MAVS NEWS:

[SleepingHero]

Not even the fact that he may in fact be the second best player on the team with only a year under his belt? I'll hang up and listen.

I've drank the kool-klaid and I'm just throwing it out there we're going to see a 25ppg Klay domination. 

Lively can have 2nd best player in year 3.

[Smitty]

I've drank the kool-klaid and I'm just throwing it out there we're going to see a 25ppg Klay domination. 

Lively can have 2nd best player in year 3.

That’s a lot of kool-aid. Kyrie is still the second best player on this team. Klay and Lively can battle it out for 3rd.

[WildArkieBoy]

That’s a lot of kool-aid. Kyrie is still the second best player on this team. Klay and Lively can battle it out for 3rd.

No "ranking" of players needed as Klay and Kyrie will set a certain professional tone for this team that will allow Lively to blossom and Luka to be Luka. . . . . . 

[ThisIStheYear]

I think you're looking at ~6 weeks recovery before you start doing normal exercising, maybe longer when working out at a professional athlete level. Anyone want to bet what "bored Luka" will be doing during the recovery? Plus, 6 weeks is a significant chunk of an off season to not work on improving your skills.

Managing his diet, including alcohol intake, and working to build his stamina probably yields the best results. Simplistic to say and hard to do, but he can afford a support staff to help him find his way.

With a deeper team and improvements in some of the returning players (e.g., PJW and DLive) hopefully Luka can just relax not having to be the hero every game and get back to enjoying the game, although for a little fewer MPG. Happy Luka is much more of a terror for the opposition than stressed Luka, just ask Booker.

Lipo seems like a terrible idea for an elite athlete. But Ozempic?  I wonder?

[Ghost of Podkolzin]

Not even the fact that he may in fact be the second best player on the team with only a year under his belt? I'll hang up and listen.

Correct.  He needs to be pushed and challenged, not coronated.  Gafford is the perfect teammate to push Lively.  Let Lively compete with everything Gafford brings PLUS everything Gafford lacks.

[SleepingHero]

MFFL NATION (@NationMffl)
NEWS: Dallas Mavericks digital content manager, Bobby Karalla, announced that after 11 seasons with the team, he’ll be leaving the organization.

Thank you Bobby

[SleepingHero]

https://x.com/NationMffl/status/1822095514722009157

MFFL NATION (@NationMffl)
Klay Thompson was getting BUCKETS in open runs with Mavs teammate, Spencer Dinwiddie

(via theguardwhisperer/IG)

[HoosierDaddyKid]

https://www.jsonline.com/story/sports/nb...789201007/


Dirk says Milwaukee would have been fun if they didn't trade him.

[Smitty]

Missed games the last two seasons:

Luka: 16 & 12 | AVG. 14
Kyrie: 22 & 24 | AVG. 23
Klay: 13 & 5 | AVG. 9
PJW: 9 & 9 | AVG. 9
Lively: 27 | AVG. 27
Gaff: 4 & 8 | AVG. 6


I think it's safe to say Kyrie will miss 20+ games again this upcoming season. Others will miss time as well... I wanted to look at the starters and see what we can expect from a missed games perspective and imagine how the depth will help this team in the regular season. I think most of us agree that a top 4 seed in the West is critical, that the likelihood of making another run to the Finals as the road dog in each series is very unlikely.

With Luka out: Dinwiddie starts
Din | Exum
Kyrie | Hardy
Klay | Grimes
PJW | Naji
Lively | Gafford

With Kyrie out: Dinwiddie starts
Luka | Exum
Din | Hardy
Klay | Grimes
PJW | Naji
Lively | Gafford

With Klay out: Grimes starts
Luka | Exum
Kyrie | Din
Grimes | Naji
PJW | Maxi
Lively | Gafford

With PJW out: Naji starts
Luka | Exum
Kyrie | Din
Klay | Grimes
Naji | Maxi
Lively | Gafford

With Lively out: Gafford starts
Luka | Exum
Kyrie | Din
Klay | Grimes
PJW | Naji
Gafford | Maxi

One thing I'd like to note on Luka. He might not miss as many games as Kyrie but he definitely plays a lot of games banged up. Near the end of the season he's almost always playing on one leg. We had a discussion about the rotation and what it looks like when everyone is healthy and a lot want Luka's minutes to go down to 30-32 MPG, which is just unrealistic. However, I think the more realistic path to help Luka with the nagging injuries is to lower his usage percentage. He's been at an unsustainable rate the last 5 years at 36.0% or more. Even Lebron, who's a freak athlete and ball dominant has only averaged 31.5% in his career with a high of 33.8%.
Now that the team has skill and depth, it's important that Kidd and the coaching staff find a way to reduce the workload for Luka when he's on the floor. Adding Klay and Grimes who are movement shooters and Naji/Dinwiddie that can handle the ball, it looks like the Mavs have the personnel to make the necessary changes to the offense. IF Luka's usage doesn't go down significantly this year, I'm blaming the coaching staff! And by significantly, I mean that he needs to be around his rookie year number of 30.5%.

[Ghost of Podkolzin]

Missed games the last two seasons:

Luka: 16 & 12 | AVG. 14
Kyrie: 22 & 24 | AVG. 23
Klay: 13 & 5 | AVG. 9
PJW: 9 & 9 | AVG. 9
Lively: 27 | AVG. 27
Gaff: 4 & 8 | AVG. 6


I think it's safe to say Kyrie will miss 20+ games again this upcoming season. Others will miss time as well... I wanted to look at the starters and see what we can expect from a missed games perspective and imagine how the depth will help this team in the regular season. I think most of us agree that a top 4 seed in the West is critical, that the likelihood of making another run to the Finals as the road dog in each series is very unlikely.

With Luka out: Dinwiddie starts
Din | Exum
Kyrie | Hardy
Klay | Grimes
PJW | Naji
Lively | Gafford

With Kyrie out: Dinwiddie starts
Luka | Exum
Din | Hardy
Klay | Grimes
PJW | Naji
Lively | Gafford

With Klay out: Grimes starts
Luka | Exum
Kyrie | Din
Grimes | Naji
PJW | Maxi
Lively | Gafford

With PJW out: Naji starts
Luka | Exum
Kyrie | Din
Klay | Grimes
Naji | Maxi
Lively | Gafford

With Lively out: Gafford starts
Luka | Exum
Kyrie | Din
Klay | Grimes
PJW | Naji
Gafford | Maxi

One thing I'd like to note on Luka. He might not miss as many games as Kyrie but he definitely plays a lot of games banged up. Near the end of the season he's almost always playing on one leg. We had a discussion about the rotation and what it looks like when everyone is healthy and a lot want Luka's minutes to go down to 30-32 MPG, which is just unrealistic. However, I think the more realistic path to help Luka with the nagging injuries is to lower his usage percentage. He's been at an unsustainable rate the last 5 years at 36.0% or more. Even Lebron, who's a freak athlete and ball dominant has only averaged 31.5% in his career with a high of 33.8%.
Now that the team has skill and depth, it's important that Kidd and the coaching staff find a way to reduce the workload for Luka when he's on the floor. Adding Klay and Grimes who are movement shooters and Naji/Dinwiddie that can handle the ball, it looks like the Mavs have the personnel to make the necessary changes to the offense. IF Luka's usage doesn't go down significantly this year, I'm blaming the coaching staff! And by significantly, I mean that he needs to be around his rookie year number of 30.5%.

Great analysis!  I look at it as total minutes.  Overtime aside, each of the five spots have 3,936 minutes in the regular season (82 x 48).  So you look at total minutes available and fill that with the actual minutes played.  In doing this, you find out things like Maxi only played 23% of available minutes the last 2 years.

[Jym]

Maybe this will be the year that Kidd will stop playing Luka for 12 minute stretches without a break
Makes zero sense to keep doing that. None, nada, zip

[DallasMaverick]

Maybe this will be the year that Kidd will stop playing Luka for 12 minute stretches without a break
Makes zero sense to keep doing that. None, nada, zip

Western Conference champions.

[Jym]

Western Conference champions.

So you agree with the weird decision to play him for full quarters like that in the regular season? 
Not like I'm advocating for Kidd to be fired or anything. He seems to be great at managing egos and stars

[Scott41theMavs]

Western Conference champions.

Could have been NBA champions if Luka wasn't banged up. And if Kyrie had gotten over his Celtics block.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Could have been NBA champions if Luka wasn't banged up. And if Kyrie had gotten over his Celtics block.

Boston was a better defensive team. It didn't matter if Luka was healthy or not, and if Kyrie didn't get the yips playing them.

[Scott41theMavs]

Boston was a better defensive team. It didn't matter if Luka was healthy or not, and if Kyrie didn't get the yips playing them.

We'll agree to (vehemently) disagree. Boston didn't have a superstar (in my strong opinion - Brown and Tatum are elite stars, not superstars), and Luka is a superstar. A healthy Luka could have (and in my opinion, notwithstanding the defensive stoutness of Brown, Tatum, Holiday, and White, would have) taken over that series. Kyrie shitting the bed absolutely didn't help - most of all, I think that in itself led to Luka giving up. If Kyrie had played to his usual standards, I strongly believe gimpy Luka and our defenders would have at least made it a far more competitive series rather than something of a gentleman's sweep.

[F Gump]

I think the regular season is more than a prelude to the post-season that you can just yawn your way through.

IMO it's the prep for the post-season. It's where coaches have to figure out their best-of-the-best players, lineups, rotations, etc. Who can they trust. Who is valuable against this type of opposition or that, and who sucks?

It's also where players have to get ready.

If Luka is going to play long stretches in the playoffs, he has to prepare in the regular season. Not every game, but on a semi-regular basis -- like games against the better teams. He can't play lightly in the 82 and then be ready for playing through fatigue in what follows.

I'd also note that Luka isn't playing heavy minutes for a star player, in historical terms including recent history. Star players tend to like to play, and play a lot. They don't want to sit, or have lesser players mess a game up. Last season 35-year-old KD played more minutes than Luka, and about the same number of mpg. That's just how it goes.

For a point of reference, J Kidd (who was a similar type of player in a similar situation in NJ at a similar age) played a very similar number of minutes and mpg as we see Luka playing now. And Kidd was effective in carrying that team, including 2 Finals runs that no one expected from them.

That's my 2c.

[Smitty]

I think the regular season is more than a prelude to the post-season that you can just yawn your way through.

IMO it's the prep for the post-season. It's where coaches have to figure out their best-of-the-best players, lineups, rotations, etc. Who can they trust. Who is valuable against this type of opposition or that, and who sucks?

It's also where players have to get ready.

If Luka is going to play long stretches in the playoffs, he has to prepare in the regular season. Not every game, but on a semi-regular basis -- like games against the better teams. He can't play lightly in the 82 and then be ready for playing through fatigue in what follows.

I'd also note that Luka isn't playing heavy minutes for a star player, in historical terms including recent history. Star players tend to like to play, and play a lot. They don't want to sit, or have lesser players mess a game up. Last season 35-year-old KD played more minutes than Luka, and about the same number of mpg. That's just how it goes.

For a point of reference, J Kidd (who was a similar type of player in a similar situation in NJ at a similar age) played a very similar number of minutes and mpg as we see Luka playing now. And Kidd was effective in carrying that team, including 2 Finals runs that no one expected from them.

That's my 2c.

Luka will no doubt continue to play 36+ MPG / 2,400-2,700 total minutes. That's why I highlighted his usage percentage as a way to reduce the wear and tear of an 82-game season. I think most of us agree that the Mavs have to do something to get him through the season healthier. At the rate he's at, he may not play past the age 30.

[F Gump]

Luka will no doubt continue to play 36+ MPG / 2,400-2,700 total minutes. That's why I highlighted his usage percentage as a way to reduce the wear and tear of an 82-game season. I think most of us agree that the Mavs have to do something to get him through the season healthier. At the rate he's at, he may not play past the age 30.

" I think most of us agree that the Mavs have to do something to get him through the season healthier. " ... I don't. Not in that "we will ensure it happens" way, at least. 

Until Luka himself makes his personal conditioning the priority (and I don't see evidence that he has), it's a fools errand for anyone to think there's an answer available to the Mavs. You can't fix someone - you can only help someone who had seen the need and is personally committed to do what it takes.

Luka will DEMAND to play. A lot. In a screw you sort of mindset. Not wanting to be benched. It's up to him to make and keep a commitment to have his body in optimal physical shape for the rigors of the competition.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

We'll agree to (vehemently) disagree. Boston didn't have a superstar (in my strong opinion - Brown and Tatum are elite stars, not superstars), and Luka is a superstar. A healthy Luka could have (and in my opinion, notwithstanding the defensive stoutness of Brown, Tatum, Holiday, and White, would have) taken over that series. Kyrie shitting the bed absolutely didn't help - most of all, I think that in itself led to Luka giving up. If Kyrie had played to his usual standards, I strongly believe gimpy Luka and our defenders would have at least made it a far more competitive series rather than something of a gentleman's sweep.

Your opinion, and you're entitled to it. I beg to differ, however. Luka IS a superstar, no question. But superstars can't beat good to great teams by themselves. The Joker is a superstar. What happened to him in the playoffs? Boston won without a healthy Porzingis too, because the sum of their parts was greater than the whole. He was phenomenal one game, and they got nothing from him the rest of the series. We can go back and forth all day. I love Dallas as a team and can't wait to see how their new pieces fit in, but it's going to be a lot tougher this year getting back to the promised land. Boston is the team everyone is chasing.