AROUND the NBA: Pat Bev Suspended 4 Games Next Season| PHX Fires Vogel, Hires Bud

[KillerLeft]

The price they paid was ridiculous and everyone knew it from the jump, but I can understand wanting to go for a win-now strategy since they'd built a core of Towns, Ant and D'Lo.  Gobert wouldn't have been my choice to use on those assets, not even my choice from that Utah squad.  This was just the Wolves misguided attempt at a "Jrue Holiday trade".  The difference and far great danger for the Mavs once they do have all of their draft capital back is that they haven't built their core outside of Luka.

I can understand this line of thinking re: Mavs vs. Wolves situations. I don't overtly disagree, other than to point out that as high as you are on that young core in Minnesota (and I get why) and as low as you are on the Mavs core (and I get why) the Mavs have been the better team. My point being that those Minnesota players either don't know how to win or are so ill-fitting that they can't really say they have a core in place. 

I think Russell is a goner at this deadline, and the Gobert trade is part of why I believe that. That's just one example of what I mean about the future fallout from that terrible trade. Are they really ready to start handing out huge contracts to members of their current team? Do those guys even want to stay there? The young players with the potential of replacing the bloated contracts of the ill-fitting name guys they have are mostly in Utah now. 

It's hard for me to be over-the-top positive and take a stand on the quality of the Mavs roster because I'm not sure I understand Kidd's plan (if there is one) for how the pieces are all supposed to fit together, BUT...count me in the camp that still believes in DFS, Kleber, Green, Powell, THJ and to a lesser extent Dinwiddie, too. I think if they can get Wood settled, both culturally and contractually, and they catch a little luck with Hardy they might be closer to a path to improvement than the current fan temp would indicate.