PLAYOFFS ROUND 1: #4 DAL (4-2) vs #5 UTA (2-4) |

[Branduil]

This game is showing the blueprint for how the Mavs could beat the Jazz without Luka... keep the game within 10 for as long as you can, and hope some guys get hot. Helps a lot if Mitchell shoots as badly as McCollum.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Pelicans came back and knocked off the Clippers. Impressed with Willie Green. He's done a great job turning that moribund franchise around even without Zion. Having CJ and BI doesn't hurt either.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

I wonder how any "publication" or "news site" could know more about Luka's status than the Dallas Mavericks organization.

Well, maybe they're assuming the Mavs will use "common sense" and not risk bringing him back too soon. We'll see on Saturday won't  we?

[cow]

Imagine if the MBT were more patient after drafting Luka and pulled the trigger on someone like CJ instead of rushing into the first big name that presented itself.

[Kammrath]

https://twitter.com/iztok_franko/status/...9440078848

[Mapka]

Imagine if the MBT were more patient after drafting Luka and pulled the trigger on someone like CJ instead of rushing into the first big name that presented itself.

Is it strange to say I like Spencer/THJ better than CJ?

[hakeemfaan]

Imagine if the MBT were more patient after drafting Luka and pulled the trigger on someone like CJ instead of rushing into the first big name that presented itself.

How long were they supposed to wait?  Plus waiting alone doesn’t mean they would have got CJ.  Unfortunately Luka and KP as a tandem didn’t work out. Also KP could never stay healthy.  Atthe end of the day it doesn’t matter which secondary star you bring in.  NBA teams that have a transcendent star hurt are not going far no matter how good that secondary star is unless you are talking about the  secondary star also being an absolute stud.  Not sure cj fits that bill. 

The real miss here is the Josh Green draft. I have been one of his biggest backers on this board and still feel he will be a glue type guy for any team he plays for. However Maxey, Bane, Bey…the future of this team would look so different with one of those. You hit on Brunson and don’t have a team option. Another blunder.  It is the blunders that they could have controlled that is coming back to bite them more.

[Jommybone]

Don’t get the Pelican love. They beat a team without it’s 2 best players. Wow.

[MFFL]

Don’t get the Pelican love. They beat a team without it’s 2 best players. Wow.

I think most of the Pelican love is actually Clipper hate

[SleepingHero]

https://twitter.com/dorothyjgentry/statu...40192?s=21&t=1K6IQKIycqG2tQJguMC50w

[cow]

How long were they supposed to wait?  

At least until they knew what they had with Luka and had a better feeling for what would work well around him.  We still have a long way to go until we are free of the ransom we gave up for getting and jettisoning KP.  Cuban is impatient, that can't be argued.

Is it strange to say I like Spencer/THJ better than CJ?

As a person, I could see preferring THJ and even Spencer.  Then again, we don't get an up close and personal look at CJ on the regular as Mavs fans.  As a player, CJ is a tier or two above Spencer/THJ.  There are health concerns to go around with all of the players now.

[KillerLeft]

As a person, I could see preferring THJ and even Spencer.  Then again, we don't get an up close and personal look at CJ on the regular as Mavs fans.  As a player, CJ is a tier or two above Spencer/THJ.  There are health concerns to go around with all of the players now.

I'll agree he's a tier or two above THJ. IF (big, big if) Dinwiddie can play during these first couple of games without Luka the way he has played since coming here to Dallas, I think he might be my favorite of the three. I just love how he gets to the free throw line!

[hakeemfaan]

At least until they knew what they had with Luka and had a better feeling for what would work well around him.  We still have a long way to go until we are free of the ransom we gave up for getting and jettisoning KP.  Cuban is impatient, that can't be argued.


As a person, I could see preferring THJ and even Spencer.  Then again, we don't get an up close and personal look at CJ on the regular as Mavs fans.  As a player, CJ is a tier or two above Spencer/THJ.  There are health concerns to go around with all of the players now.

They got a center who if healthy was a great 3D center.  Just the type of guy you wanted around Luka.  Plus he could be the focal point for stretches when Luka was on the bench or hurt. 

What no one could forecast was if he would stay healthy, if he could develop a 2 man game with Luka, if he was ok playing a 3D role and being just one of the other 4 options when Luka was on the floor, if he could grow other aspects of his game closer to the bucket.  But even with just a 3D base skill he would have been great but even the D was affected by his injuries. Anthony Edwards recently made a comment about how everyone praises Gobert but KP was the most difficult shot blocker he played against.  

Sure someone like a CJ would be able to get his own shot and so would need less integration time but there are other things that a center brings that CJ could not. Plus as I said even if you feel the right time was later, the Mavs are not guaranteed to get any stud. We have seen the years of hope and prayer and cap space amounting to nothing. IMO they absolutely had to take that chance when KP was made available.

[cow]

They got a center who if healthy was a great 3D center.  Just the type of guy you wanted around Luka.  Plus he could be the focal point for stretches when Luka was on the bench or hurt. 

What no one could forecast was if he would stay healthy, if he could develop a 2 man game with Luka, if he was ok playing a 3D role and being just one of the other 4 options when Luka was on the floor, if he could grow other aspects of his game closer to the bucket.  But even with just a 3D base skill he would have been great but even the D was affected by his injuries. Anthony Edwards recently made a comment about how everyone praises Gobert but KP was the most difficult shot blocker he played against.  

Sure someone like a CJ would be able to get his own shot and so would need less integration time but there are other things that a center brings that CJ could not. Plus as I said even if you feel the right time was later, the Mavs are not guaranteed to get any stud. We have seen the years of hope and prayer and cap space amounting to nothing. IMO they absolutely had to take that chance when KP was made available.

KP didn't work with Luka even with healthy  KP's best stretches with the Mavs were with Luka hurt.  Hindsight and all but I think a better front office wouldn't have made that move.  KP was a cherry on top move and the Mavs mostly didn't have bananas, whipped cream, syrup or other toppings to go with their Slovenian ice cream (which you already owed future assets for).  KP was a gamble on health alone and the amount of asset spent took away a lot of future opportunities.  My post wasn't specifically about CJ but more of the opportunities to get guys like CJ once you've built a better foundation and collected assets.

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I'll agree he's a tier or two above THJ. IF (big, big if) Dinwiddie can play during these first couple of games without Luka the way he has played since coming here to Dallas, I think he might be my favorite of the three. I just love how he gets to the free throw line!

I just love Spencer in interviews and how he's integrated himself into this team and happily taken on any role given.  If CJ is a borderline star, I think Spencer is probably a peg below that.  And that's not a knock.

[hakeemfaan]

KP didn't work with Luka even with healthy  KP's best stretches with the Mavs were with Luka hurt.  Hindsight and all but I think a better front office wouldn't have made that move.  KP was a cherry on top move and the Mavs mostly didn't have bananas, whipped cream, syrup or other toppings to go with their Slovenian ice cream (which you already owed future assets for).  KP was a gamble on health alone and the amount of asset spent took away a lot of future opportunities.  My post wasn't specifically about CJ but more of the opportunities to get guys like CJ once you've built a better foundation and collected assets.

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I didn’t say he worked. I said it didn’t work but no one could have known that before the trade.  It would seem like a perfect PnR fit with KP able to either pop and hit the jumper or roll and dunk.  But who could have predicted his spatial awareness for the PnR would be so poor? 

I understood your point but the reality is there is no guaranteed opportunity to get a player who you believe can become a foundational piece. You have to take chances when the opportunity does present itself. Sometimes those chances work out. Sometimes they don’t.

[cow]

I didn’t say he worked. I said it didn’t work but no one could have known that before the trade.  It would seem like a perfect PnR fit with KP able to either pop and hit the jumper or roll and dunk.  But who could have predicted his spatial awareness for the PnR would be so poor? 

I understood your point but the reality is there is no guaranteed opportunity to get a player who you believe can become a foundational piece. You have to take chances when the opportunity does present itself. Sometimes those chances work out. Sometimes they don’t.

I didn't say you did.  I said a better front office wouldn't have done that deal.  It wasn't the right time.  The team wasn't built to pivot should that trade not work out.  And it wasn't like KP didn't have massive red flags when it came to health.  There are good and bad times to take risk.

[Mavs2021]

Edwards has real good court awareness. Him and KAT will be a problem.

[SwisherPrice]

Series is over before it started...not sure how many playoff teams in history have lost their #1, #2, and #3 scorers from the previous season. No Luka, KP, THJ and even though Dinwiddie is technically KP's replacement, the guy has only been here for 2 months.

There is really no positive to come from this series, unless you are against re-signing Brunson because he will definitely put up big stats for a team to give him big money this summer

[hakeemfaan]

I didn't say you did.  I said a better front office wouldn't have done that deal.  It wasn't the right time.  The team wasn't built to pivot should that trade not work out.  And it wasn't like KP didn't have massive red flags when it came to health.  There are good and bad times to take risk.

If you see my posts from them, I was against the trade only because I felt two first round picks and a #9 pick (DSJ) was too much for a 7’3” guy with skinny legs and a bad injury. Plus he was a FA too and could have gone elsewhere. 

However all that would have been worth it, and I believe he would absolutely still be here, if there was a fit between him and Luka. None of us could have predicted that would never work out.  Luka is a PnR savant and KP can go both inside and out and has no talent limitations in that two man game. Who could have predicted his spatial awareness was so poor?  True maybe the FO could have scouted that but KP had never played with a genius PG like Luka. So you can understand the optimism. 

As for putting all chips in, this team really has no great assets and lucked into Luka. At some point you would have to push all your chips to the center.  You can ask to wait and the danger there is Luka gets fed up and demands to get out. Then the complaint would be that the Mavs should have done something earlier. 

It is very very difficult to get a true legit stud foundational piece. I can’t fault any team for going all in to get that piece especially when they had a transcendent piece who was ready to win for the moment he arrived in the league.  I know it sucks that it didn’t work out but IMO a lot of front offices, including very good ones, would have done what the Mavs did at that point.

[MaxiThreeba]

I really like Josh Green.  He seems like a great dude, great teammate and plays with a ton of energy. 

That can be true and it can also be true that drafting Josh (and that entire draft) was a colossal failure.  Bane didn’t have his best shooting game but he did pitch in 17 points.  Don’t even want to look at Maxey’s line anymore.  

FO blew a huge chance to add real talent.  I still contend based on what they did they had the ammo to come away with Maxey/Bey AND Bane.  I don’t love Bey’s game so not as chapped about him.  Those other two would be absolute gamechangers on this roster.