Ranking the Mavs' non-Luka/KP players

[fifteenth]

1. Luka
2. Dodo
3. Broekhoff
4. THJ
5. JJB
6. KP
7. Kleber
8. Dwight
9. Justin Jackson
10. not jalen brunson

Delon?

[SportPsychMav]

Delon is at least tied 3rd

---

Maxi has fallen of a bit since his injury.

[vfromlmf]

This ranking might well serve as a summary of trade value

1. Lee: $12 million expiring can be combined with a young player (Jackson) and GSW#2 to return a player making up to $21 million. 

2. THJ: Any contender would value what he's bringing -- toughness, shooting, size, surprising defense, huge heart -- the Mavs included. THJ has played his way off the trade block, at least for now. I just don't know how the Mavs would replace him. He would start on the Lakers, Clippers, Nuggets, Rockets. I think he's a keeper but he could be a "sell high" player which puts him near the top of this list. The contract is still a problem however.

3. Brunson: I see a young player who is only limited by playing behind Doncic and Mavs' PG depth. He's looked less impactful off the ball but when Brunson plays point guard, he's at his best. He would start for a lot of teams and could be a top 20 PG in this league. I think he's the Mavs most valuable playable trade asset who might actually get traded.

4. Wright: Looks like Toronto may have had his role and minutes right. Donnie & Carlisle saw a top-flight starter but he seems more comfortable off the bench in 20-24 minutes. A sure-fire playoff rotation piece for any team, Wright could still develop, but he lacks the confidence to shoot with decisiveness. When he's assertive he looks awesome. Bit of a confounding player. One thing to watch. His contract declines which makes him a very trade-able asset.

5. Curry: His lack of consistency is worrying but he's still the Mavs most valueable pure shooter. He's arguably a plug & play backup on any roster, but he's on a longer term deal that probably locks him into this team for a while, albeit the price is below MLE so it's team-friendly number. Can get hot and win a playoff game. Would the Sixers be interested in a swap for Mike Scott? Would the Mavs?

6. Powell: Energy big. Starting caliber. Hard-work pro. Has value based on the contract but needs to play with with a PnR PG.

7. DFS: Very valuable for Dallas but most teams have a starting-caliber 3D wing. He's more valuable than many similar players, especially @ his contract price. Too valuable to trade.

8. Kleber: Best suited as a stretch four backing up Porzingis. Developing shooter on a good contract. Kleber is plug & play on any roster.

9. Jackson: He has faded a bit with more minutes but he's still a young player with a George Gervin floater. Would be very valuable to a team who needs bench scoring but I don't see him as a starting wing in this league. Best as a small ball four off the bench. Can the Mavs find more minutes for Jackson while Doncic is out? Would love to boost his trade-value.

10. Ryan From Accounting: I have him above Boban & Barea because Dallas won't trade either. But does anyone in the league think RFA can play?

11. Barea: Mavs second best PG won't be moved, so he has no trade value.

12. Boban: Mavs need Boban.

[fifteenth]

Great post, V!

If you trade Ryan you probably have to get another business office guy. I'm just going to assume that Cynt has what she needs atm. Ryan's prolly safe unless he tells a co-worker she looks pretty.

[Scott41theMavs]

6. Powell: Has value based on the contract .

I liked your post overall, very well done, but this... smdh. Powell should be way below Kleber in tradability. Kleber is "plug and play" in the sense that he plays defense and makes a decent offensive contribution. He is far better defensively than Powell. Powell is Mavs-system valuable. He has virtually no value at the contract we gave him for another team, whereas Kleber would be useful to any team in the league at his contract.

[vfromlmf]

@"Scott41theMavs" Hard to debate your point and I might just as well swap them on this list. But I think you're undervaluing Powell. This is a high character guy who will will give you 28 quality minutes as a starting center in the NBA. He's not a shot blocker or flashy steals guy, but he's a solid team defender. Remember, it's not 1990 anymore. 1v1 defense basically doesn't exist anymore. Good defenders need to play in a team concept, they cover the PnR, they make the right reads and rotations, they know their assignments. Powell does all of those things well.

[Scott41theMavs]

@"Scott41theMavs" Hard to debate your point and I might just as well swap them on this list. But I think you're undervaluing Powell. This is a high character guy who will will give you 28 quality minutes as a starting center in the NBA. He's not a shot blocker or flashy steals guy, but he's a solid team defender. Remember, it's not 1990 anymore. 1v1 defense basically doesn't exist anymore. Good defenders need to play in a team concept, they cover the PnR, they make the right reads and rotations, they know their assignments. Powell does all of those things well.

You could put the best BBIQ in the world in my head and it still wouldn't make me capable of playing pro basketball. While I exaggerate, and while I appreciate and respect your observations on Powell's switching/responsibility intelligence (he went to Stanford, after all!), the eye says hundreds of times over that he is physically incapable of stopping any wing of average or better NBA strength nor any big of below-average or better NBA strength , which kind of freaks me out given how ripped DP is.

[ItsGoTime]

Kleber is "plug and play" in the sense that he plays defense and makes a decent offensive contribution. He is far better defensively than Powell. Powell is Mavs-system valuable. He has virtually no value at the contract we gave him for another team, whereas Kleber would be useful to any team in the league at his contract.

My thoughts exactly, with the exception of Powell having virtually no value at his contract. I'm sure there are some teams that would value him at his contract. Trick is finding those teams and hoping they have what you're looking for. Kleber might not be as valued on our team, but his game is much easier to translate to other FOs. I will add, I hate adding Kleber to trades, but I would given the right return.

[vfromlmf]

On another note, THJ just played himself back on the trading block.

[fifteenth]

On another note, THJ just played himself back on the trading block.

LOL, if you trade him you have to strike right after 2 games where he shoots 75%

[Scott41theMavs]

On another note, THJ just played himself back on the trading block.

LOL, if you trade him you have to strike right after 2 games where he shoots 75%

This!

Updated rankings coming tomorrow...

[Scott41theMavs]

Okay, I'm obviously three days late with this... This is for the week and a half of the Pistons, Heat, Bucks, and Celtics. I will wait until a week from Tuesday to do another one given the layoff.

1) Seth. Big games in three of the four games. Has set himself apart among the Other Twelve as, not an NBA contending 7th man, but as a clear 6th man, able to create for himself and play defense as well as great catch-and-shoots coming off the bench. Great pick-up for the MBT this offseason!

2) Brunson. Taking advantage of his opportunity with Luka gone. A bad shooting game, and some terrible late game decisions, but really filling up the stat sheet and showing his worth.

3) DFS. No one plays harder. 7 for 15 from three in this stretch. One of the league's best bargains, no? Would have put him #2 if he had rebounded a bit better this week.

4) Kleber. Two quite good games, two not so good games. Still one of our key bench guys.

5) Wright. Shaky return from injury, but his value could be seen particularly in the Celtics game and in filling up the stat sheet a bit in the Bucks game. 

6) Barea. Only one appearance, but provided a good spark.

7) Powell. Playing harder and harder. Good, young man. Play twice as good as that and you'll be worth that contract. Two horrendous rebounding games and two horrendous shooting games prevent him from being any higher.

8) RFA. He was ready!

9) Bobi. What does a BFG have to do to get minutes on this team?

10) Justin. Looking worse and worse. Certainly the year's biggest disappointment so far. He could have at least kept up his trade value.

11) THJ. One good game, one subpar, two apocalyptically bad. The Mavs' biggest roster problem due to his streaky unreliability and contract. 

12) Lee. Seven total minutes, one turnover. But he's a great locker room leader.

[vfromlmf]

THJ just played himself back OFF the trade block.

[Scott41theMavs]

THJ just played himself back OFF the trade block.

Post of the year was the dude in the game thread who said that THJ was like a box of chocolates...

[vfromlmf]

He’s honestly the streakiest player I’ve ever seen and I’ve watched a lot of basketball. On any given night he‘s just as likely to be 0 of 11 with 3 turnovers as he is to shoot 9 of 11 with 25 points and 3 steals.

[Scott41theMavs]

He’s honestly the streakiest player I’ve ever seen and I’ve watched a lot of basketball. On any given night he‘s just as likely to be 0 of 11 with 3 turnovers as he is to shoot 9 of 11 with 25 points and 3 steals.

I said in the trade thread that I would love to use the TPE or Lee plus seconds to pick up another scorer - just to put in in case THJ's shot isn't falling.

[fifteenth]

I said in the trade thread that I would love to use the TPE or Lee plus seconds to pick up another scorer - just to put in in case THJ's shot isn't falling.

Until then, I nominate The Accountant for that role!

[vfromlmf]

I wonder what to make of RFA bumping JJr vs the Sixers. I tend to think Carlisle played the accountant because the Mavs were running a lot of zone. But who knows. Love RFA's shooting.

Will be interesting to see if RFA gets more playing time against the Raptors.

Unfortunately, JJr continued his recent slide, earning a DNP-CD. I haven't been super impressed with his body language in quite a while. Remember, this is a young player who was a top pick. Maybe he thinks he ought to have a larger role. Certainly, the role Carlisle carved out for him - limited minutes, mostly small-ball four - is new to him. I hope he can turn it around and at least re-establish some trade value for the future.

[fifteenth]

We'll have to wait and see if this was a one-off game where Rick wanted to give Bro some burn, or if it's a rotation change. Or it could be a milt-game audition. It'll be interesting to see.

[Scott41theMavs]

I wonder what to make of RFA bumping JJr vs the Sixers. I tend to think Carlisle played the accountant because the Mavs were running a lot of zone. But who knows. Love RFA's shooting.

Will be interesting to see if RFA gets more playing time against the Raptors.

Unfortunately, JJr continued his recent slide, earning a DNP-CD. I haven't been super impressed with his body language in quite a while. Remember, this is a young player who was a top pick. Maybe he thinks he ought to have a larger role. Certainly, the role Carlisle carved out for him - limited minutes, mostly small-ball four - is new to him. I hope he can turn it around and at least re-establish some trade value for the future.

DRPM and the eye test both say that Justin is the team's worst defender in terms both of physical ability and BBIQ, and his outside shot isn't falling. Bench guys like that don't get to play. The most frustrating thing is that he was our most tradeable player of value, and now his trade value has sunk to nada. At least he'll be cheap when his contract's up if we want him back.