ROSTER TALK: Mavs favs for Vogel if no HC job exists. Kyrie handshake deal?

[Dundalis]

Maxi is a very important glue guy.  He IS a Jack of all trades here, which makes some think he isn't as valuable as he really is.  Maxi is one of the reasons we make it to the WCF last year.  His versatility is SO important to this team.  He isn't just filler in a trade and if he goes, we won't replace what he does easily.  This team needs defense - it can't get to where we all want them to go without ADDING players who play D, while still being able to spread the floor and provide support to the offensive side of the ball.  Guys like Maxi/Bullock/DFS are proven cogs in our system.  Hopefully Green gets to that level soon.  We aren't going far without them.  That's why other teams want them and why guys like Thybulle are being shopped.

There's no such thing as a glue guy who can't be replaced. Successful teams do it all the time. I've never seen Mavs fans overrate their own players like I have during this off season and we didn't even win a championship or make it to the Finals.

We could replace all those players you mentioned with a bunch of other NBA role players of varying quality and still make it just as far next season as we would with them. Because of Luka. Not the glue guys. Other role players bring different strengths, they might be missing things our role players have, but bring other important things they don't have. Bottom line is pretending they are 'special' because they are ours as though they are in any way irreplaceable is blinkered thinking that's sounds more emotional based than rational. Role players that bring things that good teams (and even bad teams) all across the NBA deam important are dime a dozen common. 

The ONLY scare resource is the superstars and stars, end of story. You might not replace Maxi or any of those guys with another role player that can do exactly what they can do. But you probably can very likely replace them with another role player who can do something else that they can't and still contribute just as much in a different way and have the coaching staff make it work just fine. I remember when everyone was going bananas over losing Seth, a very good role player. It was 'tragic' to lose his shooting apparently. It wasn't a good move, but it didn't move the needle for us on the court whatsoever.

As for the talk about Simmons, as an Australian who's followed Ben's development since he was a kid, I wouldn't touch him, maybe not even for free. His problems are myriad, highly psychological, and elements of it have clearly been there since he stepped into college at LSU. The bottom line is, IMO he's a deeply sensitive individual, who's ego is so fragile that I could very easily see him retiring from basketball the second he does something that warrants heavy criticism from fans or media if he even steps onto the court again, which isn't even certain. He doesn't have the right mentality to deal with adversity which is a shame, but it is what it is.