2021-2022 AROUND the NBA: GSW Champs [ARCHIVED]

[Arioch]

Many of us wanted Holmes.
Even now.

That lineup of yours is a good one, but I just don't think Holmes is going to be a Mav. If the Mavs wanted him, they could have had him already. He was an unrestricted FA. Should have just let go of WCS and THJ, and dump Brown, and worry about trading KP later.

But if he does become a Mav, I'm good with that center rotation.

I think they had a different plan this summer (Lowry).  I think they thought they still had a chance when they decided to keep Willie and operate over the cap.  Once they did that, THJ had to be prioritized over Holmes as they still had KP and 17 other centers.  With Hield now gone and Harkless their best SF, I think Hardaway makes sense in Sac and Holmes makes sense in Dallas.

I think people may be overreading last summer in terms of predicting moves going forward. As I pointed out before, Chicago's new brain trust did practically nothing their first summer. Their first big move came at the trade dead-line almost 9 months after they had taken over, then they were incredibly active the next summer (last off-season). As the brand-new team took over the Mavs, they played it conservative. Add one solid vet (Bullock) who clearly fits Kidd's desired playing styles, maybe keep options open for another vet who 99% of the media and fans considered a no-brainer (Lowry). Conserve what assets you have by making sure you keep THJ (and Willie, though as you say that may have been more of an accounting move than anything). Then take the first half of the season to personally evaluate what you actually have.

Holmes was not a no-brainer, especially not last summer when the current MBT either a) didn't know if they wanted to move off KP, or b) knew they wanted to move off KP but weren't sure how and when they could do so.