2020-2021 ROSTER TALK: Archived

[hakeemfaan]

Brogdon and Dragic have to be the first priorities. Those are guys who can be the primary option if needed for small stretches and ones who Luka will listen to. Smart is a poor shooter and he takes a lot of bad shots too. If he and Luka both start jacking up bad shots that will cause a lot of locker room issues. 

Now the million dollar question of whether Luka wants to play off ball or not.  That is a conversation the team has to have with him. As others have said he is still very young and still immature. It is upto someone to reach through to him to show how even great players need sidekicks. Michael had Scottie and Ron Harper and BJ Armstrong. Kobe had Fisher. Not every dominant guard dominates the ball the whole game. Dominate it in certain stretches. Else Luka can look for early exits often. 

What you really need is someone that Luka automatically will accept as a clear peer. Someone like a Kyrie or a Harden. The Mavs are not getting those types. The next best bet is someone like a Dragic or a Brogdon. If that fails then the next option is to have Dirk sit with him.  As the musers said Luka is the least of my worries. However to get to the next step Luka has to be willing to fundamentally change some aspects of his mental makeup too.

[Chicagojk]

This is a really good point.  I think the issue is less Luka being able to give up some control and more so bringing someone in to be a secondary playmaker who could probably be more in different Luka-less systems.  I think it's easier to find a point guard with that mind set in Europe though than someone who has been brought up as the best player on every AAU team they've ever been on I guess is what I'm saying.

Is Llull still a legit NBA prospect?   Doesn't Houston own his rights and I am sure they have no use for him now.   Is Llull similar to Campazzo.   Maybe not quite as quick but bigger?

[MAVS-SLO]

Is Llull still a legit NBA prospect?   Doesn't Houston own his rights and I am sure they have no use for him now.   Is Llull similar to Campazzo.   Maybe not quite as quick but bigger?

No. 

His biggest strength is/was quickness but short after he decide to stay in Real (when he turned down Rockets) he injured his knee (acl). 

He was never consistent shooter and he is also not pure pg. More of SG/PG. Collin Sexton could be his prime comparison. Also when Luka was playing for Real, he was they're primary ''point guard'' even if he played more 3/2. Lull and Rudy Fernandez were also capable to create their own shoots or. shoots for others, but on euroleague level of play.

Campazzo is pure pg, after Luka went to Dallas, Campazzo was playing 1 and Lull 2.

[SleepingHero]

Re Lonzo: the guy might not be a superstar but he would be a dream fit here. Size on the perimeter, shooting, darn good passing, high BBIQ. Almost 70th percentile as a PnR ballhandler. 

I'm getting to get to the point of saying F it. Throw it all to Lonzo. And then trade KP to shore up the wing/big man rotation. Something like KP for Lonzo/Adams/Hart. Then trade Jrich to CHI for Markkanen. Maybe call the Knicks and ask if they want Brunson for Robinson. Finally find a way to get Dragic here. 

Luka/Dragic
Lonzo/THJ
DFS/Hart
Markkanen/Maxi
Adams/Robinson/Powell/Boban

Balanced team with clear roles. That's my ideal offseason.

[SleepingHero]

Higher volume and efficiency compared to both mentioned guys.

I don't know what you mean. That Smart is more efficient and on higher volume than Richardson Wright and Draymond?

Marcus Smart's career splits 37.6/32.0/77.7 on 9 FGA. 46.0 EFG%. 0.506 TS%. 12.3 PER  

Richardson's career splits: 42.7/35.8/83.2 on 10.6 FGA. 50.1 EFG%. 0.536 TS%. 12.5 PER

Wright's career splits: 45.3/35.0/79.2 on 6.3 FGA. 50.8 EFG%. 0.550 TS%.  15.9 PER

Draymond Green's career splits 43.6/31.6/71.5 on 7.3 FGA. 49.6 EFG%. 0.531 TS%. 14.9 PER.

So in terms of putting the ball in the hoop, Smart is by far the worst one of the group. Sure he can run the PnR well. And I agree his playmaking is better than anything we've had from Wright or Richardson. But his offense is so much worse that I think he'll largely disappear next to Luka while ruining the space.

[StepBackJay]

In my view there isn't a direct Mavs/Indy trade route but there is a potential one depending on how much Indy values a Wiggins/pick package. 

For Mavs the main piece would be Turner and I would be trying hard to get Warren who is probably easier for Indy to let loose than Brogdon (plus salaries match). Mavs have other pieces (Maxi, Brunson, Powell) they could offer up to try to get a deal done.

So if the main piece from KP is Turner, then that solves your center problem. Dragic in FA sort of partially solves playmaker problem give that options are thin. I would love to figure out how to get Batum, even if it means discarding Maxi or Powell. It also seems like there's a real possibility J Rich opts in which adds another wrinkle in terms of trying to clear cap space.

[Mavs2021]

If Masai Ujiri wants a challenge, he can have the best player in the league and the worst mess to fix.

Being generous on the 2022/2023 cap, saying it will be 125M, this is our roster

Luka 34.7
Porzingis 33.3
Powell 11.1
Kleber 8.9 (non guaranteed)
Burke 3.3 (a player option LOL, they gave a player option to a 27 year old journeyman that was waived roughly six times during that season)
Green 3.1

Roughly 30M in capspace to turn that into a championship roster without any assets. You could extend DFS/Brunson and it´s more or less all gone. Wow.

[dirkfansince1998]

I don't know what you mean. That Smart is more efficient and on higher volume than Richardson Wright and Draymond?

Marcus Smart's career splits 37.6/32.0/77.7 on 9 FGA. 46.0 EFG%. 0.506 TS%. 12.3 PER  

Richardson's career splits: 42.7/35.8/83.2 on 10.6 FGA. 50.1 EFG%. 0.536 TS%. 12.5 PER

Wright's career splits: 45.3/35.0/79.2 on 6.3 FGA. 50.8 EFG%. 0.550 TS%.  15.9 PER

Draymond Green's career splits 43.6/31.6/71.5 on 7.3 FGA. 49.6 EFG%. 0.531 TS%. 14.9 PER.

So in terms of putting the ball in the hoop, Smart is by far the worst one of the group. Sure he can run the PnR well. And I agree his playmaking is better than anything we've had from Wright or Richardson. But his offense is so much worse that I think he'll largely disappear next to Luka while ruining the space.

Not sure how career numbers help us in this case. Some players improve. Others decline. I think you are the one that continued to doubt THJs shooting numbers for the same reason. Let´s take a look at this season.

2021
Smart 13.1ppg/53.9% TS  5.7ast/ 2tov
Richardson 12.1ppg 53.7% TS 2.6ast / 1.3tov
Wright 10.2/56.2% TS 4.4ast / 1.3tov
Draymond 7ppg/53% TS 8.9ast/ 3tov

Even looking at the numbers for the last three seasons Smart would have the 2nd best 3-point percentage behind Wright.

[JamesConway]

https://twitter.com/thenbacentral/status...74950?s=21

[DallasBasketball]

https://twitter.com/thenbacentral/status...74950?s=21

There will be interest if we were going to part ways with him. Does Washington have anything we would want? Can we even talk about Westbrook?

[StepBackJay]

https://twitter.com/thenbacentral/status...74950?s=21

Hellz ya they do, told ya'll. The one thing to remember is that every team in the mix makes KP's price go up, even if you don't like what the team has to offer.

To me the Wiz package is their young guys, #15 + Bertans. Bryant would be one of the more interesting pieces if not for his ACL tear which dampens his whole outlook.

At any rate I expect them to have an offer on the table. I think they'd have to give every non-Beal player the Mavs want to be in the conversation.

[StrandedOnBeauboisHill]

Hellz ya they do, told ya'll. The one thing to remember is that every team in the mix makes KP's price go up, even if you don't like what the team has to offer.

To me the Wiz package is their young guys, #15 + Bertans. Bryant would be one of the more interesting pieces if not for his ACL tear which dampens his whole outlook.

At any rate I expect them to have an offer on the table. I think they'd have to give every non-Beal player the Mavs want to be in the conversation.

I don't think it would be all of their assets but to me KP/Maxi for Bertans/Rui/Bryant could work financially and could make sense on both ends.  If you can sneak a pick out of it then go for it obviously but I'm in the camp of KP's value not being as high as we'd like.

[michaeltex]

I've said this numerous times. Luka was always sharing floor with actual PG in Europe, both at Real (Llull) and our national team (Dragic). I am sure he doesn't have any problem sharing the ball with someone who actually knows what to do with it other than sling it to the hoop.

I like your point. Apart from the rest factor, this scenario would also allow Luka to start in a more advantageous position than crossing mid-court and having to initiate offense at maximum distance. His gravity is going to distort the defense no matter where he goes or who has the ball, so get another handler and use it.

[jesusshuttlesworth82]

I could see ways to use Bertans and Avdija mayyyyybe.  I dont want Thomas Bryant though.

[StepBackJay]

So one blog idea I just saw would be Blazers deal involving N. Powell in a S&T + RoCo + pick for KP. That is pretty interesting to me. So it is curious that Blazers would let go of Powell instead of CJ but a Powell/RoCo swap would be very nice. I don't see Blazers letting Powell go otherwise. The only issue with NP is that he's not a big assist guy.

[JamesConway]

Hachimura is the guy to acquire in any deal with Washington.

Bertans would be the salary filler. I guess I’d be alright with these two as the foundation. Maybe you could get a 1st or Avdija, too?

Rui would a core piece going forward. He’s a good player already with plenty of upside. Loved him at the college level.

[jesusshuttlesworth82]

Hachimura is the guy to acquire in any deal with Washington.  Rui would a core piece going forward.

Gross.  He's a poor man's Harrison Barnes.

[hakeemfaan]

Hellz ya they do, told ya'll. The one thing to remember is that every team in the mix makes KP's price go up, even if you don't like what the team has to offer.

To me the Wiz package is their young guys, #15 + Bertans. Bryant would be one of the more interesting pieces if not for his ACL tear which dampens his whole outlook.

At any rate I expect them to have an offer on the table. I think they'd have to give every non-Beal player the Mavs want to be in the conversation.

This is the first year I had League Pass after a long time. What I realiz d is on a night in night out basis how many teams have nothing for the casual fan to be drawn to. KP has that draw presence. Plus the fact that he is signed might actually help in some trade talks as the team getting him knows they have him for a few years. 

 I know KP did not pan out here but I do disagree with the assertion that he got plenty of touches here. There was pretty much nothing that I saw that told me that certain sets were designed for KP’s strengths. 

So what are his strengths? We all know his weaknesses wrt strength. He is still a very mobile big guy who has adequate handles and has a good stroke as long as he is not jacking up bad shots. Why not some triangle pinch post hand off sets with him? Why not a few PnR? Why not a few high post sers? Why not a few roaming on the baseline underneath the backboard sets?  It seemed nothing was done. If some were done it was only to quickly blame him saying he could not do that instead of trying things over and over. Luka can get his points anytime . My pet peeve this season is that the whole system should have been devised to get others their shots than Luka. Dirk needed help to get his shots. Luka doesn’t. KP needed help. I didn’t feel the coaching staff gave him that help.

[DallasBasketball]

So one blog idea I just saw would be Blazers deal involving N. Powell in a S&T + RoCo + pick for KP. That is pretty interesting to me. So it is curious that Blazers would let go of Powell instead of CJ but a Powell/RoCo swap would be very nice. I don't see Blazers letting Powell go otherwise. The only issue with NP is that he's not a big assist guy.

That seems like a pretty solid idea from whoever came up with it. Portland would be a team willing to swing for the fence, and Covington/Powell seem like 2 players who would contribute for the Mavs and might even be a step in the right direction building a team in Luka’s image.

[StepBackJay]

I could see ways to use Bertans and Avdija mayyyyybe.  I dont want Thomas Bryant though.

Not even on a 1 year deal? You would need probably Rui then to get the salary match. Rui is a pretty good prospect too. I think that + #15, potentially some 2nds would be a decent package. I still think Mavs will probably get a better package from another team though.