2021-2022 ROSTER TALK: [ARCHIVED]

[mvossman]

I don't really want to weigh in on this yet in either direction because I don't feel passionate enough about the info we have to throw a take out there. 

But, as an objective reader, I've noticed that people who feel as you do about Bertans (very negative) seem to think it's a question about whether or not the Mavs can somehow make him better, while people on the extreme positive end of the spectrum feel like he's going to be exactly who he is and has always been without improving at all, and think that exact, already existing skillset will be more valued here in Dallas and put to better use. I think that's pretty interesting in a variety of ways. 

What if Harrison and Kidd see the same things you see in the player and have simply calculated that those deficiencies aren't as detrimental to this team in its current situation as the positives are needed? What if all they want is for him to run around pin downs or stand in the corner for 15-20 minutes and give the other guys some space to work out there, and they aren't actually all that worried about his defense?

Agree with all of this.  But that means we are intending to rehab a terrible asset into a bad one.  Folks have been talking about jacking up his value so we could move him for a different piece.  That is not realistic.  We are stuck with him for a couple years on that contract, because we can't afford the assets to move it.  When folks talk about having more flexibility after the trade, I don't think that includes this contract anytime soon.

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I agree with that, too. 

But, hard to call him unplayable with a straight face. And, while the contract probably won't ever look good, I think it's fairly easy to envision a path to a place where it looks considerably better than it did in Washington this season. That's all. 

Still early days, of course.

The unplayable comment is related to this year at Washington.  When your shoot only player is hitting 31%, he is a complete negative on the court.  You can argue they should have had more patience or put him in better position to succeed, but his value on the court this year has been less than a vet min guy.