10-03-2020, 03:29 PM
I said this a few days ago, but within the context of today's conversation I think it warrants repeating:
Put yourself in Oladipo's shoes. Before his injury, he was a back-to-back All Star, as has been pointed out. He didn't get there by playing off of someone like Luka, he accomplished this by having the ball in his hands. Now, a player like that who starts to become less effective organically might grow in maturity to the point where they're ready to face the hard truth and go to a new team with the intention of fitting into something already in progress for the purpose of winning. But in his case, I bet he believes this is happening to him because of bad luck.
If you're Dipo, are you really excited about moving to Dallas to live out the rest of your career in the shadow of some 21 year old, or are you trying find a place where you'll be given the chance to play yourself back into the All Star you believe you can be? This, to me, is the exact opposite of what I think I see in THJ that I like.
The Mavs DO need another guy (or more than one) who CAN do things with the ball. I've said that over and over. But, I think that IF those guys are GUARDS, they'll need to be able to look themselves in the mirror and realize that they're here to help Luka, not to replace him. I don't know that Oladipo is that dude yet. (I admit, this is speculative) A guy like Hield is thinking "f-yeah! That white boy is going to get me more shots!"
Put yourself in Oladipo's shoes. Before his injury, he was a back-to-back All Star, as has been pointed out. He didn't get there by playing off of someone like Luka, he accomplished this by having the ball in his hands. Now, a player like that who starts to become less effective organically might grow in maturity to the point where they're ready to face the hard truth and go to a new team with the intention of fitting into something already in progress for the purpose of winning. But in his case, I bet he believes this is happening to him because of bad luck.
If you're Dipo, are you really excited about moving to Dallas to live out the rest of your career in the shadow of some 21 year old, or are you trying find a place where you'll be given the chance to play yourself back into the All Star you believe you can be? This, to me, is the exact opposite of what I think I see in THJ that I like.
The Mavs DO need another guy (or more than one) who CAN do things with the ball. I've said that over and over. But, I think that IF those guys are GUARDS, they'll need to be able to look themselves in the mirror and realize that they're here to help Luka, not to replace him. I don't know that Oladipo is that dude yet. (I admit, this is speculative) A guy like Hield is thinking "f-yeah! That white boy is going to get me more shots!"