DAL OFFSEASON: Trade & FA | Mavs "mostly done...but you never know."

[KillerLeft]

I don’t want to lose the guys who play well and create the good chemistry on our team, but I wouldn’t hesitate in the least, if we’ve identified a player of need that can start for us, to give up any of the guys we’ve confirmed should come off the bench on a contending team.


I get that people hated the Rondo, Toine, Odom, etc. trades, but the starting unit needs a pretty big uplift to be a contender IMO.

You seem way too concerned with the term "starters" or "starting," which leads me to believe you're using those terms to mean something different than what I have previously understood to be their meaning. Anyone starting on a playoff team in the NBA's Western Conference is, by definition, a starter, no?

The Mavs are far from the best team in the league, and need to continue to build, but they're undeniably a GOOD team. I'm all for taking wild swings at talent acquisition when you have little talent and really have no choice, but a good team needs to be tweaked more deliberately so you don't screw things up. 

The team currently has a great mix of players ready to compete in a playoff rotation. I'd estimate that number to be around 7-8, depending on how you view Burke's claim to being "on the team."  Additionally, they have Brunson and WCS, who could be on that list in a year, and guys who clearly aren't in that category but who contribute in important but less noticeable ways, like Boban, Barea and Lee. 

The only dude on the entire roster who didn't just have a good season was Delon Wright, and I could even be talked into giving him another shot, tbh. 

Bottom line is that this team won 33 last year, 24 (!!) the year before, and now, suddenly, they are a playoff team whose arrow is so, so obviously pointed almost straight up. I'd go as far as saying that this season was a special one, and one that should be celebrated. It's important to understand that some roster actions taken could be to the detriment of that progress and not an enhancement of it. It's just common sense, really. These are human beings, not a list of names with 2K ratings assigned to them.

Am I, or anyone else, saying that these guys are untouchable in trades? Of course not. But the Mavs FO seems to be in midst of one of their more intelligent periods, professionally, and I suspect they're not in a huge hurry to throw their guys in the trash. I hope not, anyway. 

I'm all for making the team better, believe me, but I really believe a lot of people are sleeping on the internal improvements that will likely happen as a result of the first playoff experience. At the very least, I don't move players out for players without that playoff experience. That's just one example of what I mean. Here it is, illustrated through (insane and unlikely) hypothetical:

Marvin Bagley, from a pure talent standpoint and as a future prospect, is objectively more valuable than Maxi Kleber. But, Kleber now understands the effort, sacrifice and attention to detail required to win in the NBA playoffs. Bagley still doesn't. Plus, Kleber knows how other Mavs are going to play out of certain actions...who is going to roll or pop...who is going to cut...who needs help on defense with what type of player and in what type of situation...who needs help being reminded of their rotation responsibilities in what situation...on, and on. This nuanced understanding of the team is now ready to leap even farther forward, while a new player, even a talented one, would be starting two years behind where Kleber is now. 

In the (admittedly insane) scenario above, do you make that 1 for 1 trade, if you're the Mavericks? Probably, due to the value that's exchanging hands, but I'm telling you, the immediate product is weakened by that transaction, and you're making that choice based on the hope (not a definite) that it pays off and the extra time spent with the new player ultimately moves your potential ceiling higher. I believe this is very obvious thinking that a professional builder of TEAMS (in real life) must take into account. There's on the job training going on in front of live and television audiences, with real stakes on the line. Once you've got a guy understanding his role and fitting in, I think it's easy to see why you'd place more value in that guy than Joe six pack does, sitting at home pissed because Kleber has shot 4-40 (or whatever) in a series. 

You make too many deals like that at once, and all of a sudden you're behind teams like Pheonix, New Orleans, etc, simply because their guys are TRAINED and yours aren't.