(07-28-2021, 09:35 AM)omahen Wrote: Totally agree with the first part. I think Mavs wouldn't be any better with Curry than they were with JRich. Was there a better trade available? We don't know.
Curry works great in Philly because he is surrounded by 4 great defenders. With Mavs there is no way he could start next to Luka defending the point of attack. Same as THJ can't. Or Brunson. So we would have 3 guys that are best suited for bench scoring punch within how Mavs team is constructed. I think he would be sort of redundant.
However, since we saw that losing Curry shooting did hurt us, I am more careful about throwing away THJ shooting. He is elite. I too can't really see him as a starter, but would any middle of the pack FA really bring such improvement that loss of THJ shooting would be forgotten? The big question is his salary. But since Lowry and THJ is supposed to be the goal, I can't really see how we could bring in Lowry at 30 and THJ at 20. Mavs are either bluffing or their salaries will be much lower or they will not keep KP.
Unfortunately, there is a path to Lowry and THJ. It involves S&T and sending out assets to do it. It could be a disaster.
As for THJ, there are plenty of free agents that can bring roughly his offense and more to the table, and some of them wont be that much more. There are also options that will bring close to his offense at cheaper cost (like a McDermott). I don't disagree that we need spacing next to Luka, but there are plenty of options out there.