06-25-2022, 05:45 PM
(06-25-2022, 05:25 PM)Fuerza1 Wrote: But THJ second option led to two 1st round exits. Without Brunson in last year's playoffs, the Mavs go down 0-3 before Luka returns from injury, and likely get eliminated in the 1st round, again.
Brunson as the #2 got them to the WCF, that's a fact. 22 ppg in the playoffs has only been done by Aguirre, Blackman, Finley, Dirk, Luka, and BRUNSON in Mavs history. The former 5 are all multi-time all stars.
I kept hearing how a Brunson + Luka backcourt would be the worst defensive pairing in the NBA yet the Mavs were ELITE on that end. How is that possible?
If you think Brunson isn't a #2, that's fine. But to call him expendable while the Mavs have no cap space for several years, that's simply puzzling.
He's expendable as a trade piece, and the first guy I would be looking to trade. Losing him for nothing wouldn't be great, I'm not saying that. Although the circumstances of drawing a Utah team with no perimeter defense at all and CP3 completely breaking down at the right time had more to do with us making the WCF than anything. Between THJ, Wood, and SD we have plenty to replace the missing scoring. Losing Brunson as a trade asset makes it a lot harder to bring in that second star though is where it really hurts.