Kyrie Irving: we already named a city after him!

[SleepingHero]

https://twitter.com/wfaa/status/16227403...96929?s=20

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I think his negative locker room effect doesn't come from rubbing teammates the wrong way in a direct personal way, it's that his off field antics completely disrupt team harmony. i.e. a guy who decides he doesn't want to turn up to play because he wants to "find himself" or wants to spend time with his family, will eventually rub the wrong way guys on the team who work their ass off and can't afford to miss a day because they don't have the luxury, even if one to one hes a good guy to be around. Same with any other antics he pulls, it draws attention on the team away from on court stuff and maybe adds extra unneeded stresses and media attention. It's a distraction for everyone and it probably builds up over time into some resentment, players at Boston have spoken about it after he left there. There was relief that the distraction was gone and they could just focus on basketball and nothing else.

I absolutely agree with everything you say. I can't stand Kyrie's antics. 

Still, it's jarring that former teammates have nothing but praise for Kyrie. Not a single one has thrown him under the bus for his behavior.

[Dundalis]

https://twitter.com/wfaa/status/16227403...96929?s=20

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I absolutely agree with everything you say. I can't stand Kyrie's antics. 

Still, it's jarring that former teammates have nothing but praise for Kyrie. Not a single one has thrown him under the bus for his behavior.

I've known people who are great to be around in one on one personal situations, but do crazy shit that you just get tired of after a while. He's one of those dudes.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

I'm aware of that. Here's the thing, if the market for Wood is not there in the trade market like people are saying, then why would the market for him be there in free agency? There are less teams that have the cap space to sign him than there are that could trade for him. No team is offering him close to a max, if a team valued him that highly there wouldn't be no market for him in trades. And if a team is willing to offer him a decent contract in FA, there's no reason for the Mavs not to exceed it. Also can't we offer him more years than anyone else? Or is that not a thing anymore?

Also IMO he's more valuable to us in our current situation than Brunson arguably was, because his particular skillset purely on the offensive side is literally as good a compliment as you could get for Kyrie and Luka outside another superstar. Brunson's production was clearly suppressed by Luka due to their similar playstyles and we had Dinwiddie. Brunson had already made his mind up he was 100% going to go to NYK well before FA so we never had a shot at him, which is why we didn't even make an offer. Our only shot was the previous season when we could have gotten him super cheap but he was not the same level of player at that time. Even I had reservations he would ever develop into the player he is now with the Knicks.

Wood is a guy who I could see really thriving when he has two guys with insane gravity drawing a lot of defensive attention away from him and his inside/outside game compliments both guys perfectly. It should be up to the Mavs to find a way to fill out the rest of the roster with the best defensive guys they can find to make up for the flaws the trio present on that end (which shouldn't be that hard to attract if Kyrie works out and they extend him)

IMO if they trade Wood and get a defensive guy back with no offensive game, we've handicapped the offensive ceiling of this team. Kyrie and Luka as your only real offensive shot creators, when before you had three. IMO you need a true third option to maximise what you are getting from Luka and Kyrie not to mention when Kyrie inevitably misses games. Or maybe they finally believe in Hardy and are willing to give him a lot more minutes.


I'm not talking about whether he wants out or not. I know he will want out if we don't put the right pieces around him. I'm talking about him using unprofessional tactics to force a trade out well before his contract ends. Doing shit like sitting out games. I'm saying I don't think he's that type and if he wants out but the Mavs won't trade him until they want to (which would probably TDL of the 25-26 season earliest, but more likely the end of the 25-26 season, which is a full two seasons after this one), he will play out his contract professionally even all the way to the end of it at the end of the 26-27 season. Meaning I don't think we have to worry about him forcing his way out lets say in the next year or two if things don't work out giving us more time than a lot of people think we have for the FO to get the team construction right.

Gotcha. Like his newly acquired teammate does.....

[DallasMaverick]

https://twitter.com/wfaa/status/16227403...96929?s=20

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I absolutely agree with everything you say. I can't stand Kyrie's antics. 

Still, it's jarring that former teammates have nothing but praise for Kyrie. Not a single one has thrown him under the bus for his behavior.

Fin's looking distinguished with that gray hair.

[ballsrchr]

I'm not thrilled with the Kyrie trade...but I'll give him a chance.  I've always thought he has 7 brain cells.  1 for breathing and the rest for basketball.  That's why he lives on a flat earth...and doesn't understand what he says.

But--I'll give him a chance.

[Tunesquad23]

https://twitter.com/Mavs_FFL/status/1623012539268272128

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https://twitter.com/Mavs_FFL/status/1623012410893250561

[omahen]

Mavs looking to trade McGee? No way. That news is in the range of Korkmaz requesting a trade

[ballsrchr]

So...what about Markief Morris?  What does he bring to the team?  How will Kidd use him?

[cow]

So...what about Markief Morris?  What does he bring to the team?  How will Kidd use him?

Josh is going to get a lot of God King's defensive assignments but when you have a matchup against a bigger 4 or smaller 5, I could see letting Morris have a crack at it.

[KillerLeft]

Josh is going to get a lot of God King's defensive assignments but when you have a matchup against a bigger 4 or smaller 5, I could see letting Morris have a crack at it.

For sure. He’s currently the only playable 4 on the roster.

[cow]

While the McGee experiment failed exceptionally, he's been a pretty darned good locker room guy.  Pretty sure he grabbed the game ball last night and he seems to have been playing the big bro role to Hardy all season.

[RasheedsBigWhiteSpot]

...because his particular skillset purely on the offensive side is literally as good a compliment as you could get for Kyrie and Luka outside another superstar. 

KY usually does help Wood fit more smoothly.

[Scott41theMavs]

https://twitter.com/Mavs_FFL/status/1623012539268272128

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https://twitter.com/Mavs_FFL/status/1623012410893250561

Dog bites man. 

If Nico gets something of any value for McGee, he might be back in the running for exec of the year.

[LifeAquatic]

KY usually does help Wood fit more smoothly.

[SleepingHero]

So...what about Markief Morris?  What does he bring to the team?  How will Kidd use him?

Was reading some Net fan forums and the general consensus of Morris was he's a deadeye shooter, but he's slow footed and not great on defense. 

His favorite spot was corner threes. He rarely got minutes under Nash, and barely played under Vaughn. Mostly because he's slow footed. 

Can Kidd turn him into a good defender? If so then you have a really really good player coming off your bench. If not then we have another, albeit thicker, Bertans.

[The Jom]

Sheds new light on the “extending Wood” discussion

[mvossman]

I'm aware of that. Here's the thing, if the market for Wood is not there in the trade market like people are saying, then why would the market for him be there in free agency? There are less teams that have the cap space to sign him than there are that could trade for him. No team is offering him close to a max, if a team valued him that highly there wouldn't be no market for him in trades. And if a team is willing to offer him a decent contract in FA, there's no reason for the Mavs not to exceed it. Also can't we offer him more years than anyone else? Or is that not a thing anymore?

Also IMO he's more valuable to us in our current situation than Brunson arguably was, because his particular skillset purely on the offensive side is literally as good a compliment as you could get for Kyrie and Luka outside another superstar. Brunson's production was clearly suppressed by Luka due to their similar playstyles and we had Dinwiddie. Brunson had already made his mind up he was 100% going to go to NYK well before FA so we never had a shot at him, which is why we didn't even make an offer. Our only shot was the previous season when we could have gotten him super cheap but he was not the same level of player at that time. Even I had reservations he would ever develop into the player he is now with the Knicks.

Wood is a guy who I could see really thriving when he has two guys with insane gravity drawing a lot of defensive attention away from him and his inside/outside game compliments both guys perfectly. It should be up to the Mavs to find a way to fill out the rest of the roster with the best defensive guys they can find to make up for the flaws the trio present on that end (which shouldn't be that hard to attract if Kyrie works out and they extend him)

IMO if they trade Wood and get a defensive guy back with no offensive game, we've handicapped the offensive ceiling of this team. Kyrie and Luka as your only real offensive shot creators, when before you had three. IMO you need a true third option to maximise what you are getting from Luka and Kyrie not to mention when Kyrie inevitably misses games. Or maybe they finally believe in Hardy and are willing to give him a lot more minutes.

The reason there is no market for him now but there might be in the offseason is that he is a rental, and the teams that will have cap space to get him in the offseason are not seriously competing right now.  I don't know if we can offer more years, but I don't see the Mavs wanting to do that either.

To be clear, I agree with most of this post.  I think he is a great offensive fit with Luka and Kyrie and he has a lot of value to this team even if its coming off the bench.  I have no interest to trade him just to trade him and think we are better off riding with him for the rest of the season if we can't get something of significant value for him in a trade.

[ItsGoTime]

Switching gears. When I talked about the 29 pick being traded instead of the 28, the instant reply was we’re going all in and using more picks. Now we’re talking about using yet another asset to switch the 29 to the 30 in the offseason. If we don’t use more picks now for a clear upgrade, I’m gonna be upset again at the horrible negotiations and foresight in this trade.

[loki]

Sheds new light on the “extending Wood” discussion

If Wood is extended for 4 years or more please call your team doctor immediately.

[F Gump]

Switching gears. When I talked about the 29 pick being traded instead of the 28, the instant reply was we’re going all in and using more picks. Now we’re talking about using yet another asset to switch the 29 to the 30 in the offseason. If we don’t use more picks now for a clear upgrade, I’m gonna be upset again at the horrible negotiations and foresight in this trade.

"Now we’re talking about using yet another asset to switch the 29 to the 30 in the offseason."

We may be, but I don't expect the Mavs are even remotely considering such a discussion. It's just wasting assets to reconfigure already-traded picks like that.