Maxi Helped Us Win 2 Playoff Games. Dwight has lost us a playoff game.

[mvossman]

The criticism Powell faces from restless fans is an unfortunate consequence of the Peter Principle playing out for him and many otherwise-excellent roleplayers in the NBA. DP is amazing at what he does and remains one of the best values in the league - about as much as one should ask for from a roleplayer. Being a makeshift replacement for a position that was essentially a placeholder for a Latvian unicorn superstar was clearly asking far too much.


I don't think Dallas needs to 'get rid' of the longest tenured Maverick, he can still provide immense value especially over the course of a long grinding NBA season (to the point of even leading the squad in Win Shares), but i'd be overjoyed if Nico & co figure out a way this off-season to put Powell in a position to be a contender for 6th man of the year next season.

This is quite the stretch.  He is not "one of the best values in the league" at 11 mil.  At his best he came off the bench to terrorize second units with his rim running, which might have been worth the MLE.  But in order for that to work optimally he needed a high quality reserve pick & roll partner (usually Barea) and a stretch 5 who could protect the rim and stay out of the paint (usually Maxi).  In a post achillis world I think its unlikely he reaches that same level again, and 6th man of the year seems wildly unlikely.  If he was ever leading the team in win shares, that is more of an indictment on that stat than anything else.

I do agree he got put in a really bad position.  I don't think the FO had any intention of seriously competing this season after the KP trade.  I think that was a decision to cut bait with KP at all costs and take a step back so they could later take a step forward.  Otherwise I think there would have been more effort at the TDL to shore up the front court (including Gafford in the trade would have been a big help).  

Kidd worked some magic to make Powell a usable single big in the regular season, but it all came crashing down in the playoffs.  I don't disagree that he would be helpful as a backup big in the regular season.  If we manage to get a legit starting center this offseason, I could even see some value in Powell/Maxi lineups against second units in the playoffs.  If we do decide to hold on to him after this coming season, that next contract needs to be significantly smaller than what he is getting now.