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

[KillerLeft]

The KP became good "because" Powell went down argument is garbage.  KP wasn't ready yet.  The problem with KP was KP, not Powell.  There is no rule that says KP has to go stand in the corner any time Powell is in the game.  That was a team choice.  Now that we've seen what offensively active KP looks like, we won't backtrack.  That doesn't mean Powell can't be a really good dive cut guy and secondary PnR target and be super effective.

Look, I hope you're right about the above. And I agree that KP was still working into shape at the beginning of the season.

However, I ALSO believe that Carlisle WANTED KP to act as a simple spacer when working with the Luka/Powell pick and roll, as you seem to understand with the underlined, emboldened text. If that's the case, does KP's level of comfort and confidence really have anything to do with how his touches affect the game? 

Flip it around: Is Powell's skillset ideal for any offensive action you can envision being run through KP? Like, we know KP can space (at a LEGENDARY level) for Luka/Powell...what, if anything, can Powell do for Luka/KP? 

My takeaway was that Carlisle looked at the pieces he'd have in the starting lineup and designed an offense around the Luka/Powell pick and roll with KP as a SPACER. I don't know that I want my $160 million player being (only) a spacer, and I thought by the end of the year, they were at least involving him in some actions. You say this had nothing to do with Powell's absence. I'm not so sure about that. I do think there's a crossroads of sorts surrounding this, though maybe not a dire one.

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This still leaves us with a major fork in the road regarding 2021...to Powder or not to Powder.

At $109mm for the 21 cap, Dallas can have its picks and the WCS cap hold and a max slot if it lets THJ walk, gets rid of Wright for no returning cap space and gets rid of one more player from among Curry, Kleber and Powell.  They can use the MLE, but only on a one year deal.  Another way of looking at Plan Powder is you are trading THJ, Kleber (or Curry), the MLE and Wright for FA "X".  When you start to pile up the cost of Plan Powder in a $109mm world, it gets pretty expensive.  

Here's my question.  If we are willing to trade Fan Fav's like Curry in Kleber in 2021 (which is necessary if you want a seat at the grown up table of free agency), then why are they untouchable this off season?  I realize no one in the Giannis and AD and Jrue range are available this off-season.  But, if we can get 75% of Giannis and give up much less than what we'd give for him (and keep our fan favorites and use the MLE now), should we go ahead and go for it?

Totally agree with all the thinking above, and I'm sure the Mavs would, too. The problem is that I haven't seen one, single suggested scenario that's 75% of Giannis, tbh. That doesn't mean it's not out there. We won't know what they're doing until they do it, as per usual. I have always maintained that if you get what you need now, you do it! But, I just can't see what that might be, whereas in the cap space scenario, there seem to be way more possibilities. 

My thoughts won't change on this: You don't clear space early and carry it through next season, obviously, and you can even bring in new players. But, unless those new players improve your present and future outlook SIGNIFICANTLY (much, much better than the majority of targets we've been throwing against the wall around here lately) then I think you have to stay in a position to get to max space in 1-2 easy moves. Moves that won't require attached picks to get you there.