08-18-2023, 11:21 AM
(08-18-2023, 10:46 AM)omahen Wrote: Several things to consider here.
1. Maxi, Dorian and Bullock were awesome that offseason. Played way above their contracts. Neither came close to repeating that performance last season. Maxi is two years older, so I don't think we can just put an equalizer there. He was bad last season. Bullock was imho way better in that run than Green has been at any point so far. Difficult to compare DFS and GW at this point.
2. That team had great cemistry. Can this team get to that level?
3. Having three ballhandlers was a great advantage in that run. Unless Hardy (or Green) takes a serious step forward, Mavs don't have that on their team. It will be especially missed big time in the regular season every time Luka or Kyrie will not be playing. It will cost us games, imho. None of THJ/Hardy/Curry can replicate what SD was contributing in that run, imho. Based on the history, we can count that Luka will miss some 15 games and Kyrie some 30 games. That could be more than half of games where one of them will not be available.
4. So here is my evaluation comparing that team with current one
Luka = Luka
Brunson = Kyrie (I don't think Irving brings much more value altogether, taking into account Brunsons mentality and locker room impact. Despite perhaps better counting stats)
Dorian = Williams
Din > THJ/Hardy/Curry
Bullock > Green
Maxi > Maxi
Powell = Powell
Green/FN = Exum (I added FN, because Green was bad in that run. But I wouldn't expect Exum could contribute more than they did in that run)
I don't think this team is better than team from two years ago.
So a lot of this depends on whether you are talking about regular season or playoffs. I think the original premise was regarding regular season standing, but if you are looking at it from a playoff perspective then your points are stronger.
For example, Bullock was in peak form during the playoffs, but he really was not that great during the regular season. He had long stretches where he couldn't hit a 3 and he provides nothing else on offense. I also think his defense was a little overrated. He was a little better than average which looked really good next to poor defenders like Luka, Brunson, Timmy and Dinwiddie. Same goes for Maxi. He peaked during the playoffs, but he had some really bad stretches during the regular season as well.
I also think we are going to get significantly more production out of the likes of Holmes/Lively/Omax/DJJ then we got out of the bottom of the WCF roster. To be clear, I was not suggesting with that post that we are better, but I do think we are in the ballpark from a regular season standpoint.
As for who plays second unit point when one of Luka/Kyrie is out, I think the most likely candidate is Exum.