Which player would you rather have?

[dirkfansince1998]

Send us Aaron Gordon, our coach can fix him. The world needs to see a well coached Aaron Gordon.

Rick is the NBA's Statue of Liberty.

"Give me your miscast, your underperforming, your dog housed masses, yearning to run free,
The wretched discarded of the end of your bench.
Send these, the role-less, coach forgotten to me, I lift my clipboard above the  hard wood floor!"

While we are at it. Mavs gladly take struggling former lottery picks like Maarkanen as well. Can never have enough unicorns.

[jesusshuttlesworth82]

I'll take the better 3pt shooter and better defender around Luka.  Easy choice.

Aaron Gordon is fine but im confused every year why people are so impressed by him.  (other than the whole dunking thing/same reason people thought DSJ would be a star)

[Lucky Luciano]

I chose player B before and after knowing who the players were. I paid attention the the per 36 numbers and not the regular numbers.

I'd love to try out AG but not at the price of losing Maxi. No way. However it may not be popular around here to say but I'd give a straight up swap with AG and THJ and the GS second to see what Rick can do with Gordon.

Maxi here now vs Gordan in Orlando now is super lopsided as far as value goes for our team imo so again B prior and B after...

[fifteenth]

I'll take the better 3pt shooter and better defender around Luka. Easy choice.

Aaron Gordon is fine but im confused every year why people are so impressed by him. (other than the whole dunking thing/same reason people thought DSJ would be a star)

He hasn't been impressive. But he may have misapplied skills that would make him a good reclamation

[ItsGoTime]

As far as being too tied to Maxi, he has far more value to the Mavs and the other 29 teams at his contract than THJ does or pre-injury Powell ever did.

Maxi - Top 5 overall defender in the league, knock down 3 point shooter, 90th percentile role man.

Dwight - Not actually good. Can dunk when wide open.

THJ - May or may not be here after this contract. Good or bad thing depending on $.

These two comments focus on the players named as opposed to the mentality of sticking with them once they're at peak value, cause that is the mentality I have a hard time understanding. Trade them, trade them! Oh, they got better? Keep them at all costs! Keep them at all costs!

In the offseason, more than most would have gladly given up Maxi for Aaron Gordon. Now that he's shown some really good value, yet has a really hard time proving he is a starter or more than a 25 mpg player to RC, he's untradeable? No one loves Kleber more than I do, but if his role on this team is what RC is making it, I'd like to get someone in here that will impress him enough to crack that sure-fire starter role with sure-fire starter minutes. 

Same mentality can be said of Powell, Curry, THJ, JB etc.

These guys are sell high guys when you can get a premium on their value from a team in need of their specific talents. I think we need to be honest with our team and see that this group is not gonna be the same players when we reach the finals again. Take that thought and figure when the best time to cash in on them is. Maybe that is not now for most of them, maybe it is. We won't know cause we're not working the phones.

I'd love to keep Maxi, but if we can get a guy in here that RC will play 30-33 mpg and start on our team, and the other team is requiring our Super Glue? I'm sorry, but I'm taking the upgrade (unless that guy is yet another PG, which no doubt RC would do ). So Aaron Gordon isn't the guy for some, what if when we call Ind for what it would take to get Turner besides Luka and KP, they say it starts with Maxi and don't hang up the phone? Are we really gonna hang up the phone on them?

Upgrade business is all I can say.

[Jommybone]

GoTime, you are assuming Maxi's role and PT are products of RC's view of him. What if that’s wrong? What if RC at Mark & Donnie's request is keeping minutes down for valuable guys for the purpose of keeping them out of other teams' trade demands? There’s been speculation that certain players (Wright, Jax, Hardaway) might be getting "showcased" for the opposite purpose. Who’s to say Carlisle hasn’t been deep benching Bro and limiting Maxi's minutes for the opposite aim?

[ItsGoTime]

GoTime, you are assuming Maxi's role and PT are products of RC's view of him. What if that’s wrong? What if RC at Mark & Donnie's request is keeping minutes down for valuable guys for the purpose of keeping them out of other teams' trade demands? There’s been speculation that certain players (Wright, Jax, Hardaway) might be getting "showcased" for the opposite purpose. Who’s to say Carlisle hasn’t been deep benching Bro and limiting Maxi's minutes for the opposite aim?

Now that we are out of the tank-not tanking mode, that is far from what I believe is an RC viewpoint or allowance. I don't believe as tenured as he is, he'd have a problem with throwing his weight around and saying no to that, which is much more likely IMO (if it was an actual ask from the FO). I rule nothing out since we are not privy to those discussions, but this one seems pretty far-fetched.

[ClutchDirk]

Send us Aaron Gordon, our coach can fix him. The world needs to see a well coached Aaron Gordon.

Rick is the NBA's Statue of Liberty.

"Give me your miscast, your underperforming, your dog housed masses, yearning to run free,
The wretched discarded of the end of your bench.
Send these, the role-less, coach forgotten to me, I lift my clipboard above the  hard wood floor!"

https://media.giphy.com/media/1dMhhda0hx.../giphy.gif

[IamDougieFresh]

No one loves Kleber more than I do

[fifteenth]

Do we need a "who loves Maxi the most?" thread?

[ItsGoTime]

Do we need a "who loves Maxi the most?" thread?

It's funny cause I think they take that statement as if I'm saying I love him more than anyone, which is not what I said.

[fifteenth]

It's funny cause I think they take that statement as if I'm saying I love him more than anyone, which is not what I said.

We can't let technicalities get in the way of good clean fun :-)

[ItsGoTime]

It's funny cause I think they take that statement as if I'm saying I love him more than anyone, which is not what I said.

We can't let technicalities get in the way of good clean fun :-)

I said it's funny! 

[Scott41theMavs]

Do we need a "who loves Maxi the most?" thread?

It's funny cause I think they take that statement as if I'm saying I love him more than anyone, which is not what I said.

You said you love him as much as anyone - not true if you'd trade him for Gordon.

I would include Maxi in a trade for Turner, because Turner is a better version of Maxi, bringing much the same strengths. The Wurzburg + chemistry intangibles would make it hurt, but you have to give to get.

[ItsGoTime]

Do we need a "who loves Maxi the most?" thread?

It's funny cause I think they take that statement as if I'm saying I love him more than anyone, which is not what I said.

You said you love him as much as anyone - not true if you'd trade him for Gordon.

I would include Maxi in a trade for Turner, because Turner is a better version of Maxi, bringing much the same strengths. The Wurzburg + chemistry intangibles would make it hurt, but you have to give to get.

Turner is not a star or superstar or even all-star snub, that makes my point. When did I say I'd trade Gordon for Kleber? I remember saying I thought it was a no brainer until I looked at the numbers, I then didn't know what I thought and put up the poll.

[HanspardsShowerVoice]

The appeal of Gordon is on defense ... he has the body and athleticism to be an elite Draymond type of 1-5 switchable stopper when he's dialed in on defense. This isn't lost on the Magic, as they've been wanting him to be that for the last several years. Trouble is Gordon, who has never had to play with another star, still sees himself as a franchise cornerstone offense player. There's way too much ball stoppage and bad midrange fadeaways. If you can get him to fall in line behind a real star like Luka, embrace his role, you get a 1-5 switchable defensive stopper combined with Dwight Powell caliber PnR rim running on offense .. in other words, the perfect guy to pair with Luka and KP.

Zach Lowe did a good write up on this on his #5 item on a recent 10 things I like column...

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2848...well-dance

[dirkfansince1998]

The appeal of Gordon is on defense ... he has the body and athleticism to be an elite Draymond type of 1-5 switchable stopper when he's dialed in on defense.  This isn't lost on the Magic, as they've been wanting him to be that for the last several years.  Trouble is Gordon, who has never had to play with another star, still sees himself as a franchise cornerstone offense player.    There's way too much ball stoppage and bad midrange fadeaways.    If you can get him to fall in line behind a real star like Luka, embrace his role, you get a 1-5 switchable defensive stopper combined with Dwight Powell caliber PnR rim running on offense .. in other words, the perfect guy to pair with Luka and KP. 

Zach Lowe did a good write up on this on his #5 item on a recent 10 things I like column...

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2848...well-dance

Being a Draymond type of defender requires a lot more than just athleticism or the right body. Defense as a whole is more about smarts, positioning and understanding the game. Gordon has never shown that he can be that kind of player. The Magic have a player with Draymond like skills. His name is Jonathan Isaac. Prior to his injury he looked a lot better than Gordon ever did. That´s probably why Gordon might be available in the first place.