AROUND the NBA:

[dirkfansince1998]

Real stinker from Holmgren and SGA. Caruso was amazing on both ends. Easily their best defender against Wemby. Not sure what else they can do to slow Wemby down. Mostly about denying him deep position or fronting the post. Spurs guards cannot throw a post entry pass to save their life. Castle had 11tov.

[CooPerFan]

What a legendary performance from wemby. Hats off to him

[Mavs03]

If Masai and the Mavs decide to move on from Jason Kidd, the 1st person that I'm calling is Sean Sweeney. I know he's got Wemby, but I just feel he's a heck of a defensive coach. He'll definitely be on the short list for Orlando and Chicago in terms of coaching vacancy.

[Knutsen]

Real stinker from Holmgren and SGA. Caruso was amazing on both ends. Easily their best defender against Wemby. Not sure what else they can do to slow Wemby down. Mostly about denying him deep position or fronting the post. Spurs guards cannot throw a post entry pass to save their life. Castle had 11tov.

Wait for Lue Dort to accidentally crash into his legs in the next games…

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

What a disaster as a Mavericks fan we have no chance against these teams and they’re both young and will be here for probably 7 to 8 years at minimum.  The NBA owed us top four pick but they screwed us with number nine

You never know what will happen in the future but I do agree with you. 

I just want the Mavs to build a team that I want to watch. I'd be happy with a run like the Sac Kings had in the Weber, Peja, Bibby days.  If all you care about is Rings, it must be tough to be a sports fan.  Sports is meant to be a break from real life.  When you turn the TV on, are you enjoying what you are watching?  Instead of obsessing about Rings and legacies.

If your takeaway from watching this epic game is to be angry, find another hobby.

[Dirknows]

If Wemby stays healthy….

Talk to a Spurs fan they’ll tell you all about how into his diet, training, stretching etc. and he’ll never get hurt. But the history of dudes 7-5+ having lengthy, healthy careers just isn’t there.

[Chicagojk]

What a great game.   Lost in all the craziness is a 7'5 guy casually stepped up and took a 30 footer down by three with less than a minute left.  Wow.

Sometimes genius is defined by being the team who gets the number one pick with Wemby in it and not when Rischacher is in it.   I know the Spurs are on a hot streak (three top 5 picks with one being a legendary one can solve a lot of problems).  They made a lot of mistakes prior to Wemby.  

Mavs just need to focus on making good moves.   They are not close to either team.  Both teams could get better in the future.  Things change though.  Dallas just needs to make good moves and start building a team of good players/assets.   We won't need to worry about competing against OKC/SA for a while.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

What a legendary performance from wemby. Hats off to him

Maybe you can finally put those CF comparisons that he's a better all-around player to bed.  All he has to do is stay healthy, as we're witnessing something special.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

What I don't understand is why OKC is guarding Wemby with smalls? Caruso, Dort, and J Dub spent the most time guarding him. Why isn't Chet, Hartenstein, or Jalin Williams spending time guarding him? Chet finished 2nd for DPOY. Is it protecting him from foul trouble? I don't understand. They'd better figure out something. SA is 5-1 vs OKC this year.

[Deebo]

ridiculous take you don’t wanna win? I guess just making the playoffs like the Cowboys? This is a complete disaster
Only hope Luka comes back and we build a super team somehow.  

RoyTarpleysGhost
You never know what will happen in the future but I do agree with you. 

I just want the Mavs to build a team that I want to watch. I'd be happy with a run like the Sac Kings had in the Weber, Peja, Bibby days.  If all you care about is Rings, it must be tough to be a sports fan.  Sports is meant to be a break from real life.  When you turn the TV on, are you enjoying what you are watching?  Instead of obsessing about Rings and legacies.

If your takeaway from watching this epic game is to be angry, find another hobby.

[Chicagojk]

This is not a justification of the trade, but that OKC freight train was coming.  Much different team from two years ago.  Obviously SA was able to capitalize on lottery luck and good graces and they are a freight train.   Mavs with Luka may be sitting in the same place as Jokic and Denver.   Denver just got an easier path to a championship while Dallas got stuck with a great Boston team.   Both may have been looking at an impossible path now.   Not saying I wouldn't want to figure it out, but I do think it is a little misleading Dallas with Luka would have been at this level...despite being the last team to beat OKC.  That team is much different now.

[Winter]

As much as we look at OKC and SA and predict a decade of championships, it almost never happens anymore. Great teams struggle to repeat, and suddenly find their window of time is maybe 2-3 years. Great teams get complacent. Other teams get hungry. We have time.

[Smitty]

This is not a justification of the trade, but that OKC freight train was coming.  Much different team from two years ago.  Obviously SA was able to capitalize on lottery luck and good graces and they are a freight train.   Mavs with Luka may be sitting in the same place as Jokic and Denver.   Denver just got an easier path to a championship while Dallas got stuck with a great Boston team.   Both may have been looking at an impossible path now.   Not saying I wouldn't want to figure it out, but I do think it is a little misleading Dallas with Luka would have been at this level...despite being the last team to beat OKC.  That team is much different now.

This isn't going to go over well here, but there's some truth to it. Luka still has maturing to do before he's "the guy" on a championship team. His playstyle doesn't make it all that easy either. Speaking of easy, it's NOT easy to win a championship. Dirk was what, 32/33 years old when he got his one and only. As great as he was... BUT we don't have to worry about what it would be like with Luka here. Pledge allegiance to the Flagg. 

When Flagg hits 22 years old, 3 years from now, we'll see if he's having a Wemby type progression where "the guy" (SGA) could be passing the torch to the next "the guy" (Wemby). I hope it's a battle between Coop and Wemby the next 20 years. Bring back the Spurs/Mavs rivalry!

[michaeltex]

As much as we look at OKC and SA and predict a decade of championships, it almost never happens anymore. Great teams struggle to repeat, and suddenly find their window of time is maybe 2-3 years. Great teams get complacent. Other teams get hungry. We have time.

I keep thinking about how MIA put together their Big 3, but only won 2x rings after teasing they would get 4 or more. And that was before the current salary cap structure was in place. But it's hard to hold these things together for more than a couple of years. Both DEN and GSW are still playoff teams, but not the monsters of a few years ago. Boston won the ring a few years ago, but was facing a huge repeater tax penalty, enough that the owner sold the team almost as soon as he accepted the trophy.

OKC has some big economic decisions to make in the next few years, so this current team may not be together for that much longer. Whether the next iteration is as good will be interesting to watch. If you're interested here is the OKC Salary Table

SAS is in much better shape salary-wise as they have 6 contracts expiring after this season. Wemby is still on his rookie deal, but he will get a super Max extension that will kick in in 2027. Fox gets a nice raise starting next year, but they will have slots and cap space to sign players, including a FRP this year. Thing is, when I look at their roster, outside of Wemby and Fox, I don't see the talent level of OKC. Which tells me 2 things: Wemby is a gift from the basketball gods to one of the bottom 5 market size teams in the league and there are a lot of holes to fill in the coming offseason that may affect the team moving forward.

I know the new MBT will not have the team competing for a championship next year, but improving to the point they are not a night off on the opponents schedule will be a welcome change.

[Smitty]

@TheDunkCentral
Billy Donovan reportedly has an ‘excellent’ chance of landing the Magic head coaching job, per @JakeLFischer

Orlando is also showing interest in Jeff Van Gundy.

“While I always hesitate to frame any potential hire as the favorite for a job, since NBA matters can be so fluid, coaching insiders across the league's landscape are very much operating under the belief that former Bulls coach Billy Donovan has an excellent shot at landing the post. Sources confirmed that Donovan is in dialogue with Magic president Jeff Weltman and will have an in-person meeting with Orlando's lead executive in the near future…Orlando has LA Clippers assistant coach Jeff Van Gundy on its radar as well. The defensive guru on Tyronn Lue's staff is the brother, of course, of former Magic coach Stan Van Gundy.”

[mvossman]

Thing is, when I look at their roster, outside of Wemby and Fox, I don't see the talent level of OKC. 

I'm not seeing this.  Castle is legit and only 21.  Harper is only 19 and looks like he is on the same path.  Vassell, Champagnie and Johnson are all quality players.  OKC might have a little more depth, but top 7 talent looks similar to me.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

As much as we look at OKC and SA and predict a decade of championships, it almost never happens anymore. Great teams struggle to repeat, and suddenly find their window of time is maybe 2-3 years. Great teams get complacent. Other teams get hungry. We have time.

All of this is true, but having some luck is involved as well.

[dirkfansince1998]

What I don't understand is why OKC is guarding Wemby with smalls?  Caruso, Dort, and J Dub spent the most time guarding him.  Why isn't Chet, Hartenstein, or Jalin Williams spending time guarding him?  Chet finished 2nd for DPOY.  Is it protecting him from foul trouble?  I don't understand. They'd better figure out something. SA is 5-1 vs OKC this year.

Chet is a great help defender not a great on ball/post defender. Wemby is bigger, stronger and faster. Hartenstein isn't fast enough on the perimeter and their pick and roll defense suffers with him on the floor. Williams is just as small as the guards/wings they used against Wemby.
Smaller defenders (especially Caruso) did a pretty good job when it comes to ball denial. Preventing deep paint catches. Forcing turnovers. And with Wemby turning into skinny Shaq that's probably their best option.

[KillerLeft]

Chet is a great help defender not a great on ball/post defender. Wemby is bigger, stronger and faster. Hartenstein isn't fast enough on the perimeter and their pick and roll defense suffers with him on the floor. Williams is just as small as the guards/wings they used against Wemby.
Smaller defenders (especially Caruso) did a pretty good job when it comes to ball denial. Preventing deep paint catches. Forcing turnovers. And with Wemby turning into skinny Shaq that's probably their best option.

Not to mention that 100% of what's involved in an NBA offensive/defensive chess match these days is to create mismatches in 100 different ways. When we see one team repeatedly stuck with the wrong guy matched up, my first instinct is always that one coach is getting dragged by the other, not necessarily that they've settled on a weird matchup by choice. It's more likely that they're trying to neutralize something else, and simply aren't able to think as many steps ahead as necessary to prevent the resulting matchup that favors the opponent.

[dirkfansince1998]

Not to mention that 100% of what's involved in an NBA offensive/defensive chess match these days is to create mismatches in 100 different ways. When we see one team repeatedly stuck with the wrong guy matched up, my first instinct is always that one coach is getting dragged by the other, not necessarily that they've settled on a weird matchup by choice. It's more likely that they're trying to neutralize something else, and simply aren't able to think as many steps ahead as necessary to prevent the resulting matchup that favors the opponent.

I think Caruso on Wemby was Daigneault's decision and it kinda worked. Not like the Spurs had a great game on offense. We focus on the possessions where Wemby was able to catch the ball deep in the paint but more often than not OKC's ball denial worked and the possession ended with a late shot clock drive into a clogged paint or a turnover.
But you are spot on with the neutralize something else part. One big chess match. Both teams have to make choices like this. Wemby isn't getting an open lane as the roll men. Isn't getting any short roll touches. Has a more favorable matchup if he actually gets the ball.

Spurs almost look like the Mavs in 2024. Sweeney's scheme. Deliberate decision to give up corner 3s from Dort and Caruso. Funneling the offense into a mobile rim protector (Lively, Wemby).