2021-2022 ROSTER TALK: [ARCHIVED]

[KillerLeft]

I think all of the following is true:

1) the Mavericks have a long history of including picks in situations where they shouldn't have.

2) the Mavericks don't often demonstrate that they value the chance to use draft picks by actually drafting players, and that's problematic. 

3) But, the people who freak out when the picks go out claim that they would rather draft players. Then, later, they complain about not having them to deal as assets in trades, pointing to the idea (maybe rightfully so) that a 1st, even a late one, is more valuable in a trade than a Dinwiddie or a Bertans. I'm not sure that's true if all goes well with Dinwiddie (yuck, I can't believe I'm having to defend a player I dislike so much) but it certainly could be true if things don't go well for him here. 

4) And, when that pick gets moved in that OTHER deal, those same people will complain that it was included, knowing full-well they argued for it being valued at this time specifically to be used as a trade asset. 

What does it all mean? Imo, the problem is choosing the right targets. Case in point: if Luka/KP would've been a fit, we would not still care about those two firsts they gave up. It was objectively a mistake, in hindsight, but there ARE instances when first round picks get included that teams don't regret afterwords, obviously. 

All of this anger was an inevitability once it became clear that the Porzingis maneuver was a dud. They sold the farm to get him. The vast majority of us were excited at the time, and tbh, most of us thought the Mavs got a steal. Most of the NBA community did, too. All of us, and all of them, were incorrect. That's the bottom line. That's what to grieve over, here. 

I definitely hope that the next several years make us feel like the Mavs start to treat assets with more care and value the details more. I get the skepticism over that, and share it. 

But I'm sorry - I think the team is better off having this mess behind them, by literally any means necessary. Really, I do.