07-03-2021, 11:10 AM
(07-03-2021, 10:49 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: "What's clear, taking a 10,000-foot view of this thing, is that the Mavericks need a third guy. That third doesn't necessarily have to be better than Porzingis overall (though that'd be great for obvious reasons), but there is a pressure-the-rim, make-the-defense-bend gap that needs to be bridged."
Thanks for this. I think we all recognize this as does the team given their comments about prioritizing a shot creator. We've tried two guys in this role who were theoretically defenders, passers and not particularly dynamic offensive threats. It hasn't worked. I think the spacing KP provides might make the DeRozan work in this capacity offensively. Having two guys who can efficiently "get theirs" (DD has been .591 and .603 in TS% on high usage the last two seasons) and are good and willing passers would really help KP.
Of course, DD isn't a good defender and putting him, Luka and KP on the floor at the same time isn't ideal.
If that is a deal killer, then you get to choose from some older guys (Conley, Lowry), some restricted guys (Ball and maybe Graham) or some guys who are more backups than starters (Caruso, McConnell). Conley was 30th in the league in DBPM and 64th in D Win Score if you like those metrics. Utah was 10 points better defensively when he was in the game (which is why he's my favorite target). Ball has a defensive reputation, but NO was worse defensively when he was in the game last season. Lowry slipped quite a bit from some excellent career DWS and DBPM numbers. Graham is essentially a carbon copy of Brunson by those metrics. If you go to the Caruso/McConnell class you get some good defensive metrics, but you miss the self creation you are hoping for offensively.
To me, Conley is the guy. DeRozan is probably second for me and more attainable. But go sell Conley that his chance for a Chris Paul moment is more realistic here with Luka than in Utah (a bad city) with Mitchell as the alpha.
Looking at Conley´s on/off metrics. Is this about his on defensive impact or about him playing most of his minutes next to 3x DPOY Gobert? Can easily see why Ball has mediocre on/off impact on defense. He plays next to Adams/Zion/Ingram.