11-21-2021, 12:59 PM
(11-21-2021, 02:05 AM)KillerLeft Wrote: Bingo.
It's not about who's the better player, imo. Brunson is a gifted and dangerous pick and roll handler who can get into and score from the paint, shoot pull-ups (lethaly) from midrange, has a nice catch-and-shoot game from 3 and has even added a pull-up game from 3. That's THE skillset every team is desperate for right now, and it has been that way for the better part of a decade.
We don't appreciate Brunson fully because we have Luka (that's my theory, anyway) but teams who don't have someone like that (or someone like that who's good enough) will not only want him, they'll overpay for him. Honestly, I think he might be a borderline all-star on a team that features him.
I'd LOVE Rubio, don't get me wrong. I was one of those dudes @"Chicagojk" remembers scoffing at. I'm just saying, right now you need a guard or wing who possesses all of the offensive skills listed above or you will literally be one of the worst teams in the league. It's like being an NFL team without a quarterback. That's step 1.
Agree KL. The biggest mistake Mavs can make now, is to trade away Jalen Brunson. It is clear he has a very special skill set. He is doing things out there, moves so difficult, yet he makes it look so easy. Only a very few players in the league can do that.
Another thing is that Brunson is still improving, he is on that upwards trajectory. Trading him away would be the same as losing some of that value. He is almost certainly a better player in a year, two or three from now. We lose that value if he is traded.
Whether starting or not, he might likely be a championship piece with the minutes he can get. All we ever wanted is someone to take control of things when Luka is not on the floor. Finally, we may have that. The bench plays well. Not only that but he has shown to be effective also when he is on the same lineup as Luka. Thats also is all we ever wanted.
I can think of Havlicek, Ginobili, as key pieces that won multiple championships, the first mentioned that defined the sixt man role. Its absolutely key.
My opinion is that Dallas needs to lock Brunson long term and instead look to make smart moves other places.