08-10-2023, 02:04 PM
(08-10-2023, 01:44 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: More musings on what the DJJ signing might portend:
There is no universe in which his presence here affects the minutes for THJ, Green, Curry or Hardy. Again, you can compare sizes and body types and it’s tempting to think he might present a more defense-first, athletic option to some of those guys. In reality, the guys whose minutes this might (MIGHT) affect are Powell, Williams, Kleber, Holmes and O-Max. In other words, this guy merits inclusion among the Mavs’ BIGS, basically.
Further, I weirdly think the timing of this signing might signal that they’ve given up on any possible trade for a center. DJJ is not a center, but he has played small-ball 5 quite a bit, actually (as has GWilliams). I see this as adding another tool in the belt of “bigs by committee” and think it means we’re likely to see a LOT of small ball.
5/4 combos like this will be the mainstays:
Powell or Holmes with Williams or maybe O-Max (if his shot is reliable)
Kleber with Williams, O-Max or DJJ
But, we might also see a fair amount of:
DJJR or O-Max at the 5, GWilliams at the 4 (or the reverse of this)
Talk about a fast, athletic, switchable defense!
Interesting way of thinking. I admit I didn't watch him closely lately, just looking at numbers. I would say he is a guard on defense and PF on offense, because he is a bad shooter*. He is 6-5 at some 210 pounds. I think that is way too little to really fight with any serious big wing or center. He can jump high, I agree with that. I don't see why he wouldn't play defense on guard/wing position. I would be very scared of GW-DJJ pairing at PF-C. That would be one seriously undersized line-up. One of the bigger problems Mavs had last season already.
*I don't consider 40 % on WIIIIDE open shots a particularly impressive stat. Very low number of attempts anyway and I don't think it will get any higher with Luka, because they were leaving him open anyway.