FA: JaVale McGee 3yrs/$17.2M to DAL | will indeed start at center

[DanSchwartzgan]

https://twitter.com/CBAMavs/status/1542711999661936640

You know, looking at that lineup it is not THAT crazy. McGee and Wood both move their feet well for bigs and RB can take point guards.

This is what I was saying when I said our signing would be a center and Wood would start at the four.  I think people were way too anchored to what they saw in the playoffs.  We played very little single big until we were forced to by the KP trade.

Kidd likes D.  Wood's best defensive position is the four.  Luka takes 11 shots in the first six minutes of halves anyway, so we don't have to have a shot creator alongside Luka in those minutes.  Once that is over we may or may not see Wood at the five.  Maybe Maxi comes in and plays with Wood.  Maybe Powell.  I'm not convinced Powell is gone, but until we get a few more days down the road and see if there is another shoe to drop, I'm not committing to Powell staying either.  My leaning is he will be here.

I think the original reporting of $21mm is wrong (as others have said).  I think the presumption was the full TP-MLE without taking into account the Hardy deal.  At $5.5mm, this isn't bad at all.  As you have pointed out (somewhere in all of these pages I'm trying to catch up on), he's elite at rebounding and blocks.  His defensive EPM has been in the 90's each of the last three seasons.  PLUS, all of the centers we hoped would take the TP-MLE all got much more.  Shotblocking and rebounding came straight from Nico's mouth.  If I recall correctly, wing depth came from a reporter.

I think I saw that Brunson's deal is declining and starts at $28mm.  If true, the BYC number is $14mm for TPE or trade purposes.  Brunson plus THJ can bring back as much as $42mm.  Guess who combines for $42mm...Harris and Thybulle.  Add in Green and you are almost at $46mm in returning salary.  I don't think Harris is a fit given what we have already, but if we can tag onto the NY/Detroit deals, we can get to some really big numbers.  We have three bigs in McGee, Wood and Maxi (and an expensive backup in Powell).  We have three wings in DFS, Bullock and THJ (and an expensive backup in Bertans and a bunch of kids).  We have two ball handlers in Luka and Dinwiddie (a $55 million investment in the position BTW) and maybe another on the way for the minimum.  The depth chart is pretty solid.  Now we hope we find a way to upgrade one of the spots.

I think if someone told me right after the elimination game that we'd pick up Wood, McGee and Dragic (not to mention the 19th best player on the Mav's draft board), I'd be pretty damned happy.  The Brunson deal casts a pall on things, but it wasn't hard to see it coming.  I went through the stages of grief a long time ago (and will be glad when some here catch up).  There are still some big name FA's out there and some players teams are shopping.  We have a path to do other things...especially if NY and Detroit play along.  Hopefully the team capologist will earn his keep in the next few days.  I am, as always, optimistic.