Are you looking forward to the season? What are you looking forward to?

[F Gump]

...I hit the summer kind of assuming Williams would be an afterthought and have been surprised by how much support he has had around here this summer. It kind of reminds me of the "bubble Burke" phenomenon a bit. The sample size was obviously small, and kind of like Grimes in Philly, Williams was in a situation wherein he HAD to handle the ball and score, so I imagine a ton of players could've looked pretty good in that situation. There's a strong chance he doesn't look as good when he has to function within the confines of a team actually trying to win, rather than just survive, but then again, if Williams IS as good as some hope...that could potentially be a ceiling raiser for the season.

You make a very fair point about Williams and Trey Burke, who makes a great comparison. Way back when, I was glad they signed Burke but didn't like the contract at all (3 years, all guaranteed, at about double the minimum). By comparison, BW - being carried over on a minimum salary for this year with only a small guarantee - offers little downside risk, which helps. At worst, he is the 15th man and an emergency backup PG getting minimum salary, and if he is a total bust he can even be waived until Jan 10 and be replaced by a different minimum salary player in that slot (or it can be left open for a while).

But I don't expect that at all. However, I can't say exactly why, because he didn't play a lot until they were a walking hospital ward.

I guess to me, the thing that Williams brought was that he made plays, and it seemed like on a comparative basis he was one of the bright spots compared to the rest of the team when you would look at the plus/minus results from one game to the next. A spark? A better attention to defense? A willingness to push the pace? Aggressive at doing whatever it takes? I don't have a good analysis, but I felt he had "something" and that if he was younger and available to draft, he might be a FRP or early SRP because of his ability to make things happen. What I saw looked better to me than Hardy, by a fairly significant amount. To me, that's good value to have in reserve on your bench, if nothing more. 

I will say this about the Mavs PG rotation. DAR is obviously penciled in as the starter and the expected best player in that spot, but he does bring a lot of question marks - some years he is valuable as a PG, some he has been close to bad. But when it comes to style of play that Kidd favors, I can see a rotation of Exum and Williams being used a lot, providing a real playmaking spark, and Kidd coming to rely on them way more than it might look like on paper right now. 

If it goes that way, imo guard minutes get real tight (rather than the Mavs desperate to find anyone who can play G). Players that right now look like mainstays could end up at risk of losing minutes (collateral damage) or even being traded. To me what DAR and Christie are doing right now, in preparing and improving, might end up making a HUGE difference in their minutes (positively, or negatively) this season, even before Kyrie is available. As ole Satchel used to say, they better not look back, because something might be gaining on them. 

Ultimately, we won't know how it unfolds until we get into the season and see the results. In any event, I think the internal competition on this roster will be fierce, at about every position, and that may flow into the games too.

[mvossman]

I will say this about the Mavs PG rotation. DAR is obviously penciled in as the starter and the expected best player in that spot, but he does bring a lot of question marks - some years he is valuable as a PG, some he has been close to bad. But when it comes to style of play that Kidd favors, I can see a rotation of Exum and Williams being used a lot, providing a real playmaking spark, and Kidd coming to rely on them way more than it might look like on paper right now. 

If it goes that way, imo guard minutes get real tight (rather than the Mavs desperate to find anyone who can play G). Players that right now look like mainstays could end up at risk of losing minutes (collateral damage) or even being traded. To me what DAR and Christie are doing right now, in preparing and improving, might end up making a HUGE difference in their minutes (positively, or negatively) this season, even before Kyrie is available. As ole Satchel used to say, they better not look back, because something might be gaining on them. 

Ultimately, we won't know how it unfolds until we get into the season and see the results. In any event, I think the internal competition on this roster will be fierce, at about every position, and that may flow into the games too.

I think Dlo has been a valuable PG his entire career with the only concern being the big drop off in shooting last year.  For a team light in ball handling (especially while Kyrie is out) I will be surprised if he is in any danger having his minutes squeezed before Kyrie comes back.