2021-2022 ROSTER TALK: [ARCHIVED]

[Chicagojk]

Nah.  He’s pretty much the same player this year as last, he just played more minutes.  And he was playing a fair number of minutes even then, so there was no reason to think he couldn’t handle more. I’ve always thought he’s been the second best player on the team. It wasn’t that difficult of an evaluation to make when you’re just talking about $14 million a year. His value easily exceeded his extension price.  The Mavs missed big either way this free agency turns out.

Yep, I totally agree.  Jalen took a lot of heat for his performance against the Clippers last playoff.  He didn't play great.  But that was a tough matchup for him.  More importantly, he wasn't given the chance to play through mistakes.  The last several games he averaged like 15 minutes per game.  If you are a competitor like Jalen, I am sure you look at that and know you need to be better.  But also believe he wasn't done any favors.  

I really hope Nico is the guy to develop relationships with the players.   I have no hope of Cuban doing this.   We will see about Nico.  I was always worried the Mavs weren't doing the work behind the scenes.   I think Coach Kidd did his part with Jalen this year.   Although, look what has happened over the last year.  Jalen took a lot of bullets for his performance against the Clippers.  Then Dallas made a very public run at Lowry.    Then apparently, there was no offer to Jalen prior to the season or at the beginning of the year (this is such a big miss imo).  Mavs traded for Dinwiddie and while the Mavs never said this, some reported it as Jalen insurance.   There is a lot of stuff there.   You never know what things players will get players attention.   For instance, there was a game late in the year when Luka made a public glare/reaction when Jalen was not in the right spot.   Sometimes small things like that can become bigger things.  Jalen and Luka are pretty close and Jalen is tough, so I don't think it would cause an issue.   But you always have to aware of things like that.  You never know.