2020-2021 ROSTER TALK: Archived

[Branduil]

I like both players (if Powell comes close to full recovery) and I'm not opposed to keeping them both, if a difference maker can't be acquired. I'm also ok with bringing one or both off the bench, if that helps.

To put it another way, right now it looks like the healthy starting lineup the Mavs prefer is

Luka / JRich / ___ / Powell / KP

That last spot will be filled by either THJ or DFS. If it's THJ, you're sacrificing defense. If it's DFS, you're sacrificing offense. So that's the first negative for me. Now, as you say, you can bring one off the bench. But at this point, I feel that's like adding another drop of water to the ocean. I am simply not worried about our bench at all, in fact I'm convinced they'll be one of the best in the league. We have an abundance of bench riches at every position. So I view the value added by moving one of those guys to the bench as very small, and in fact possibly a small negative if they're taking minutes from guys who might be able to contribute and build chemistry on our bench unit.

So to me OPJ (or another player like him) can solve this dilemma simply by being able to contribute similarly to either guy on both ends. Would he be amazingly better than THJ on offense? Or DFS on defense? Probably not. But you can only play 5 guys, so the fact that you can keep him on the court, in late game situations, without substituting in another guy for offense or defense, is a huge positive to me. I don't want any one-dimensional players in the starting lineup unless they're all-NBA elite at that dimension. The bench is the place for those guys.