TDL Archived: The 2nd Rnd Pick Yankee Swap

[DanSchwartzgan]

Burks is not a "small" for the Mavs (whatever that term may mean). He would be a wing, and he's about the same size and ilk as DFS and Bullock, their 2-way playoff-playable wings.

In our conversations, we might tend to make size distinctions between the bigger and smaller of those, but the Mavs use of wings just seem to be less about size and more about the ability to guard up and down the lineup, more or less. Especially the ability to guard the perimeter.

Where would GP fit? Not sure. At 6-3, he is certainly "small" in comparison to their other wings. But he can defend the perimeter, at least against the smaller quicker types. Don't know whether that means he would be replacing JB, a creator who is 6-1, if JB leaves and he is brought in. Then again, my impression is that the news about GP is overstated, so this feels moot.

I think the distinction is easy.  A bigger wing is who you assign to guard Kawai or Lebron.  A smaller wing is who you assign to guard Lillard or Morant.  Bullock can guard 1-3 well, but he's not multi-positional enough to take on the big boys.  I see Burks as closer to Bullock than DFS, though he kind of strides the line.  

I've probably been on the possibility that Brunson might leave longer and stronger than anyone here and have been positive on the S&T package including Burks the entire time.  Between the surgery, the drafting of Hardy and the GPII rumor (the first indication of Mav interest in a FA that I've seen), my read of the tea leaves is turning more toward Noel and/or Reddish.  Who knows if that interest in GPII is real, misdirection or (as you point out) misleading headline writing.  But if I had to guess, after writing dozens of posts about Burks S&T's, my guess would be it is less likely to be Burks now than it was two weeks ago.