Trade & FA 2023-24: Stein-Ingram Trade Inevitable| LAL Want Lebron Back On Any Terms

[KillerLeft]

For sure I want salaries as low as they can go, I do not mind taking a gamble on potential though, especially when all the other salaries are lined up so well. My gripe in the past was we were paying bench players starter money which left us no room to give money to guys that would fill holes. Once THJ is gone and assuming they don’t take back like bad salary, our cap sheet looks pretty darn good going forward.

I miss gifs. THJ is not bad salary.

[ItsGoTime]

I miss gifs. THJ is not bad salary.

Me and the rest of the league disagree.

[loki]

THJ is destined to become the 2-way wing that will lead the Mavs to a championship.

When they trade his expiring contract next offseason.

[KillerLeft]

Me and the rest of the league disagree.

Nah, you do, but just this morning we heard a rumor about two teams having/having had interest. 

They haven’t been trying to dump him, like Bertans. That’s crazy town. Your bias limits your ability to reason. I am sooooooooo happy Bullock is gone, and THJ is here. I do agree that they were and probably still are shopping THJ - that makes sense. But, it has to be a deal that makes the team better.

[MFFL]

Btw, could it BE more clear that teams aren’t even considering Wood at anything remotely approaching MLE money?

The NBA really doesn’t like him much.

Remember when a lot of us thought about all the crazy salaries that Wood could have extended for? 

Pepperidge Farm Remembers

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

I think Lively gets more minutes than that, if not right away then by mid season.  I think Holmes gets more minutes than that if he bounces back.  I think Maxi has been our best defensive center for years and he allows us to go 5 out, which is particularly useful in the playoffs.  There are plenty of center minutes on this roster right now.

Soooo...you're saying Marc Stein is no longer a good Mavs source with the new front office.

That's certainly possible.

My take on the center position is based almost exclusively on Steins comments. The offseason will not have gone as planned if THJ and McGee are still on the team. The Mavs are looking to upgrade center and it's something they must do.)

[KillerLeft]

Soooo...you're saying Marc Stein is no longer a good Mavs source with the new front office.

That's certainly possible.

My take on the center position is based almost exclusively on Steins comments.  The offseason will not have gone as planned if THJ and McGee are still on the team.  The Mavs are looking to upgrade center and it's something they must do.)

I feel like Stein is combining two things:

1) things relayed to him from sources at the BEGINNING of the summer

2) his own opinion upon reading the situation

And, for what it’s worth, I think you and he are right. I am sure they are still poking around hoping to find help in a lot of places, center being one of them. I just don’t know how you can be so sure that means they’ll DEFINITELY find one.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

I feel like Stein is combining two things:

1) things relayed to him from sources at the BEGINNING of the summer

2) his own opinion upon reading the situation

And, for what it’s worth, I think you and Heath are right. I am sure they are still poking around hoping to find help in a lot of places, center being one of them. I just don’t know how you can be so sure that means they’ll DEFINITELY find one.

This was 2 days ago and it seems like a pretty definitive statement to me.  

Even if the Mavs pull off both Grant Williams and Thybulle, YES they will still try to upgrade center.  They have to.

No one said anything about being sure they can get it done.  I'm saying the Center rotation you guys are happy with, the Mavs front office and coaching staff is not happy with.

I'm not trying to predict what the lineup will be. I'm saying this is what the Mavs braintrust would prefer. I think they would prefer to play bigger than most people on this forum would want.

[F Gump]

Soooo...you're saying Marc Stein is no longer a good Mavs source with the new front office.

That's certainly possible.

My take on the center position is based almost exclusively on Steins comments.  The offseason will not have gone as planned if THJ and McGee are still on the team.  The Mavs are looking to upgrade center and it's something they must do.)

"The offseason will not have gone as planned if THJ and McGee are still on the team.  The Mavs are looking to upgrade center and it's something they must do "

I trust Stein relayed the Mavs thinking accurately. And I trust Stein's own thinking was truthfully conveyed in saying it's a real need.

But -- until something happens, it's just wanna-do's. Fixing the rebounding and C positions was a wanna-do last summer too, in fact an openly admitted gotta-do, and we all see how that worked out. It's hard to trust in a positive outcome on that front until we see it.

[KillerLeft]

This was 2 days ago and it seems like a pretty definitive statement to me.  

Even if the Mavs pull off both Grant Williams and Thybulle, YES they will still try to upgrade center.  They have to.

No one said anything about being sure they can get it done.  I'm saying the Center rotation you guys are happy with, the Mavs front office and coaching staff is not happy with. 

I'm just going to let it go for the sake of harmony and being repetitive.

Well, that doesn’t read to me like he reached out to sources to get a specific answer to a new question, more like he’s referring back to info he had before all the moves/negotiation started, but I’m not really arguing any of that. 

Of course they are still trying to get better. That’s their job!

I just don’t think they are going to come off of hardy, green, or the ‘27 for the type of guy you guys all want them to. Maybe I’m wrong, we’ll see. 

All I’m saying is that IF they don’t add another center, I’m still personally high on what they accomplished this summer.

[ItsGoTime]

Nah, you do, but just this morning we heard a rumor about two teams having/having had interest. 

They haven’t been trying to dump him, like Bertans. That’s crazy town. Your bias limits your ability to reason. I am sooooooooo happy Bullock is gone, and THJ is here. I do agree that they were and probably still are shopping THJ - that makes sense. But, it has to be a deal that makes the team better.

At last TDL, Cle had interest too, they wanted a pick to swap THJ and Levert. That is league interest. You don’t have to agree, but odds are in my favor on this one.

[KillerLeft]

"The offseason will not have gone as planned if THJ and McGee are still on the team.  The Mavs are looking to upgrade center and it's something they must do "

I trust Stein relayed the Mavs thinking accurately. And I trust Stein's own thinking was truthfully conveyed in saying it's a real need.

But -- until something happens, it's just wanna-do's. Fixing the rebounding and C positions was a wanna-do last summer too, in fact an openly admitted gotta-do, and we all see how that worked out. It's hard to trust in a positive outcome on that front until we see it.

Totally agree. 

I guess I’m just not chained to the specifics as much as some. When I read things like “upgrade center” and “THJ being off the team” I do so through the lens of those being fairly obvious paths to create ways to get better. 

“Getting better” is more important to me than “get Powell out of here.” At some point, it’s possible that the best way to go is to re-sign Powell, which we were told wouldn’t happen and already has, and at some point, THJ’s value here as a bench player who can actually contribute might be the best ways to reach the most ideal version of the team. 

Absolutely no argument, whatsoever, with the idea that this summer might not be going exactly as they hoped. I still think what they DID accomplish has been surprisingly positive, so far. That’s all I’m saying.

---

At last TDL, Cle had interest too, they wanted a pick to swap THJ and Levert. That is league interest. You don’t have to agree, but odds are in my favor on this one.

But that’s value. That proves my point. The Mavs think he’s better than LeVert. I do, too.

[ItsGoTime]

But that’s value. That proves my point. The Mavs think he’s better than LeVert. I do, too.

A pick and Levert is not positive value.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

I’d like to see at some point a big lineup of Lively/Maxi/OMax during a game.

See...I think you're thinking like Jason Kidd.

[KillerLeft]

A pick and Levert is not positive value.

Of course it is. What are we doing here? If I initiated this, accept my apologies.

---

See...I think you're thinking like Jason Kidd.

Whoooooah! No need to be insulting!

[F Gump]

NO needs to get off of about 3.5M in salary and has supposedly been shopping Valunciunas at 15.4M. It feels like Holmes would be the perfect swap, except at 12.0M it still leaves NO 100K or so over the tax line.

McGee for JV doesn't match, but McGee + snt of _____ at the minimum (Ntilikina? Morris?) looks like it works. But not sure that works nearly as well for either team on the court.

So how could the Mavs bridge the rest of that savings they would need to offer in a RH-JV swap? I've played with it and don't see a good solution.

The best I have so far is NO ending up around 161.7M (3.5 under the tax line) and Mavs landing at about 169.5M (about 3M under the Apron) after this swap:
JV-Lewis
Holmes-SNT player (min salary)

Suggestions?

[KillerLeft]

NO needs to get off of about 3.5M in salary and has supposedly been shopping Valunciunas at 15.4M. It feels like Holmes would be the perfect swap, except at 12.0M it still leaves NO 100K or so over the tax line.

McGee for JV doesn't match, but McGee + snt of _____ at the minimum (Ntilikina? Morris?) looks like it works. But not sure that works nearly as well for either team on the court.

So how could the Mavs bridge the rest of that savings they would need to offer in a RH-JV swap? I've played with it and don't see a good solution.

The best I have so far is NO ending up around 161.7M (3.5 under the tax line) and Mavs landing at about 169.5M (about 3M under the Apron) after this swap:
JV-Lewis
Holmes-SNT player (min salary)

Suggestions?

Do you think Valunciunis checks the right boxes? Rebounding, for sure. Pick and roll, defense, rim-protection? I don’t like it, personally.

[F Gump]

Do you think Valunciunis checks the right boxes? Rebounding, for sure. Pick and roll, defense, rim-protection? I don’t like it, personally.

Per the numbers at BR, he would be an upgrade in about all those areas over RH, and I think overall would be a sizable step up. And as you note, he is a HUGE upgrade in rebounding - JV is about as good as it gets in that area, which is a huge part of getting stops.

[Spin4177]

do you guys think we will make a trade for a starting player or not?

[KillerLeft]

do you guys think we will make a trade for a starting player or not?

Shrug…maybe?