MAVS NEWS:

[Kidnova]

While AD-at-C makes sense, is it a bad recipe for him playing 82 games? Much more banging as a C. I wonder if he prefers to avoid that role for that reason.

AD made it pretty clear that he wanted to play more time at the 4, and I'm guessing Nico told him that would happen which probably played into his decision to waive his trade kicker.  Sure, they could backpedal on that now because of changes to the roster, but that's not likely to make your (presumably) best player this season very happy.

[Chicagojk]

Flagg highlights but this may be the best summer league team I can remember without additional picks.  Some good colllege players.

https://x.com/townbrad/status/1940886884512944308?s=61

Of course Mavs have 23 lakers second round pick, Maxwell Lewis, on their summer league roster.

[Chicagojk]

Two former 5 star recruits who were in college for four years in Hickman and Cleveland. Neither really lived up to expectations but were solid players

[Jym]

AD made it pretty clear that he wanted to play more time at the 4, and I'm guessing Nico told him that would happen which probably played into his decision to waive his trade kicker.  Sure, they could backpedal on that now because of changes to the roster, but that's not likely to make your (presumably) best player this season very happy.

I just really hope Lively is slinging the 3's this year 
Even if it's not at a great percentage he needs to get used to moving around on the perimeter and getting good, open looks 
Consider me at least a little worried if he's unwilling to shoot them again this year

[Smitty]

While AD-at-C makes sense, is it a bad recipe for him playing 82 games? Much more banging as a C. I wonder if he prefers to avoid that role for that reason.

I’m sure that has something to do with it.

We talked about 3PT shooting a lot today. He has to be one of the worst shooters in the league for a Forward… 5 straight years under 30%. Career 29.6%. His midrange shooting numbers are actually subpar also. It wouldn’t be as big of an issue if he was the lone Big, because he’d be the worst shooter on the floor. But now he’s paired with other non-shooting Bigs.

I’ve said before that he’s a Top-2 Center in the league, behind Joker. He just doesn’t want to do the dirty work.

[Winter]

I’m sure that has something to do with it.

We talked about 3PT shooting a lot today. He has to be one of the worst shooters in the league for a Forward… 5 straight years under 30%. Career 29.6%. His midrange shooting numbers are actually subpar also. It wouldn’t be as big of an issue if he was the lone Big, because he’d be the worst shooter on the floor. But now he’s paired with other non-shooting Bigs.

I’ve said before that he’s a Top-2 Center in the league, behind Joker. He just doesn’t want to do the dirty work.

There's needs to be a lot of coaching and film for this group of players. 

Frank Vogel has helped AD before, and I'm hoping there's some refinement to his game given the makeup of the team.

[F Gump]

I’m sure that has something to do with it.

We talked about 3PT shooting a lot today. He has to be one of the worst shooters in the league for a Forward… 5 straight years under 30%. Career 29.6%. His midrange shooting numbers are actually subpar also. It wouldn’t be as big of an issue if he was the lone Big, because he’d be the worst shooter on the floor. But now he’s paired with other non-shooting Bigs.

I’ve said before that he’s a Top-2 Center in the league, behind Joker. He just doesn’t want to do the dirty work.

Good points. IMO he is a generally good-to-excellent player, but an awful fit on this roster, sad to say. Hoping against hope for Nico to somehow figure it out (or even better, Nico gets fired and a real GM is hired and handles it).

[KillerLeft]

I’m sure that has something to do with it.

We talked about 3PT shooting a lot today. He has to be one of the worst shooters in the league for a Forward… 5 straight years under 30%. Career 29.6%. His midrange shooting numbers are actually subpar also. It wouldn’t be as big of an issue if he was the lone Big, because he’d be the worst shooter on the floor. But now he’s paired with other non-shooting Bigs.

I’ve said before that he’s a Top-2 Center in the league, behind Joker. He just doesn’t want to do the dirty work.

+1 to all of this, and his defensive mobility is far less special when he plays with another big. Can you imagine how great their defense would be in one of AD and Lively were always paired with one of Flagg and PJW?????!

[KillerLeft]

I just really hope Lively is slinging the 3's this year 
Even if it's not at a great percentage he needs to get used to moving around on the perimeter and getting good, open looks 
Consider me at least a little worried if he's unwilling to shoot them again this year

Interesting...so you think he hasn't been shooting them because he's unwilling? I assumed he hasn't because they didn't want him to shoot them. When Luka was here, everything was about rolling hard.

Having said that...if the plan really is to play AD at the 4, maybe it is time for Lively to let them fly from deep? Not sure what Kidd has in mind, honestly.

[Jym]

Interesting...so you think he hasn't been shooting them because he's unwilling? I assumed he hasn't because they didn't want him to shoot them. When Luka was here, everything was about rolling hard.

Having said that...if the plan really is to play AD at the 4, maybe it is time for Lively to let them fly from deep? Not sure what Kidd has in mind, honestly.

You don't find it weird he didn't shoot a single one last year? 
I don't think Kidd would have been mad about some here and there. 

And I feel like it causes a cascade of events if he's still not shooting 3's. At that point I think you have to play Davis at the 5 to end games. Well if we want to win the most games. Getting a decent pick while we still can wouldn't make me mad

[KillerLeft]

At that point I think you have to play Davis at the 5 to end games. 

I think we're there, whether Lively is shooting 3's or not. 

Gonna be interesting to see how this team looks, but that's what I'm predicting. The good news is that if Davis gets hurt, I like their chances with Lively finishing games instead.

[Jym]

I think we're there, whether Lively is shooting 3's or not. 

Gonna be interesting to see how this team looks, but that's what I'm predicting. The good news is that if Davis gets hurt, I like their chances with Lively finishing games instead.

If Gafford stays, I think the plan is to play Davis exclusively at power forward 
(not a very good plan)

[KillerLeft]

If Gafford stays, I think the plan is the play Davis exclusively at power forward 
(not a very good plan)

They might want to do that a lot, I agree. But, as you say, they won't have a choice at some point, and I feel that will be fairly obvious fairly quickly.

[KillerLeft]

To be clear, my contention is that even for Kidd/Harrison, the allure of playing AD at the 4 has to do with "regular season wear and tear." I do think there are some situations that come up wherein Davis playing with Lively can be advantageous, but but I think those situations are the exception, not the norm.

I don't think for a second that Jason Kidd doesn't realize the 5 is AD's best position. If I'm wrong about that, then a lot of my hope for the next few seasons flies right out the window. It's not like Davis will refuse to play center, or play less hard at that position if asked. Every team he has ever played for has convinced him to do it. Porzingis didn't want to do it for a long time, either, but eventually he figured it out.

This is why I wouldn't consider trading AD. Instead, just play him at the 5 as much as you can get away with, because he's a special player there.

[F Gump]

I can tell I'm in the minority here (by a lot), but DL shooting 3s is not on my wish list at all. I don't want him to try to be Dirk and a 4. Instead, I want him to stay in his lane, be a player who dominates the lane on both ends, making the other team game plan for him, ie a 5 like Chandler.

"I think the plan is they play Davis exclusively at power forward (not a very good plan)" --- I think you're close to 100% right. I do think Mavs will use AD situationally here and there as a 5 (so not 100% as a 4), but I agree the vast majority of his play will be as a 4 and they will see him as a 4. I think Nico accepted that premise with AD when he got him. AD expects to be the 4, and stars get their way.

I am not sure it will be a disaster. While he may be way more flawed as a 4, that just means the Mavs (Kidd) have to figure out how to work around the flaws as is, or coach him up. (For example, if you want to be a 4, you gotta make 3's at 40% not 30%, because these days top 4's have that in their game as another weapon - so we want you to be the best, and how do we get you there?). IMO it will help tremendously that Mavs coaches will be ones who coached AD to a great year in 2020 when LA won a title (and fwiw he shot 57% overall and 38% on 3's in that playoff run) - that should make his buy-in much easier on whatever improvement is needed.

[DallasMaverick]

What's PJ's new contract look like?

4 years, starting at $18mil? More?

[KillerLeft]

What's PJ's new contract look like?

4 years, starting at $18mil? More?

Seems low to me. That's Harrison Barnes money.  I kind of doubt PJ's gonna be ok with accepting less than Kyle Kuzma, lol.

If they get him at that number, this will have been a productive summer, indeed.

[F Gump]

What's PJ's new contract look like?

4 years, starting at $18mil? More?

Good question.

My issues in assessing it ...

1 I think the very recent NBA revelation that revenues portend less than a 10% cap increase in 2026 (they gave 7% as their expectation) sent shock waves to teams and players alike, who had all been game-planning on 10% every year. If it is indeed 7, all Bird raises of 8% from 2025 to 2026 deplete payroll flexibility (whereas, 10% from 2025 to 2026 would have covered such raises and added some extra). 

One takeaway is a leeriness of where the cap is headed, not only in 2026 but beyond. Am I screwed if I push the limits in my budget? A hard cap does not bend, so belt-tightening happens instead, and it starts now.

2 PJW's max extension (incl incentives) is 4/91, with yr 1 a smidge below 20. I see that as very borderline as to getting value for the dollar, and if he wants more, I feel forced to be looking to deal him. In July, really.

3 I would prefer to keep him and would hope to see something like 3/57-60 in total (or 4/80 or so). I can live with your "18M in year 1" idea (which would offer him ~4/81 all in).

4 Re PJW and assessing a salary that might offer value, I am also curious on Myles T year-over-year salary numbers w MIL (to help me gauge how far above my view of his "value" he got). I do see PJW as worth somewhat less in general. I am not interested in a bloated deal for PJW. I hope he is kept on a salary that offers cap value.

[Jym]

I can tell I'm in the minority here (by a lot), but DL shooting 3s is not on my wish list at all. I don't want him to try to be Dirk and a 4. Instead, I want him to stay in his lane, be a player who dominates the lane on both ends, making the other team game plan for him, ie a 5 like Chandler.

"I think the plan is they play Davis exclusively at power forward (not a very good plan)" --- I think you're close to 100% right. I do think Mavs will use AD situationally here and there as a 5 (so not 100% as a 4), but I agree the vast majority of his play will be as a 4 and they will see him as a 4. I think Nico accepted that premise with AD when he got him. AD expects to be the 4, and stars get their way.

I am not sure it will be a disaster. While he may be way more flawed as a 4, that just means the Mavs (Kidd) have to figure out how to work around the flaws as is, or coach him up. (For example, if you want to be a 4, you gotta make 3's at 40% not 30%, because these days top 4's have that in their game as another weapon - so we want you to be the best, and how do we get you there?). IMO it will help tremendously that Mavs coaches will be ones who coached AD to a great year in 2020 when LA won a title (and fwiw he shot 57% overall and 38% on 3's in that playoff run) - that should make his buy-in much easier on whatever improvement is needed.

ehh he hasn't shot over 30% from 3 since 2019-20 
Much, much more likely he shoots 28% than 38%.

[KillerLeft]

Gump, that's Gafford money. I guess I should ask: do you think Gafford is more valuable or of equivalent value to PJW? I sure don't, but you might.

If I'm PJW, I want to be paid as a starting 4, because that's what I am. You could convince me to come off the bench...if I'm being paid well.

This is why I assumed one of them would be gone, only...to me, it makes more sense to keep the guy with positional flex who helps in a variety of ways (and is just a better player, imo).