2021-2022 ROSTER TALK: [ARCHIVED]

[mvossman]

Full transparency, I picked Mavs in six before the series. I didn't predict Biyombo but I figured the Suns would play Ayton and McGee nearly 48 minutes and the Mavs would exploit the matchup. 

As expected, Dallas generated open threes and once again, math won.

Consider this ... Ayton is the only player to average 15 points, 10 rebounds and shoot 65% in NBA postseason history. But it wasn't enough. When will the rest of the NBA (much less this board) catch on? News flash: there are no big centers left in the playoffs. MVP caliber bigs KAT, Jocic, Embiid were all exploited. I'll go so far as to say the Mavs won because Phoenix played Ayton, McGee and Biyombo. 

Dallas certainly doesn't need to spend assets to go get Turner, Collins, Capela, Holmes or even Gobert or Ayton. Just keep doing what you're doing. 

At this point my offseason plan is resign Brunson, draft the best player available and keep developing Green & Ntilikina. Maybe you offload some salary and add another versatile wing defender like Taurean Prince, but I'm honestly curious how THJ will look when he comes back. He'll fit into the five-out concept perfectly if he just commits to the defensive end and knocks down open threes.

I feel like this is overstating things.  This is a team game.  KAT has always been exposed on defense.  Jokic and Embiid were let down by teammates (through injury or terrible play).  

I don't think the Suns lost because they played Ayton, but I do think they failed to take advantage of him going against "small ball".  I think Utah and Gobert had the same failure.  I believe a large part of that failure is due to Maxi.  You take Maxi out of the equation and those series go very differently, especially the Suns.

But Maxi is on the wrong side of 30 and has struggled to stay healthy, especially with higher minutes.  You make a strong argument for going after another Maxi, but not really staying pat.  Guys like Turner or Collins would make a lot of sense in your model, but you could make the argument that with Maxi it would make more sense to go after a younger Maxi who would cost less resources (like maybe a PJ Washington).