Mid-Level targets

[cow]

How exactly did they prove themselves in the draft this year?  The execution was good but only time will say if they made the right selections by going for need when better talent was available.  Was OMax or holding on to the TPE trying to go after someone more ready the correct decision?  Time will tell. 

Draft picks are kind of a crapshoot but it looks like Nico and crew came in with a plan and executed.  I'm fairly dubious on Lively's skillset versus modern NBA roster construction, but he's the player they wanted at 10 who they got at 12 and were able to offload Bertans in the process.  That's a big win in my book.  They loved O'Max as an undrafted free agent and as soon as his stock went up, they swooped in at the perfect time to grab him in the first round for the cost of taking Holmes.  O'Max would have been the 25th pick by the Celtics had he been there (if you believe Bill Simmons).  That's a lot of great execution on the MBT's part.

Given the state of our rotation, Lively could contribute even if he doesn't live up to his draft status.  Holmes could also contribute if he ends up on the roster.  I'm very confident that O'Max floor is a rotational contributor.  

I'll wait to see how the rest of free agency pans out.  A lot is being held up with Dame/Harden.  I'm honestly not expecting much and maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.  That's how the draft played out for me anyway.

[hakeemfaan]

Draft picks are kind of a crapshoot but it looks like Nico and crew came in with a plan and executed.  I'm fairly dubious on Lively's skillset versus modern NBA roster construction, but he's the player they wanted at 10 who they got at 12 and were able to offload Bertans in the process.  That's a big win in my book.  They loved O'Max as an undrafted free agent and as soon as his stock went up, they swooped in at the perfect time to grab him in the first round for the cost of taking Holmes.  O'Max would have been the 25th pick by the Celtics had he been there (if you believe Bill Simmons).  That's a lot of great execution on the MBT's part.

Given the state of our rotation, Lively could contribute even if he doesn't live up to his draft status.  Holmes could also contribute if he ends up on the roster.  I'm very confident that O'Max floor is a rotational contributor.  

I'll wait to see how the rest of free agency pans out.  A lot is being held up with Dame/Harden.  I'm honestly not expecting much and maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.  That's how the draft played out for me anyway.

I couldn’t care less of who they wanted if it doesn’t pan out. I would like to see what their board was ( assuming they do finally have a board these days) and where exactly Whitmore stood.  I am not a fan of going for need at 10.  Plus just the rumor of Celtics wanting to take someone who was a late riser doesn’t mean much. Old timers will remember Leon Smith and what happened here with him. The rumor at that time was Nellie took him without knowing much about him. because he had heard the Spurs liked him. Let’s see what happens there as well.

It’s more about rushing to confer praise or saying this is a new administration.  The move itself to move out a contract and drop down two spots was well executed. However a lot of other things this regime has done even in their short time here has been poor or things that we will have to wait upon and see.

[cow]

I couldn’t care less of who they wanted if it doesn’t pan out. I would like to see what their board was ( assuming they do finally have a board these days) and where exactly Whitmore stood.  I am not a fan of going for need at 10.  

It’s more about rushing to confer praise or saying this is a new administration.  The move itself to move out a contract and drop down two spots was well executed. However a lot of other things this regime has done even in their short time here has been poor or things that we will have to wait upon and see.

Maybe you are just too focused on one player?  Unless Jerry Jones buys the team, you aren't going to see their board.  Whitemore was passed up by a lot of teams, not saying that is right or wrong.

That's certainly not me.  I'm overly critical.  And yes, we've had short term failures and success.  I liked the McGee idea in concept, I hate the execution.  Same with Powell this year as there is no reason to give him three years or above the minimum.  I liked the Wood trade from a "correcting past mistakes standpoint" even if Wood's tenure was a failure.  Not a huge fan of the Kyrie trade but I understand why they did.  I do like the contract they signed him to but they were over a barrel having already invested that unprotected first.   I hate that Nico, Mr. Relationship guy himself, couldn't even get a conversation with Jalen.  I hate the 2nd rounder we included when we acquire Din/Bertans, that pick should have come back to us at the very least (people here thought I was crazy for complaining about that pick but are now wishing we had additional seconds for deals).

But it is important to give credit where credit is due just like it is fair to criticize.  This years draft seemed more well thought out and executed then most of the previous regime.  That doesn't mean Nico hasn't faltered, he has.  That doesn't mean I think he was a good hire in the first place, he wasn't due to inexperience and the hole the old MBT had dug.  But he is what we have and we do have to remember that hole.  The KP trade really fucked up the beginning of the Luka era and should we not recover, that will be the reason why Luka walks.  

Free agency has looked like a dude so far, but looking at the overpays happening, the Mavs don't have the space or assets to be a player.  Free agency still isn't over yet either.

[SwisherPrice]

Seems like Kelly Oubre doesn't have much interest right now, even after averaging a career-best 20 ppg (albeit for a bad Charlotte team). If they had interest in Dillon Brooks then they might as well be interested in him too.

Out of all of the remaining options who could have the potential to make a big impact, I'd rather sign him for the full MLE, especially if you could get him on a short-term 2-year deal. Add more firepower and figure out the fit later instead of settling for limited role players. He's not exactly a consistent shooter but he's got length, athleticism and can do something with the ball when defenses focus on Luka/Kyrie. Even better if they're able to trade away THJ at some point to clear minutes.

[soog]

Apparently Stein is reporting in his substack (or whatever it is called), that the reason you haven’t heard more from the Mavs is that they are primarily interested in RFAs meaning you won’t hear about it until the 6th. My understanding is this only gives the current team 1 day to decide to match.

He also said they are primarily looking at wing and center upgrades.

Combining both above statements it has me back to thinking about Grant Williams and Al Horford. I wouldn’t hate a starting lineup of:

Irving/Luka/THJ/Williams/Horford

[RGP1981]

Apparently Stein is reporting in his substack (or whatever it is called), that the reason you haven’t heard more from the Mavs is that they are primarily interested in RFAs meaning you won’t hear about it until the 6th. My understanding is this only gives the current team 1 day to decide to match.

He also said they are primarily looking at wing and center upgrades.

I'm finding this hard to believe... why?

Cause this is the list of RFAs available in 2023... not only is the list small, but all of the good ones have already negotiated new deals.

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/free-agents/rfa/

[dirkfansince1998]

I'm finding this hard to believe... why?

Cause this is the list of RFAs available in 2023... not only is the list small, but all of the good ones have already negotiated new deals.

https://www.spotrac.com/nba/free-agents/rfa/

Thybulle, Williams and Washington are exactly what the Mavs need. Just comes down to the potential cost of a sign&trade or in case of Boston (would be over the second apron if Williams gets full MLE money) the number they won´t match.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

How exactly did they prove themselves in the draft this year? 

Mavs fans are really overhyping the draft IMO because they’re used to such incompetence and Nico was able to trade down and get an additional pick. Also because the Mavs drafted for need. We need defense and drafted two defensive prospects. Hooray

Drafting for need usually doesn’t work out. That’s how you get Josh Green instead of Bane or Maxey. 

Personally, I’m not a fan of Lively either. Hope he works out.

I’m fine with the draft. Nice little trade down. But I’d have been more impressed if they could have gotten a more known commodity. The team as currently constructed looks like a 7-10 seed.

[Mavs2021]

Apparently Stein is reporting in his substack (or whatever it is called), that the reason you haven’t heard more from the Mavs is that they are primarily interested in RFAs meaning you won’t hear about it until the 6th. My understanding is this only gives the current team 1 day to decide to match.

He also said they are primarily looking at wing and center upgrades.

I guess that means

Williams
Bridges
Washington
Reed
Donsunmu
Thybulle

At least that is proper young talent.

I´m not totally buying the silence part. Do you want to surprise (and potentially piss off) the other team? Negotiating seems the smarter play.

On paper we could use all of them. Then we might be a contender.

[RGP1981]

Thybulle, Williams and Washington are exactly what the Mavs need. Just comes down to the potential cost of a sign&trade or in case of Boston (would be over the second apron if Williams gets full MLE money) the number they won´t match.

What I meant was, the reason we have not heard more from the Mavs is not because their plan was to target an RFA (as Stein is supposedly saying)... but because this is yet another off-season where the Mavs FO have not done enough pre-work to make good trades, and therefore have to make do with what is left over.

[soog]

Mavs fans are really overhyping the draft IMO because they’re used to such incompetence and Nico was able to trade down and get an additional pick. Also because the Mavs drafted for need. We need defense and drafted two defensive prospects. Hooray

Drafting for need usually doesn’t work out. That’s how you get Josh Green instead of Bane or Maxey. 

Personally, I’m not a fan of Lively either. Hope he works out.

I’m fine with the draft. Nice little trade down. But I’d have been more impressed if they could have gotten a more known commodity. The team as currently constructed looks like a 7-10 seed.

They turned one pick and Bertans into 2 picks and Holmes. You can fault their picks but you can’t fault their asset management.

[soog]

I guess that means

Williams
Bridges
Washington
Reed
Donsunmu
Thybulle

At least that is proper young talent.

I´m not totally buying the silence part. Do you want to surprise (and potentially piss off) the other team? Negotiating seems the smarter play.

On paper we could use all of them. Then we might be a contender.

Yes, surprising teams is exactly what you want to do. You don’t want to make it easy for them to match your offer on their RFA. It’s a business and this is playing by the rules as written. Everyone understands that

[soog]

What I meant was, the reason we have not heard more from the Mavs is not because their plan was to target an RFA (as Stein is supposedly saying)... but because this is yet another off-season where the Mavs FO have not done enough pre-work to make good trades, and therefore have to make do with what is left over.

That’s base on pure speculation. They obviously did their pre work ahead of the draft. No reason to think they didn’t do that ahead of FA. Even these small moves (Curry/Exum/Powell) point to a coordinated plan that has left room for a bigger move. If Stein says he is hearing that this what what the Mavs FO is doing, there is more reason to believe him right now than not.

[Mavs2021]

Yes, surprising teams is exactly what you want to do. You don’t want to make it easy for them to match your offer on their RFA. It’s a business and this is playing by the rules as written. Everyone understands that

Really? You want to "blindside" them into making a decision within 24 hours; with barely any time to negotiate a trade that might have to involve a 3rd party?

The most likely outcome is that they´ll match it and figure out the rest later. I´d rather be upfront and try to figure out ways that are mutually beneficial to both teams.

If you force the issue on Reed and Thybulle before the Harden/Lillard situations are resolved, both will likely match.

Find it more likely Boston won´t match, since I don´t buy their bluff. They are not matching the full MLE, but they´d prefer to get a TPE and maybe a smaller salary out of the deal. 

PJ Washington is out of MLE range anyway. It would be dumb for him to sign it. He´d only be doing the Hornets a favour. I think he might be this year´s Lauri Markkanen.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

They turned one pick and Bertans into 2 picks and Holmes. You can fault their picks but you can’t fault their asset management.

My point is that’s like 25% of their off-season work accomplished.

Overall off-season grade right now is a C

[F Gump]

Really? You want to "blindside" them into making a decision within 24 hours; with barely any time to negotiate a trade that might have to involve a 3rd party?

What are you thinking? There is no trade (or potential trade) being discussed. This is a strategy for trying to get a RFA away from another team, by minimizing (to the smallest amount possible) their time to figure out if they have a good way to keep you from doing it.

Yes you want them to barely have any time, but if they match they can't trade him anyhow (he gets a no-trade), so there's that.

[DallasMaverick]

I guess that means

Williams
Bridges
Washington
Reed
Donsunmu
Thybulle

At least that is proper young talent.

I´m not totally buying the silence part. Do you want to surprise (and potentially piss off) the other team? Negotiating seems the smarter play.

On paper we could use all of them. Then we might be a contender.

It’s fascinating how we know exactly what the Mavs are thinking and doing, even without being in their war room or talking to any of them.

[omahen]

What are you thinking? There is no trade (or potential trade) being discussed. This is a strategy for trying to get a RFA away from another team, by minimizing (to the smallest amount possible) their time to figure out if they have a good way to keep you from doing it.

Yes you want them to barely have any time, but if they match they can't trade him anyhow (he gets a no-trade), so there's that.

I am sure it is very easy to prepare for a couple of scenarios, if offer sheet comes. Can they still negotiate a SnT, once the offer is made? Can the player be SnT into the MLE?

Who knows what Portland and Boston are thinking. Perhaps they are bluffing, perhaps they are not. Perhaps they just want to squeeze something from bidding teams. 

So from Mavs perspective, they can either play the russian rullete, make the offer and hope they won't match or they can offer asset to not match. If the price for that is our last standing SRP, I would give it. I think the loss if a team matches the offer sheet is much much bigger than losing one SRP. 


P.S.: lets not forget it is the player who chooses to sign the offer sheet. Mavs are likely not the only bidders out there. So it might be the players looking at offers what is delaying the process.

[soog]

Really? You want to "blindside" them into making a decision within 24 hours; with barely any time to negotiate a trade that might have to involve a 3rd party?

Rumors before FA kicked off were that Dallas had already engaged Boston on whether they would be interested in a S&T for Williams. If true then the Mavs already know what Boston’s stance on matching/trading is and if Stein’s info is regarding Williams then they will put Boston under the gun and force them to make a quick decision.

All of this of course is pure conjecture, but prioritizing Grant Williams aligns with a lot of the separate rumors we are hearing along with what the Mavs have done up to this point in the off-season (as much as I hope it is PJ Washington instead).

[khaled1987]

What are you thinking? There is no trade (or potential trade) being discussed. This is a strategy for trying to get a RFA away from another team, by minimizing (to the smallest amount possible) their time to figure out if they have a good way to keep you from doing it.

Yes you want them to barely have any time, but if they match they can't trade him anyhow (he gets a no-trade), so there's that.

With MLE money? 
Come on, NBA teams had months to prepare for the number they will match. Heck even if it was 6 hours teams won't be surprised by any offer we make.
Boston already knows if they match or not our MLE offer, or anyone for that matter.