Why the Mavs are Potentially Much Better Already...

[KillerLeft]

JR handling the ball was a negative for the team. It usually resulted in live-ball turnovers and an easy score for the opposing team. The Mavs will not miss JR in the playmaking department.

Yep, absolutely nobody is saying otherwise, though for some reason, that's being made the argument. 

What people ARE saying is that the NEED for someone to handle the ball (who isn't Luka) INSTEAD of Josh Richardson is still very much a factor in their opinions of the off-season. Richardson was a failure in that spot, and is now gone, but no other, better-fitting offensive option (ball-handler, not exclusively off-ball) was placed back into that space. 

Again, I'd have been fine if they had gotten Dragic or someone better - Dragic level at least, and I'm happy as a clam. Feels like we're looking at another season where Luka gets completely swamped during the last 5 minutes of games against good teams, to me. I suppose Brunson might take another MAJOR step forward, but I hope they're not banking on that.