MAVS NEWS:

[Chicagojk]

Ha ha

https://x.com/sportssturm/status/1938955...88499?s=46

[Mavs2021]

The #1 skill the Mavs target needs to have is DURABILITY at 35-38 MPG as a primary ballhandler. There ain´t that much between Russell, Schroeder, Brogdon, CP3 or Westbrook skill-wise on a single game basis, but there is a lot between them and JadenHardy/Brandon Williams as primary ballhandlers. The most important is that the person can handle the position physically.

That disqualifies CP3 for age/usage. No way he can be a #1 guy. Brogdon is a major injury risk. Westbrook still has the best health durability, which is scary in itself, but he has not seen a starting role at +30 MPG since 2021/22 season. Russell and Schroeder have legit injury concerns, too. Nevertheless they are easily the best combination of durability factoring in age and expected role. Tyus Jones is a very interesting name. Starting PG on the Flagg Express must be an interesting option.

[Mavs2021]

Ha ha

https://x.com/sportssturm/status/1938955...88499?s=46

The only way he ever comes out of this trade not looking like a complete tool is publically saying the trade and draft was fixed.

[cow]

CP3 would be the best teacher for Flagg, Williams, and the rest of the youngsters as he's proven to be a good teacher to younger teammates. If you want Flagg involved on the offensive end, he's also the obvious choice out of what is available. No idea if he's willing to come here, but if the Mavs want an outside shot of being competitive this year, he's the only real option. That's not to say a lot of other things need to fall into place for that to happen: Flagg making a significant impact as a rookie, Kyrie hitting the ground running upon return, etc.

[DallasMaverick]

Ha ha

https://x.com/sportssturm/status/1938955...88499?s=46

Good thing he wasn’t hired for his public speaking skills.

[F Gump]

So help me out here.  If the market for Jaden, Omax and Powell is nil, what are our options to create another spot?  If we released Powell could we sign minimum guy?  Williams could be an option but that would sort of be a sucky thing to do.  I get it is a business but he earned that spot LAST year.

Ideally I would prefer a 2-1 deal where we got a better fitting player, but what happens if that doesn’t open up?

I'm still on Martin-Hardy-DP for Ball as my worst case scenario default solution. Even if it has only minor game help, it adds slots and salary help. Ball is no major value to CHI either and he is VERY available (for basically any offer).

[F Gump]

If we released Powell could we sign minimum guy? 

If we plan on MLE, waiving DP keeps his salary on the payroll, w/ no room for adding a min salary to the total. SW solves (in theory), but very inefficient plan financially.

One workaround is you swap DP for air, along with cash to cover his salary, plus a tip. He's expiring, making it workable. I suggest extra cash as the tip, not a pick.

[mvossman]

I'm still on Martin-Hardy-DP for Ball as my worst case scenario default solution. Even if it has only minor game help, it adds slots and salary help. Ball is no major value to CHI either and he is VERY available (for basically any offer).

Ball just went to Cavs (unfortunately).

[mvossman]

The #1 skill the Mavs target needs to have is DURABILITY at 35-38 MPG as a primary ballhandler. There ain´t that much between Russell, Schroeder, Brogdon, CP3 or Westbrook skill-wise on a single game basis, but there is a lot between them and JadenHardy/Brandon Williams as primary ballhandlers. The most important is that the person can handle the position physically.

That disqualifies CP3 for age/usage. No way he can be a #1 guy. Brogdon is a major injury risk. Westbrook still has the best health durability, which is scary in itself, but he has not seen a starting role at +30 MPG since 2021/22 season. Russell and Schroeder have legit injury concerns, too. Nevertheless they are easily the best combination of durability factoring in age and expected role. Tyus Jones is a very interesting name. Starting PG on the Flagg Express  must be an interesting option.

CP3 just played 28 minutes a game for 82 games.  Not really sure why you are ruling him out for durability.  Thats more minutes than any option we are looking at.  He was also the most effective of anyone we are looking at and probably the best mentor of the group as well.

[mvossman]

Last year's version of DLo doesn't help the shooting, but it looks like that was an aberration compared to the rest of his career.

A few other thoughts:

Lively shooting 3's changes everything.  Is this the year that gets unleashed?

Flagg/AD PNR's will be unstoppable.  Then add in Lively in the dunker spot?  AD isn't your typical Powell/Gafford type player as the roll man.  He hesitates in the lane rather than going all the way to the basket.  At that point, he can go to work with all sorts of moves.  Either he or Flagg will have an advantage.  You can't help off of Lively or its a dunk and you probably can't help off of PJ or Klay in the corners.

BTW, they played some inverse of this last year where Lively was the roll man and AD was in the dunker spot.  Also deadly.  Lively doesn't have all of the moves that AD has, but he's so good as a short roll passer.  You don't need much space between those three in order to score.

If you watch offensive highlights of Flagg, they got him advantages in all sorts of ways besides a traditional PnR ball handler at the top of the key.  In fact, that was a small part of his offense.  He is similar to AD as a roll man in that if he gets the ball just inside the free throw line and has options.  Either he's a bucket or he flings it to Lively for the jam.  Duke set all sorts of picks or handoffs on the left side of the floor to get Flagg moving to his right with an advantage.  Once he's rolling downhill, he's really tough.  If we can put the other teams guard into the defensive action (probably by Klay setting a screen for either the ball handler or AD), then things get challenging for the defense pretty quickly.

All of this doesn't even mention the advantage we will have rebounding.  I do think AD and Klay are less than ideal as fast break players, but Lively and PJ fly down the court.  

I think bench shooting is actually a bigger problem than it is with the starters.  Maybe that's why a self-creator like DLo is needed.  No one from among Christie, Martin, Naji or Gafford is a plus shooter from distance.  Exum was.  Maybe that's why they have interest in him returning.

I think this is a top 3-5 defense and I think there are too many good players for it to be a bottom 10 offense.  What really matters is clutch scoring.  Can AD or Flagg create a shot for themselves (and hit it) late in the game with the clock running down.  No matter what your offensive and defensive ranks are, so many NBA games come down to getting a bucket when you absolutely have to have it (or getting the offensive rebound and putting it back up).  I think we will be able to do that well enough to be around .500 until Kyrie comes back.  At that point, Klay helps the shooting for the second unit and we are a much better offensive unit.

This will be a good regular season defense, but they are going to need to alter their rotations in the playoffs or they will have issues with teams that play with space.

[F Gump]

Ball just went to Cavs (unfortunately).

Bummer. I guess we can take Coby instead?!? lol 

Obviously DP should be movable with cash, but personally I'm hoping for a way to 2 added spaces, for Kai and for Exum also.

I wonder if someone would see enough value in Omax to make them willing to take him and DP as a pair, for air? Or Hardy?

[KillerLeft]

Bummer. I guess we can take Coby instead?!? lol 

Obviously DP should be movable with cash, but personally I'm hoping for a way to 2 added spaces, for Kai and for Exum also.

I wonder if someone would see enough value in Omax to make them willing to take him and DP as a pair, for air? Or Hardy?

Of the three, only Hardy could be called overpaid with a straight face, and his deal isn't that bad. 

We (not you, but many) on this board play this ridiculous game where we A) decide the Mavs should trade players X and Y. Then, when they don't get traded, we decide they "have no trade value" or "the Mavs would have to attach an asset to get off them." The reality is that we don't even know if the Mavs tried (like, at all) to trade any of those dudes. There was talk of attempting to use O-Max and/or Hardy to get back into the draft, but we don't know if it was real, and if it was, we don't know if the player(s) our front office wanted to draft made it far enough for the plan to be attempted. 

We just don't know. But, I'd bet that a home could be found for any/all of those three, if that's what they want to do. I don't know either, obviously, but that's how I feel. 

MY issue is that I just can't see the vision Harrison/Kidd have for the team, so I find it hard to predict what I think they'll want to do. I, like you, would be very interested in getting Exum in and making Kai Jones the end of bench center. VERY interested. For all we know, Harrison is still a believer in Hardy (he did draft him) and part of the reason he's not freaking out about guards on the roster is he's hoping the kid finally has a breakout season.

[Kidnova]

Of the three, only Hardy could be called overpaid with a straight face, and his deal isn't that bad. 

We (not you, but many) on this board play this ridiculous game where we A) decide the Mavs should trade players X and Y. Then, when they don't get traded, we decide they "have no trade value" or "the Mavs would have to attach an asset to get off them." The reality is that we don't even know if the Mavs tried (like, at all) to trade any of those dudes. There was talk of attempting to use O-Max and/or Hardy to get back into the draft, but we don't know if it was real, and if it was, we don't know if the player(s) our front office wanted to draft made it far enough for the plan to be attempted. 

We just don't know. But, I'd bet that a home could be found for any/all of those three, if that's what they want to do. I don't know either, obviously, but that's how I feel. 

MY issue is that I just can't see the vision Harrison/Kidd have for the team, so I find it hard to predict what I think they'll want to do. I, like you, would be very interested in getting Exum in and making Kai Jones the end of bench center. VERY interested. For all we know, Harrison is still a believer in Hardy (he did draft him) and part of the reason he's not freaking out about guards on the roster is he's hoping the kid finally has a breakout season.

If I thought there was a decent chance of getting 60+ games out of Exum, I'd want them to sign him, but there's no reason for me to believe that will happen.  With how tight the finances are for the Mavs, I simply hate the idea of paying another player who's likely to sit out a good chunk of the season.  Even for a vet min deal I'd rather have somebody they can count on to be there when needed.

[F Gump]

If I thought there was a decent chance of getting 60+ games out of Exum, I'd want them to sign him, but there's no reason for me to believe that will happen.  With how tight the finances are for the Mavs, I simply hate the idea of paying another player who's likely to sit out a good chunk of the season.  Even for a vet min deal I'd rather have somebody they can count on to be there when needed.

Fair. But for the min, imo would be worth the risk. (For more? No.) However fwiw I would not like him replacing B Will. I still think the forum is undervaluing B Will (by quite a lot).

I see Exum as a combo guard who plays 2 ends, making him still useful if others are filling PG good enough.

And imo the ability to also be very useful at SG is a crucial part of Exum appeal, as the other PGs in the current plan could include mpg for all of Flagg, B Will, MLE guy --- and eventually Kyrie comes back and plays many mins.

[KillerLeft]

Fair. But for the min, imo would be worth the risk. (For more? No.) However fwiw I would not like him replacing B Will. I still think the forum is undervaluing B Will (by quite a lot).

I see Exum as a combo guard who plays 2 ends, making him still useful if others are filling PG good enough.

And imo the ability to also be very useful at SG is a crucial part of Exum appeal, as the other PGs in the current plan could include mpg for all of Flagg, B Will, MLE guy --- and eventually Kyrie comes back and plays many mins.

I like Williams, but the sample size is so ridiculously small, and despite his moments of strong play the team didn't do very well during the stretches of the season when the ball was his. 

But, IF he's what you (we) hope, things get a lot easier. And, at the risk of subjecting myself to ridicule, I suppose we could say the same for Jaden Hardy. If both are here, AND if one or both can take a big step forward this season, the roster starts to look really great.

[Winter]

In my wildest dreams, I cannot imagine Hardy as an important cog on this Mavs team. I just don't see a place for him. I would take B Will over him in a heartbeat. As small a sample as there was, BWill was fairly consistent during any period he played heavy minutes. He was solid three-point shooter, active on defense, and could make his way to the rim despite his size.

Hardy literally yo-yos from a 20-point game to 0 points the next. In some games he looks like he forgets other teammates are even on the floor. Hardy has had enough time for us to see his game. Kidd too.

[KillerLeft]

In my wildest dreams, I cannot imagine Hardy as an important cog on this Mavs team. I just don't see a place for him. I would take B Will over him in a heartbeat. As small a sample as there was, BWill was fairly consistent during any period he played heavy minutes. He was solid three-point shooter, active on defense, and could make his way to the rim despite his size.

Hardy literally yo-yos from a 20-point game to 0 points the next. In some games he looks like he forgets other teammates are even on the floor. Hardy has had enough time for us to see his game. Kidd too.

I don't disagree with any particular point. 

But, he is on the roster. And, he is a guard with talent and size. He can handle the ball, score in iso situations (in quite a few different ways) and his catch and shoot game can be stellar, at times. In lieu of some type of trade we don't currently see coming, I think we have to hope a little. I think they need TWO guards to emerge as options, at least until Kyrie comes back strong (if he ever does). 

I'm not predicting a breakout year from Hardy, but if the plan is to sign Russell and call it a summer, I bet he gets another chance, and if he surprised us with a step forward that would make things quite a bit easier from here.

[Winter]

I'm not predicting a breakout year from Hardy, but if the plan is to sign Russell and call it a summer, I bet he gets another chance, and if he surprised us with a step forward that would make things quite a bit easier from here.

I'll bet he gets a chance too if that's all we do. I'm hoping it's not.

[KillerLeft]

I'll bet he gets a chance too if that's all we do. I'm hoping it's not.

FGump reminded me about something earlier that has me leaning towards "that's all we can expect."

Once they use that tpMLE, they're hard capped at the 2nd apron, which isn't a problem, as I believe (assuming they spend the entire exception on their target) it leaves them with enough for ONE, full-season minimum, and their roster will be full, basically. So, there's some wiggle room (though not much) to work out of some of the injury jams that popped up last year should they find themselves in that position again. 

But, if they were to make a trade that aggregates multiple players outgoing for one incoming, they'd then have to assign cap holds to roster spots and that wiggle room evaporates instantly, provided they could even make the roster cap legal to begin with. I haven't done the math, I only have a loose, general understanding of the situation, so someone correct me if I'm wrong here. 

I think all that means that if the plan is to use that tpMLE, any trade would have to one-for-one, two-for-two, etc, and pretty much dollar for dollar...OR, they'd have to take back less money than they send out (hence Gump's suggestion of sending out one of those bottom three guys for "air"), which fewer and fewer teams are able to accommodate, before even getting into whether or not any team would want to do that. At that point, you're almost certainly attaching future draft capital to get it done, and none of us seem interested in doing that. 

So, that takes us back to where we started: Is there a one-for-one that involves Daniel Gafford or PJW that Harrison would do? Or, a two-for-two that involves BOTH? I'm growing more and more skeptical that he's looking at those options, though I certainly would.

I think we're going to see DLo get a job, and then Hardy/Williams duke it out for time behind him. DLo, Christie and Thompson will all have established roles, but I'd bet some of Thompson's will be at the 3, so I really feel like they'll need one of Williams or Hardy (possibly BOTH) to play well in order for this season to work.

[FireNicoHarrison]

Jaden was awful last year, i mean awful. Not even an NBA player.

But he is veryyyyyy young, we can just hope... I think his basketball IQ isn't too good.