MAVERICKS 139, PELICANS 107

[mvossman]

The past is spilt milk though.  I'd have loved a ton of moves but we didn't make them.  I'm just trying to think of how to move forward now.  I'd honestly blow it up and try to be bad for two years.  And I get that puts us in the pickle of needing to start drafting well, but I again look at that as a past we have no control over.

It will be hard to be bad/tank with Luka on the team.  You also have to worry about keeping Luka for his third contract.  Don't think tanking for 2 year and rebuilding a year before his contract is up is the best way to keep him on the team.

The only way I see to move forward is work on the edges for the next couple of years until they get access to their picks.  For example, at the deadline it would make a lot of sense to trade for Theis (maybe WCS/Green/Second) and pickup a bought out Dragic.  If you don't think you can keep Brunson, then ship him out with Powell for something decent.  Next offseason you pay DFS and Brunson (if he is still here) what it takes to keep them.  Cuban is going to have to be willing to cross the tax line if necessary.  Then in a couple of years when you have access to your picks, you make a Bucks like trade to become a real contender (and keep your superstar).  Not surprisingly, a Jrue Holiday type player would be perfect next to Luka.  

I realize that plan does not leave much room for drafting.  The reality is that this team has generally been much better and hitting on cheap reclamation projects then middling draft picks.  We should be taking a shot at one or two of those a year, preferably at the minimum.  

Not an exciting path, but I don't see another reasonable route.  Any KP trade likely lowers our ceiling and makes us worse without any obvious path to get better soon enough to matter.  The clock is ticking and our time table is 3 or 4 more years at most.  Don't think there is enough time to go back and reset, especially when this organization has shown limited ability to do so correctly.