04-21-2022, 12:22 AM
(This post was last modified: 04-21-2022, 01:59 AM by SleepingHero.)
(04-20-2022, 08:43 PM)Jommybone Wrote: Dude, I love your content here. But how does Morris replace anything Maxi gives you? He’s not even a small ball center in LA. That would be Batum. Love the toughness and the shooting. But ESPN has him listed as a small forward. Projecting him as a center seems really risky to me.
Good question.
My line of thinking is Morris has always been a more consistent offensive player than Maxi. He can create his own shot off the dribble when needed, and can somewhat score from all 3 levels on the court. Those skills alone are worth it for the Mavs.
His defense, while dirty, is still solid. It doesn't hold a candle to Maxi as he's a defensive savant, but this is a case where we're giving some of that up to get a more complete player. Even at 33 years old I think Morris can bring a more complete game than Maxi.
As projecting him to be a center, I didn't really have that role in mind. I viewed him as the 4 coming off the bench, and if needed a small ball 5 in certain spot matchups. Morris as a small ball 5 has worked quite well in the past. The Clippers ran him at the 5 in the playoffs to destroy the Jazz (and unfortunately the Mavs), and it worked. Morris also spent some time as a small ball 5 with the Celtics. Cleaning the Glass has Morris as a big, spending the majority of his minutes as a PF or C.
In my mind, any deal for Morris would be the precursor for another deal for a starting 5. The rotation would then be:
Luka/---
JB/(THJ?)
Bullock/Green
DFS/Morris
Starting 5/Powell
All of a sudden the Mavs are much deeper now with the ability to go super small and versatile, while still having the ability to go big and switchy with Powell (and hopefully the new starting 5).
14x All-Star, 12x all-NBA, 1x MVP, 1x Finals MVP, 1 NBA Championship: Dirk Nowitzki, the man, the myth, the legend.