11-05-2019, 01:59 PM
I enjoyed doing the tank-watch threads the last couple of years. As long as Luka is healthy this year, I won't have to do that, which makes me happy.
With all of the hang-wringing this offseason - and I was as pissed as anyone - the Mavs have built a nice little team, definitely one of the deepest in the league. I wanted to start a thread in which I (and anyone else who wanted to chime in with critiques, etc.) would rank the status and quality of the Mavs' players aside from Luka and KP, since most of us seem to be of the consensus that we have those two and no other real starters. Who is most important to the Mavs' success and contributing the most aside from our big two? I plan to renew these rankings every Tuesday. No Broekhoff, JJB, Roby, Reaves, or Cleveland until they play (more, in Ryan's case).
1) Wright - Some folks have wrongly pegged Wright as some sort of Mavs' afterthought in the offseason, when the inside take is that he was one of their prime targets from the opening of free agency. While it remains to be seen whether he fits better off the bench or in the starting lineup, I think he has clearly been the most consistent Mav aside from the big two. Crafty, a winner, great shot selection. While the sample size is tiny, his outside shooting, considered to be his Achilles' heel, has been no problem. A great get at his contract.
2) Brunson - Don't get me wrong; I get the concerns about shot selection. But Brunson has continued to show up as an excellent ball-handler and contributor to the team.
3) Boban - Hope this guy gets more minutes. He sure makes the offseason look better so far.
4) Maxi - While not contributing much offensively so far, he has been quite the defensive front with KP and was a good workhorse with Powell out. He seems to get thrown into every trade proposal. Given the Wurzberg connection and his defensive value on a team that hasn't been great defensively, I hope that's not the case. Whether as trade bait or as a long-term Mav, I think it's pretty dumb for anyone to fuss about that contract.
5) DFS - It must just be me, because I haven't seen too many others comment on it, but I think DFS has looked surprisingly fantastic. Active defensively and on the boards, hitting those opportunistic open threes, and strong chemistry with Luka. If he continues to play at this level, I would say he's graduated to the status of the 8th-best player on a contending team (I usually evaluate players in those terms - where do you want them to be, based on their abilities, in the minutes rotation on a championship-contending team?). Pretty damn good look for Donnie to have picked him off the scrapheap and then re-signed him to that reasonable contract.
6) Curry - While his shot has certainly been there, I had expected to see better from Curry by this point.
7) THJ - RC seems to be force-feeding THJ minutes. Whether it's out of a sense that he has to contribute something for the team to be successful, or if there's some mandate to try to make his trade value a bit less negative, he has been unsurprisingly ineffective some of the time and surprisingly effective at many others. Hoping he either rises on this list as the season goes on, or that his minutes can get cut in favor of Justin's.
8) Powell - He certainly has added a dimension to the lob game since coming back, but oy, that defense. If he doesn't shake off the rust soon, I'll be ready to consider him as big of an offseason error as failing to get the number three guy with our cap room.
9) Justin - Justin has been a dynamic disappointment so far. He must be practicing really poorly, as he seems to be buried well below DFS and THJ. Perhaps RC doesn't like what he sees on the defensive end, or the rather annoying emptiness of his box score aside from scoring.
10) Lee - garbage. Worth nothing more than salary filler in trade.
With all of the hang-wringing this offseason - and I was as pissed as anyone - the Mavs have built a nice little team, definitely one of the deepest in the league. I wanted to start a thread in which I (and anyone else who wanted to chime in with critiques, etc.) would rank the status and quality of the Mavs' players aside from Luka and KP, since most of us seem to be of the consensus that we have those two and no other real starters. Who is most important to the Mavs' success and contributing the most aside from our big two? I plan to renew these rankings every Tuesday. No Broekhoff, JJB, Roby, Reaves, or Cleveland until they play (more, in Ryan's case).
1) Wright - Some folks have wrongly pegged Wright as some sort of Mavs' afterthought in the offseason, when the inside take is that he was one of their prime targets from the opening of free agency. While it remains to be seen whether he fits better off the bench or in the starting lineup, I think he has clearly been the most consistent Mav aside from the big two. Crafty, a winner, great shot selection. While the sample size is tiny, his outside shooting, considered to be his Achilles' heel, has been no problem. A great get at his contract.
2) Brunson - Don't get me wrong; I get the concerns about shot selection. But Brunson has continued to show up as an excellent ball-handler and contributor to the team.
3) Boban - Hope this guy gets more minutes. He sure makes the offseason look better so far.
4) Maxi - While not contributing much offensively so far, he has been quite the defensive front with KP and was a good workhorse with Powell out. He seems to get thrown into every trade proposal. Given the Wurzberg connection and his defensive value on a team that hasn't been great defensively, I hope that's not the case. Whether as trade bait or as a long-term Mav, I think it's pretty dumb for anyone to fuss about that contract.
5) DFS - It must just be me, because I haven't seen too many others comment on it, but I think DFS has looked surprisingly fantastic. Active defensively and on the boards, hitting those opportunistic open threes, and strong chemistry with Luka. If he continues to play at this level, I would say he's graduated to the status of the 8th-best player on a contending team (I usually evaluate players in those terms - where do you want them to be, based on their abilities, in the minutes rotation on a championship-contending team?). Pretty damn good look for Donnie to have picked him off the scrapheap and then re-signed him to that reasonable contract.
6) Curry - While his shot has certainly been there, I had expected to see better from Curry by this point.
7) THJ - RC seems to be force-feeding THJ minutes. Whether it's out of a sense that he has to contribute something for the team to be successful, or if there's some mandate to try to make his trade value a bit less negative, he has been unsurprisingly ineffective some of the time and surprisingly effective at many others. Hoping he either rises on this list as the season goes on, or that his minutes can get cut in favor of Justin's.
8) Powell - He certainly has added a dimension to the lob game since coming back, but oy, that defense. If he doesn't shake off the rust soon, I'll be ready to consider him as big of an offseason error as failing to get the number three guy with our cap room.
9) Justin - Justin has been a dynamic disappointment so far. He must be practicing really poorly, as he seems to be buried well below DFS and THJ. Perhaps RC doesn't like what he sees on the defensive end, or the rather annoying emptiness of his box score aside from scoring.
10) Lee - garbage. Worth nothing more than salary filler in trade.