01-02-2022, 02:41 PM
(01-01-2022, 06:52 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: Those 5, along with THJ, who could easily be substituted for either Bullock or Brunson in that lineup, and Kleber, who could spell DFS, are objectively the best players on this roster, so I think most of us agree that the Mavericks need to find out whether or not playing them together can result in effective play.
The fact that this approach hasn't been tried to this point is something I find increasingly puzzling. Maximizing the talents of those 7 players should be the big picture goal for the Mavs, imo.
Bill Simmons' analysis is often a little oversimplified for my taste, but one thing he consistently preaches that I find wise is: you don't have anything until your top 8-9 guys can play together, and in a way that has a chance of working during the last five minutes of a playoff game. It's problematic that the Mavs haven't figured out a way to do that, so far.
Agree with all of this. Brunson has evolved into our third best player and Luka needs some creation help on offense, so it makes sense to start Brunson. That makes your starting core Luka/KP/Brunson. That group needs as much defense as it can get. DFS is the most obvious addition. Then its either Bullock or Maxi. I don't think you can put THJ with that group. A Luka/Brunson/THJ pairing is just too much of a defensive liability.
I think our best 8 man rotation would be:
KP/Powell (center)
pick 2 of DFS/Maxi/Bullock (defensive wings)
pick 2 of Luka/Brunson/THJ (offensive guard/wing)
This is assuming Bullock gets it together.