DFS II: Return of the Doe-Doe

[Scott41theMavs]

Time to move on from DFS and other limited 3 and D players (Bullock) as starters/big minute rotation guys. The league is shifting to where you have to be more of a threat overall on offense instead of just standing around and waiting to shoot. The two teams in the Finals showed that almost everyone on the floor needs to be able to not only shoot but also be able to attack off the pass. That doesn't necessarily mean being able to create your shot in an ISO situation but if the ball swings, you need to be able to have some skills to do something with the ball.

I was about to say something snarky, but I'll keep it polite. Several things:

1) Who ever thought the 3 and D would go the way of the Patrick Ewing's of the world?

2) So you have to have a) a shot, b) the ability to create offense on your own, and c) guard at least three positions if not 5. I think it's pretty clear that, 10 years ago, maybe even 5 years ago, there were not more than 30 players playing 25+ minutes a game who could check all three of those boxes. So which is it? Has the number of players who are entering the league over the past ten years who can check all three boxes skyrocketed, or is it just that a few teams have been hoarding all the guys who do check all three boxes?

3) Let me double down on that prior point - 5-10 years ago, the guys in the league who could do all three of those things playing 25+ minutes a game were known as "all-stars." Even if there's a larger number of guys who can do that (an idea which I'm open to), with the new CBA, you can perhaps afford two max guys, three starters who make about $15 mil average, and three bench guys making $8-12 mil each, with the """depth""" consisting entirely of vet mins. How many guys who can check the boxes are willing to take a huge paycut? If there are more guys like that in the league, I suppose that they will have to. If the number is the same as it's ever been, then I think it's going to be very hard for anyone to build a true contender, and probably asymptotically impossible for the Mavs given Cuban being in charge.

4) Maybe I have read too much into Luka's "it's not fun anymore" quote from late March (IIRC). I read that not so much in terms of being sad about not winning so much as about "I don't get to cook near as much anymore." Do you believe that Luka is really going to be all that happy with four other guys on the floor who can create their own shot and don't need him? How many guys who fit that profile of being able to create on their own are going to be content to watch Luka (and perhaps Kyrie) cook?

My point with 2), 3), and 4) is that a 3 and D guy playing big minutes still has high value on this roster, in my opinion. If Luka is willing to completely, absolutely transform the way he plays basketball in the NBA (hint: 1) as in, into how he has always played, and won internationally, and 2) as you could knock me down with a feather if he ever did so in the NBA before age 30), then we should only target those shooter/creator/defender guys you want.