TDL Archived: The 2nd Rnd Pick Yankee Swap

[KillerLeft]

They don´t have young lottery picks

Yeah, one of the things the Mavs did very, very wrong, imho, was how they tanked. 

I know we all love Dirk, and I in no way want this to come off as disrespectful to him, but those many, many seasons between the title in 2011 and the year DSJ was drafted really took their toll. Trying to be the 8th seed with a revolving door of Vince Carter types. I know that one season was positive (until the awful Rondo trade), but overall, that was basically a decade of wheel spinning. 

Then, when they finally did decide to do a reboot (with Dirk still on the roster), they got DSJ and then Luka/Brunson in consecutive seasons. Obviously, the Luka/Brunson draft was a home run for the franchise. The problem is that when teams tank, they usually don't find a guy like Luka so quickly. It would have been easier on them going forward if they had been in possession of 3-4 "almost" lottery players (better than DSJ, but not on Luka's level). Because they landed on Luka too quickly (I get how ridiculous of a thought that is) they just didn't have the young lottery assets around that most rebuilding teams have when it's time to build around the 1-2 guys they decide are the future.  

The Mavs only had DSJ, and for what it's worth, they used him in a trade that I felt at the time wrung every last drop of value out of him possible. But then, their wad was spent, and that move was unsuccessful as we know now. 

The Mavs have shown they are VERY competent (better than most teams, imo) when it comes to finding and developing role players. Even those "stuck in the mud" seasons featured guys like Brandan Wright. That they have turned Kleber and DFS (both undrafted) into the winning contributors they are today speaks volumes about the organization, imo.

I was on board for the cap room swings (which made me the target of quite a bit of snark around here), but they failed to use that period of huge flexibility to positive effect. Since they seem boxed in right now (even more so now that Brunson is bouncing for nothing or next to nothing), what has me waking up in a cold sweat at night is the persisting thought that their next plan will be to strip down and try cap space again. They could easily get major cap space for 2024, but the problem is that outside of Paschal Siakim there doesn't seem to be a prize worthy of going that route. 

This is a pickle, any way you look at it. If only they just retained Jalen Brunson, my outlook would be completely different right now.