06-11-2021, 01:04 PM
(06-10-2021, 09:37 PM)Kammrath Wrote: Maxi was really poor most of the year. I don't know if he never recovered from COVID or if he just suddenly went "over the hill" in basketball years. He was REALLY disappointing as a defender this year and his O impact really slipped as well. I fear the Mavs might have missed their chance to "sell high" on him and that he will never really be a positive key rotation piece again. But maybe an offseason will get him back in stride.
Carlisle referenced the fact that he had the most serious case of all the COVID guys, and it took him longer to recover. And then, it was just one injury after another the rest of the season -- not necessarily bad enough to prevent him from playing, but enough to limit his mobility and explosion.
Maybe he can get back to pre-season shape, and that should help. But I suspect he may have reached his ceiling as a player. He is 29 years old, and big leaps in development are not common at that age. If this is the case, I seriously question whether this level is good enough for him to be as heavily relied on as he is. I do think he is a good culture guy, but that goes only so far.