2021-2022 ROSTER TALK: [ARCHIVED]

[KillerLeft]

It is a very legit and respectable opinion to have. DP has been legit and has a known positive connection with Luka and a great lockerroom guy.

The locker room stuff is great, don't get me wrong. But...

I think Holmes probably improves in the areas of rebounding and throwing his weight around in the paint on defense. 

I think it's debatable who'd be better in this switchable defense once Holmes got used to it and was playing at full speed, but my money would be on Powell, defensively. I could go either way here, however. 

When it comes to pick and roll play with Luka, I think Powell is so taken for granted by Dallas fans it's criminal. He might be the best roll man in the league, even now, after that awful injury. He sometimes sets 3 different screens on one action, often creating a layup for the ball-handler by back screening someone in the paint when all else has failed. This requires significant intelligence and basketball IQ. It just isn't something that I feel is easily replaced at all. Porzingis can't do it, that's for sure. Maybe Holmes can, but if so, I haven't seen any indication of it recently. 

But the thing that really gives me pause is this: Holmes is 28 and has been on a team for years now that does not demand excellence from their players. When he was free, did anyone get a sense that he tried hard to land somewhere better? I didn't. Now that he has been paid, do we get the sense he's more entrenched in that team's plans, or has he started to fade already? I know it's Sacramento, which makes it tough to gauge anything. I get that. But, I'd say there would probably be at least a year of reprogramming - breaking bad habits, etc, needed here, and who knows if he's even up for that ride? 

I don't want this to come across like I don't like Holmes because I do! I would happily accept him here, and I think he might be everything we hope. But, I think there's a decent chance he's nowhere near what we hope, too.

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I for one, have been excited about Bertans from moment one. 

This is true. He has the t-shirt to prove it!