2021-2022 ROSTER TALK: [ARCHIVED]

[hakeemfaan]

I agree with you that they were willing to trade KP, but I'm not as confident as you are that they did so with the idea that they were going to take anything they could get. I think they like the players enough, didn't have to add a pick or player and thought that the timing and return was sufficient. I truly believe some in the organization like Dinwiddie and want him to be here and succeed here in his bench role. Bertans at his best gives this team much needed outside shooting but imo Dinwiddie is the "prize" going forward and the hope for me is that he fits perfectly as the much needed 6th man role the Mavs need and/or becomes a positive asset again for trade purposes. I see those two things as somewhat likely whereas KP ever being an effective difference maker or healthy co-star as highly unlikely.

I think we are both saying the same thing. 

Priority 1 which I still feel is a good thing is them coming to the determination of what style they wanted to play with Luka as the centerpiece and determining KP does not fit there. When I say Luka as the centerpiece, I am including stretches where Luka might be out. It is very difficult for the coaching staff and other teammates too to accommodate different styles that cater to the two best players because they never really meshed to play off one another.  We never had a KP Luka 2 man game the entire time they were here. 

Once they determined that they were ready to move KP they were ready to sell him cheap but the parts coming back at least had to fit the style they wanted to move forward towards. That’s why I capitalized the word AND in my previous post. 

So best case scenario it works out great and one or both of Dimwiddie and Bertans shine here. Worst case neither really do. However in either case the Mavs are progressing towards a certain style that does not change when Luka is on or off the floor to accommodate someone else who despite being talented really needs the coaching staff to come up with a totally different game plan to consistently put him in the best position to shine.  That stress is no longer there whether these new players shine or not. When they will be upgraded the players replacing them will also fit the style the Mavs now know they want to build around Luka.