2020-2021 ROSTER TALK: Archived

[ItsGoTime]

Some of you are clamoring for OPJ. He hasn't been good since he signed that albatross contract. Stays hurt a lot as well. I think he has one foot out the NBA door. My opinion though.

I won’t discount this take. I just think there is a chance he can be closer to the player he was in Was. If not I still think he is a better version of THJ. Better handles, defense and on par 3 shooter.

Which as a whole brings more to the team than what DFS does.

[Jason Terry]

Why doesn’t Charlotte sign Lonzo Ball to an offer sheet? Might not have a better shot for them to play together than this summer 

What about Devonte Graham and Malik Monk? Maybe we could weasel into one of them

Worth keeping an eye on or not?

[cow]

Some of you are clamoring for OPJ. He hasn't been good since he signed that albatross contract. Stays hurt a lot as well. I think he has one foot out the NBA door. My opinion though.

Not me friend, not me.  Not when the idea was first kicked around, not now, not ever.

[loki]

Why doesn’t Charlotte sign Lonzo Ball to an offer sheet? Might not have a better shot for them to play together than this summer 

What about Devonte Graham and Malik Monk? Maybe we could weasel into one of them

Worth keeping an eye on or not?

I was considering mentioning Graham but then he went 3-16 tonight. He seems to be a good playmaker and (usually) good shooter. His on/off numbers are incredible. Would have to watch him play I guess, but I'm concerned he's too addicted to chucking 3's.

[loki]

Some of you are clamoring for OPJ. He hasn't been good since he signed that albatross contract. Stays hurt a lot as well. I think he has one foot out the NBA door. My opinion though.

It does feel like he's phoning it in at this point. Not interested in a guy who just shows up to collect a paycheck.

[BasketballJones41]

Why doesn’t Charlotte sign Lonzo Ball to an offer sheet? Might not have a better shot for them to play together than this summer 

What about Devonte Graham and Malik Monk? Maybe we could weasel into one of them

Worth keeping an eye on or not?

I’ve wondered about Graham myself. He’s got to be one of the more attainable RFA’s. Good shooter and secondary playmaker. And he’s on the same timeline as Luka and KP. Offensively he seems like he would fit in great. Is his defense any good? And is he any better then Brunson?

[Branduil]

THJ April splits:

.379/.342/.864

12.1 PPG

That's a big oof. I think that's an understated part of the recent struggles... Mavs are relying too much on his shooting and he's not consistent enough for that role. I think this also explains why JRich is getting so many minutes recently... he can't shoot either, but you at least know he'll try on defense.

[Jason Terry]

I was considering mentioning Graham but then he went 3-16 tonight. He seems to be a good playmaker and (usually) good shooter. His on/off numbers are incredible. Would have to watch him play I guess, but I'm concerned he's too addicted to chucking 3's.

Graham the #1 guard in all the NBA in defense real plus minus. Seems like a good young building block type player

[DanSchwartzgan]

 What about Devonte Graham and Malik Monk? Maybe we could weasel into one of them

Worth keeping an eye on or not?

I've mentioned Monk (Schwartz) before with his cap hold being the main reason.  Charlotte has Ball, Rozier, Graham and Monk soaking up almost all of the PG/SG minutes when everyone is healthy.  Rozier is fairly expensive, Ball will be some day and Graham and Monk are both RFA.  Monk has a $13mm cap hold (QO = $7.3mm) and Graham has a $2mm cap hold.  Without any of their free agents, Charlotte has $27mm in space and a big hole at C.  

With Ball and Rozier in place, Graham and Monk are backups.  Do you pay both?  Maybe, but how much money do you tie up in your 4th guard?  To me, you either trade Rozier and keep both RFA's or keep Rozier and one of the RFA's.  Graham can play PG and has the smaller cap hold.  Monk can't and his hold ties up half of your room.  To me, Monk would be easier to "weasel".

But, this is kind of like the Caruso discussion yesterday.  Is Monk a starter here?  Or, someone who replaces THJ and Redick as a bench Instant-O guy with better playmaking than either of those guys (and similarly bad D).  If we let THJ and Redick go, we need that, but it isn't exactly our highest priority.

[Mavs03]

Another guy that I'm very intrigued with besides John Collins and THT (both restricted free agents) is yet another restricted free agent...Gary Trent Jr.  He's 6'5" with a 6'9" wingspan.  He's only 22 years old.  For the season, he's averaging 15 points 3 rebounds 1 steal per game.  He's shooting nearly 40% from 3, 78% FT shooter (although as a Raptor...he's bumped it up to 81%).

Trent Jr declined a 4 year 56 million extension with Portland before the season started.  One would think that he would get a lot more in free agency.  Any interest from a Mavs perspective?  Toronto already has committed 33.6 million to Pascal Siakam, 21.2 million to Fred VanVleet, 16 million to OG Anuoby, 7 million to Chris Boucher.  That's 77.8 million committed to just 4 players.  Toronto appears to be headed to the lottery and will have to pay that rookie a decent salary.  Can Dallas potentially swoop in and sign Trent Jr?  Would he be a good fit with Luka?

How about a Trent Jr and Richaun Holmes free agency?  In the process, we would lose Josh Richardson and THJ.  But we're a heck of a lot younger with the MLE left to spend.

Luka
Trent Jr
DFS
Holmes
KP

Brunson
Green (you would think the #18 pick would be ready to play)
MLE
Kleber
Powell

Rounding out the bench
Terry (assuming he's still on our roster)
Bey

[DanSchwartzgan]

Another guy that I'm very intrigued with besides John Collins and THT (both restricted free agents) is yet another restricted free agent...Gary Trent Jr.  He's 6'5" with a 6'9" wingspan.  He's only 22 years old.  For the season, he's averaging 15 points 3 rebounds 1 steal per game.  He's shooting nearly 40% from 3, 78% FT shooter (although as a Raptor...he's bumped it up to 81%).

Trent Jr declined a 4 year 56 million extension with Portland before the season started.  One would think that he would get a lot more in free agency.  Any interest from a Mavs perspective?  Toronto already has committed 33.6 million to Pascal Siakam, 21.2 million to Fred VanVleet, 16 million to OG Anuoby, 7 million to Chris Boucher.  That's 77.8 million committed to just 4 players.  Toronto appears to be headed to the lottery and will have to pay that rookie a decent salary.  Can Dallas potentially swoop in and sign Trent Jr?  Would he be a good fit with Luka?

How about a Trent Jr and Richaun Holmes free agency?  In the process, we would lose Josh Richardson and THJ.  But we're a heck of a lot younger with the MLE left to spend.
 

Just making sure you know that the MLE that is left is the rMLE, not the full MLE.

I think Toronto did a terrific job of selling high on Powell and getting younger and protecting themselves with RFA Trent instead of UFA Powell.  I doubt they did that just to lose Trent this summer.  Toronto has a very strong front office.

[Mavs03]

Just making sure you know that the MLE that is left is the rMLE, not the full MLE.

I think Toronto did a terrific job of selling high on Powell and getting younger and protecting themselves with RFA Trent instead of UFA Powell.  I doubt they did that just to lose Trent this summer.  Toronto has a very strong front office.

I agree.  Norman Powell was a homegrown player that they developed and parlayed into a younger piece.  Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam were also homegrown players.  My question is can Toronto afford Trent Jr and their lottery player?  Is Trent Jr a luxury?  Can't they just draft a replacement in what's supposed to be a very deep draft?  Could we do a sign and trade?  Just some thoughts.

My bad on the full MLE.  You're right.  It would be the rMLE.

[mvossman]

Graham the #1 guard in all the NBA in defense real plus minus. Seems like a good young building block type player

Graham would be a perfect JRich replacement.  He is a better defender, better shooter and better distributor.  He is a lot like Ball only without the big name and hype.  If we are going after a restricted free agent to take the role we hoped JRich would fill, Graham is the guy I would target.

[mvossman]

There has already been a bit of a drop off this season, but hard to know if it is age or that his team just isn't what it used to be.

I wouldn't throw a fit if Dallas did this (the story also mentioned Dallas as a destination for Conley...which I like better).  I like the UFA status of both, but age and size don't thrill me.  Lowry next to Luka is fine, but next to Brunson?  I think I'd rather have a bigger guy so I could play any combo of new guy, Luka and Brunson.  With that said, if 2 x $25mm is the ask, I think you could start at a lower number and put some of his money in a non-guaranteed 3rd year.  Maybe $22mm, $23mm and $5mm guarantee in year 3.  Teams do this all the time as a way to have less cap impact in the current year (when we are trying to conserve space).  The extra $3 million in year one takes us from slightly under the MLE to being able to outbid any other MLE offer.

Any two of Luka/Lowry/Brunson should be fine, assuming the Lowry/Brunson combination is going against bench units.  I don't think his size is that big of a hit due to his strength defensively.  If you go this route, Burke become even more useless on this team and needs to be shot into the sun if possible.  Lowry (and Conley) is really the perfect fit for this team except for timeline and inevitable decline.  I could think of a lot worse off seasons.

[Hypermav]

needs to be shot into the sun if possible.

[KillerLeft]

He is a lot like Ball only without the big name and hype.

That's a player this team team could use.

[Branduil]

Graham would be a perfect JRich replacement.  He is a better defender, better shooter and better distributor.  He is a lot like Ball only without the big name and hype.  If we are going after a restricted free agent to take the role we hoped JRich would fill, Graham is the guy I would target.

He's also similar to Ball in the sense that his 2P% is horrifically bad. At least he can shoot FTs.

[StepBackJay]

I am liking this Graham idea. It seems like he will be available even though he's an RFA. I like that he is actually a good defender and his assists numbers look really good. His efficiency isn't good so that's the rub. You would have to hope in this offense his FG numbers go up. He seems like he will be available for a team-friendly type of deal. I would definitely look at him as a potential upgrade for J Rich with more upside.

[loki]

I am liking this Graham idea. It seems like he will be available even though he's an RFA. I like that he is actually a good defender and his assists numbers look really good. His efficiency isn't good so that's the rub. You would have to hope in this offense his FG numbers go up. He seems like he will be available for a team-friendly type of deal. I would definitely look at him as a potential upgrade for J Rich with more upside.

If they go that route I think it's time to move on from THJ as well. You only need so many guys shooting 7+ 3's a game. A good defensive 2/3 off the bench like Danny Green or James Ennis would be a better fit and would free up some money to address the 4 or 5.

[loki]

Graham is basically the anti-Luka on offense. There better be a lot of growth if the Mavs want him in the starting lineup.

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