MAVS NEWS:

[Jmaciscool]

He's Nico's boss again, isn't he...

Did Cuban get a new role with the Mavs?  Last I heard he no longer had any official role/title (other than minority owner), but if that were still true I doubt the Mavs brass would allow him to speak with reporters in that capacity.

[DallasMaverick]

https://x.com/noahweber00/status/1938655847263121609

@noahweber00
Mark Cuban on Cooper Flagg and where he can play:

“I’d send a text to J-Kidd, point guard, point guard, point guard, let him bring the ball up…”

Talks about a lineup of:

- Cooper Flagg
- Klay Thompson
- P.J. Washington
- Anthony Davis
- Dereck Lively II or Daniel Gafford

Says the Mavs are “going to have the biggest team in the NBA.”

Kinda nice to hear him giving such strong props to Nico, especially after saying that he would have wanted a better return on the Luka trade.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

He's been great, and he's been pretty bad. 

More bad than good recently, imho. I really wanted him back when they were changing out from Donnie. Now? Not so sure.

He'll get another shot somewhere. Joe Dumars did...

[KillerLeft]

He'll get another shot somewhere. Joe Dumars did...

Agreed, and rightfully so. I'm just not sure I'd want it to be in Dallas.

[DallasMaverick]

Wondering: if the Mavs fired Nico, what do we think about Masai Ujiri as a replacement?

If you hated Nico’s decisions…

Seems like he couldn’t decide whether to tear it down, or build it up.  Seems like he held on to players too long, demanding too much in trade, and their value then dropped.

[F Gump]

How did that look? I'm actually asking, because my Mavs love was completely numb down the stretch and I think I only saw one game after the big AD debut when he got hurt again.

Naji on the floor as secondary ball-handler/creator? Useful. As PG and primary ball-handler? VERY bad. You do not want that, neither as starter PG nor as a backup PG except in an emergency "no one else is available at all for this game" disaster. I hope the Mavs got that question entirely out of their system for good.

[F Gump]

https://x.com/noahweber00/status/1938655847263121609

@noahweber00
Mark Cuban on Cooper Flagg and where he can play:

“I’d send a text to J-Kidd, point guard, point guard, point guard, let him bring the ball up…”

Talks about a lineup of:

- Cooper Flagg
- Klay Thompson
- P.J. Washington
- Anthony Davis
- Dereck Lively II or Daniel Gafford

Says the Mavs are “going to have the biggest team in the NBA.”

Sounds like a least one person is seeing the vision that I have been talking about.

It's not CF being a traditional PG (much less the Luka-style ball domination almost every possession), but instead in an offense where they push the pace, and the ball is shared (bringing it up the floor looks very different when the ball is passed up the floor instead of the rebound passed backwards to a designated player who will deliberately pound it every time), and the offense can go through anyone, not just one specific person.

I think they do want a "PG" type, but frankly they may have a bigger need for efficient shooting to spread the floor. Or, if they can dunk the ball half the time, then maybe not so much.

[RasheedsBigWhiteSpot]

Flagg could be Ben Simmons with a jumpshot, but minus the idiocracy.

[Scott41theMavs]

As I said in the other thread, I'd play Flagg at PG for the whole year until Kyrie comes back. After all, we have our own pick for '26.

[FireNicoHarrison]

Flagg as PG is a easy failure for me...

[WillE]

Sounds like Flagg will play some point guard in summer league.

Kidd tried the same with Giannis, btw.

However, CF's experiment has a bigger chance of actually becoming a success, as the group around him should be a better fit for this role as is his skillset, especially shooting ability.

But ultimatly: as long as Kyrie is here, CF will only act in spurts as PG.

[david75090]

Nellie used to call that point-forward.

[Smitty]

Kidd tried the same with Giannis, btw.

However, CF's experiment has a bigger chance of actually becoming a success, as the group around him should be a better fit for this role as is his skillset, especially shooting ability.

But ultimatly: as long as Kyrie is here, CF will only act in spurts as PG.

I mean, Kyrie isn’t even a PG. At least not in the traditional sense. That’s why I think we all need to open our mind a little and move away from the old traditional position labels.

Same with Klay. He’s labeled as a SG but I’d argue he’s way more SF than SG. Ultimately, it doesn’t matter what the lineup card shows next to your name. It’s about putting 5 guys on the floor that can execute your offensive philosophy. The biggest thing in my mind is matchups on the other end. Can you guard a quick twitch guy 1v1, and if not what is your defensive plan to cover for it. Do you have someone that can fight over screens if it calls for it. Can you hold your own in ISOs against a Big like AD on the elbow. In the regular season it won’t matter as much, but in a series, when we see real game plans, that’s when you need to matchup and execute, but you need a versatile roster to do so if you want to win it all.

[myconsumerclub]

I think of a lineup with Cooper Klay PJ AD and Lively or Gafford starting and when Kyrie comes back plus they get anotther PG and Kai Jones and maybe Nembhard is JJB reincarnate and Naji starts to hit 3 pointers as we started to see some last year there is a lot to be excited about this team and our 2 way contracts are there to develop with great potential in the future. If Coop can come in right away and function comfortably enough to lead the team and win with confidence as the PG there is nothing that will stop this team from returning to the finals this season.

Bench considerations are very interesting in that scenario. Say B Will and Max come in to rest the starters and whoever is the backup 5 plus Naji at SF and maybe you see Klay in place of Max when he drops to the 2nd team after Kyrie comes back but PJ as a starter at SF means you got Kai Jones as a PF behind AD and that makes this a strong deep team.

There are a lot of ways to configure lineups with a player who can play anywhere 1 through 4 sort of like when we had Luka.

[DallasMaverick]

Flagg as PG is a easy failure for me...

Would that be your first?

[Smitty]

Sounds like a least one person is seeing the vision that I have been talking about.

It's not CF being a traditional PG (much less the Luka-style ball domination almost every possession), but instead in an offense where they push the pace, and the ball is shared (bringing it up the floor looks very different when the ball is passed up the floor instead of the rebound passed backwards to a designated player who will deliberately pound it every time), and the offense can go through anyone, not just one specific person.

I think they do want a "PG" type, but frankly they may have a bigger need for efficient shooting to spread the floor. Or, if they can dunk the ball half the time, then maybe not so much.

I’ve been fighting the good fight with you! Mostly on Discord, but I’ve got your back on the board! Keep leading the way.

[Winter]

The Flagg experiment will have some rough moments, but what it does is put the five best players on the court.

I really want to see PJ and Flagg together. They have some similar skills in their ability to rebound and score both in the paint and on the perimeter. Flagg will be the better passer, but those two will be fun to watch together.

It's hard to imagine many teams out-rebounding us with these five on the court

[KillerLeft]

I mean, Kyrie isn’t even a PG. At least not in the traditional sense. That’s why I think we all need to open our mind a little and move away from the old traditional position labels.

I think we're all using (and confusing each other with) the term "traditional" differently. 

Luka was absolutely not a "traditional" PG in the way I take that label's meaning. Neither is Harden. Or Brunson, for that matter.

I keep seeing this conversation devolve into "heliocentric vs. ball movement," and I just can't believe our collective understanding of the game (quoted poster excluded) is so lacking in nuance. Using the example of Indiana (again), I think they moved the ball and ran a beautiful, rhythm-building offense the likes of which the league hasn't seen for quite a while. But, I think they were able to do that because they had (before the injury) possibly the best "traditional" PG in the league right now. Just because Carlisle is a great coach and got a great, super-intelligent player (and team) to understand the value of moving the ball does NOT mean that Haliburton's handles and 1-on-1 skills weren't necessary to pull it off. I'm not saying that's your point, but I keep seeing people suggest that if the ball is moving, you don't NEED skilled offensive playmaking. Dribble penetration is how 90% of the NBA operates in the latest version of a sport that will ALWAYS AND FOREVER be played "inside-out."

In fact, there were 3-4 players on the IND team who can function as ball-handlers much better than any currently healthy Maverick. And, Siakim is a far superior 1-on-1 player at the elbow (like Dirk was) than AD. It's not close.

You could convince me that some type of 5-out, dribble handoff system with lots of cutting (where the players move, not the ball) that allows AD and/or Lively to make decisions at the top could work, but...if that's the plan, why on Earth is Daniel Gafford still on the team? He'd have no chance of thriving in an offensive system like that, and desperately needs to be on a team that plans to spam spread pick and roll. 

There are loads of ways to run offense, but they all depend on creating advantages, and I'm not seeing a way for the Mavs to do that at the moment. I suppose at this point we just need to see what else they do and then see how it looks, but I'm definitely not getting "contender" vibes at the moment unless we see a pretty big offensive add (in addition to the tpMLE guard).

[KillerLeft]

I really want to see PJ and Flagg together. 

I do, too...with one center, not two.

[KillerLeft]

Personally, I think we're on track for a metric ton of mid-range jumpers coming from AD and Flagg. I think the paint is going to be clogged, due to lack of spacing (for a few reasons), so cutting, dribble penetration, the post pass...all options are going to be difficult for this team. That's my prediction. At this time, anyway.