2021 FREE AGENCY: Markkanen wants out of CHI | DAL "definitely interested"

[michaeltex]

I mean if you are going to use the summer league team as an analogy, what that team desperately needed more than anything is an actual point guard (same for this team without Luka).

Lauri would definitely provide some value when KP is out.  He also would provide some value on the bench.  There is no universe where you could start KP/Lauri/Luka/THJ and be an even average defense.  He is a bench piece.  That is not worth a first round pick or 15 mil a year.  If we could send a second and/or Moses and max out our TPE then I am all in.

So the result of all this back and forth is...LM is around an average defender? So if the 5th starter was DFS, does that make the starting 5 around average as a group? Wouldn't that be an improvement over last season? The difference between 21st and 15th in Defensive Rating is 0.3.

Also, is all this talk about defense productive? If you look at how DAL finished (21st, 112.3 rating) you have to get to DEN (11th, 111.5 rating) to find another team with a winning record. Except for ATL. Everybody else (e.g., WAS, DET, TOR, CHI) had a better defensive rating. The rules favor scoring, not defense, because nobody wants to watch an 85-82 wrestling match every night.

https://www.nba.com/stats/teams/defense/?sort=DEF_RATING&dir=-1

To me, if DAL is hitting shots, they can play with anybody, as they proved last season to MKE, LAC, LAL and PHL. Unfortunately, injury/COVID/cold shooting/fatigue often did our boys in. If the new adds are improved shooters (as their stats appear to indicate) then the scoring should be more consistent. Mixing in Lauri should only improve the scoring consistency and if he's an average defender, then it shouldn't hurt anything overall.