams with the first and second Net Ratings in the regular season). Or better, if we can beat the best two regular season teams in the league in playoff series, are we that flawed?
I think back to your post about having the 3rd best D-Rating in the league against top competition (can’t recall the exact data point). Maybe we are better than most of us perceive.
No need to count chickens too early. Just a thought. But it has always been an issue that going after a “third star” means risking the loss of two good players for a shot at one great one (been saying this since pre-season). The “third star” market is pretty thin this summer and I’m not sure there is room for another high usage guy on this roster. It took Conley a year to figure out how to co-exist with Mitchell. KP hasn’t figured it out with Luka yet and I’m not thrilled with what that looks like if we add someone else of that ilk. Maybe the Luka model is a single star and 8 guys who are all really good at specific things (no holes). Luka seems to be better at making good players better than he is at making great players great-er.
I think the Mavs would still be foolish to remain completely heliocentric moving forward. Even if they wanted it to be such with Luka on the floor, he can't play 48 minutes a game (conditioning*). Jrue Holiday would have been the absolute perfect fit - not sure there's a good-enough Jrue-lite out there. Need that unicorn (not the Unicorn) who is capable of quarterbacking the team when Luka sits, but also good off-ball and deferent, while being transcendent defensively at the point of attack.
Assuming THJ has already earned his return to the Mavs (at this point, I'm just hoping it's something less than $22 mil a year, throwing up a little in my mouth), the only way forward this offseason is a KP trade and the MLE. Hope they do those things well.
Agree completely with your rejoinder to Kamm of, How broke is it if we win two playoff series?
*See what I did there?
(05-26-2021, 11:05 AM)Kammrath Wrote: I am 100% on board with this. This has been my stance for a couple years.
My issue with the team construction is mostly centered around KP (and to a much less extent JR). I think the Mavs could have much better fitting players or player with the money they spend on KP and JR. There are $43M invested in those two players who are ill-fitting. To bring either of them back would be a massive mistake IMO. NOTE: I do NOT fault the Mavs for acquiring either of them, but they need to be honest that the fit doesn't work.
THJ, DP, DFS, Maxi, JB, JG, WCS, have all been shown to be GREAT fits with Luka. But I am also open to upgrading any and all of them. But KP and JR need to go, truly "addition by subtraction" in many ways for those two IMO.
See, I agree with this too.