05-27-2022, 02:46 PM
(05-27-2022, 01:26 PM)Jakeospikez Wrote: Think it's already been gone over a lot here but a S&T with Brunson is not easy to accomplish. I think it's best to sign JB into tax after trading for a big + signing another quality player with TPMLE and running it back at least one more time. If it goes really terribly, then you can move JB who has solidified himself as a strong asset in this league. I doubt there is much that would change that outside of a bad injury.
(05-27-2022, 01:45 PM)mvossman Wrote: I'm not sure why Brunson is "starter-ish"? I think he has been scoring roughly 20 points a game since he started regularly, and that includes the playoffs. In fact I believe he is the number 6 scorer in the playoffs. That's "starter-ish"?
There are all kinds of issues with trying to S&T Brunson and it will likely not be for a great return. We would be better off signing him and trading later if necessary.
I may not have made the caveat clear enough when I called it "theory craft". Completely recognize in reality a S&T is highly unlikely and hard to make profitable for the Mavs. We're locked into signing him, assuming he's interested, because any other outcome is much, much worse from a talent perspective. Agreed!
Looking at RAPTOR for the full season, DFS is #89 by net and Brunson is #62. WAR ranking is a bit higher for both, although still in Brunson's favor. IIRC that's a counting stat that tilts the direction of players who are available (and both played the higher end of average minutes in the league). Brunson is the #18 playoff scorer by average; he's probably much higher in total points but again, counting stats tilt towards those with more appearances. Fair point though, I probably should have both Brunson and DFS in the same category - likely both starter-ish for me.
More generally, I think he's not the ideal fit to maximize Luka in the playoffs. He plays a very similar iso-heavy game (which I think limits both his additive qualities and the diversity of our offense, meaning schemes that shut down one are likely effective against the other) and he's a slight negative on the defensive end (where I think we need more length and athleticism because Luka will probably top out at neutral on that end).
We're likely going to see Brunson for the next few years so I'm rooting for him, but again in "theory craft" land - I want someone who's more like a +1 OFF, +1 DEF player next to Luka than a +2.5 OFF, -.5 DEF Brunson. That's not to say Brunson isn't talented, but wherever possible I'm solving for synergy with our superstar when it comes to playoffs. That's about the only way to make a Luka + "role players" work at a championship level.