06-27-2022, 09:08 PM
(06-27-2022, 08:34 PM)Jommybone Wrote: Too confident. How sure are you that Green and Ntilikina won’t take major steps forward this offseason? How sure are you that 6-6 Dinwiddie can’t/won’t play wing should the Mavs pick up Dragic with the TPMLE? Or that Bertans can’t play double-digit minutes in next year’s playoffs?
Even as it is right now, we’ve got about 48 rotation minutes at the spot you’re prioritizing to split among Bullock, Hardaway, Green, Ntilikina, and Hardy.
I am only working from what the Mavs themselves have been indicating.
I understand the idea that they have lots of players who can play regular season minutes and alleviate the need. But that's less relevant in the playoffs, where the rotation gets tightened and only the effective will play. They have 96 wing minutes to fill, and their sense is that they don't want DFS-Bullock to be the only 2 they have that can do that at the level they prefer (as was the case in 2022 playoffs).
1 "How sure are you that Green and Ntilikina won’t take major steps forward this offseason?".... They could. But the indication from Mavs is they don't want to depend on that as their solution. They are LOOKING.
2 "How sure are you that 6-6 Dinwiddie can’t/won’t play wing ..." .....Very sure on this one. They need 3 creators, and if JB leaves (the premise I'm addressing) they only have 2. Nor would SD be the 2-way guy they feel they need to supplement DFS/Bullock, especially the idea that these are the defense-providing part of the team. The fact that he is 6-6 is fairly irrelevant -- they prefer size at creator, too (see Doncic, L.)
3 "Or that Bertans can’t play double-digit minutes in next year’s playoffs?" .... It's possible. But the indication from Mavs is they don't want to depend on that as their solution. Again, they are LOOKING.
They are LOOKING. If Burks is added, that fills the hole. BUT, it doesn't prevent the hope that THJ, Green, Hardaway or Bertans become a useful solution, since contracts expire and trade assets are needed too.