This Season Was A Success

[hakeemfaan]

The playoffs have been weird as it feels like we've taken a lot of steps backwards.

-All of Green's progress from the season disappeared in the playoffs for the most part.  
-Kidd's focus on defense is good.  He also seems way more player friendly.  He and his staff gave Green opportunities I don't think would have occurred under Carlisle.  On the flipside, the offense lacks any sort of creativity, he takes too long to adjust (benching Green, giving Powell too many minutes, weird challenges in game, playing starters to far into lopsided contests).
-The KP trade looked like a win with how Dinwiddie played in the regular season.  Playoff Dinwiddie has been terrible, so much so that I'm running that "what if" scenarios that featured KP still being on the team and asking if we'd be any worse off.  On the flipside, Bertans has been a pleasant surprise and the guy has an aggressive streak on offense that I wish more of our role players had.    
-Jalen, Jalen, Jalen.  His playoffs have been a bit of a rollercoaster.  He's earned a new contract, I just have no idea what he's worth.  I think he'll get overpaid.  I hope it is by us.  
-Luka probably has me more confused than anyone.  He has otherworldly basketball gifts but it feels like you might need to thread the needle to build the right type of team around him which is going to be really challenging for Mavs who have problems attracting any talent.

Excellent post. 

As someone who mentioned when the KP trade was made that the real absence of a bonafide secondary scorer would be felt in the playoffs as the team went deeper and faced better defenses, let me turn around and offer my defense for Dinwiddie. 

The trade was a success in that they know now what type of players they want around Luka. KP would probably have scored more than Dinwiddie but at the end of the day he was not the answer. While Dinwiddie might have been playing at a level he could not have realistically sustained, he is nowhere as bad as he looks in this series either. I also remember the numerous JeT failures before the title run. I have really loved the fact that we have 3 guys that can create their own shot and it was not an accident that the Mavs were so dominant since the trade. I cannot just overlook all the clutch offensive and defensive plays that Dinwiddie has made either. 

If a trade presents itself and the choice is between Dinwiddie and THJ, I would readily part with THJ as he is much more of a one dimensional player. 

Regardless of how this series or season ends, and while anyone not Luka is definitely on the table, IMO our front court is a much bigger concern than anyone in our backcourt.