03-31-2021, 03:15 PM
(03-31-2021, 11:21 AM)Mavs2021 Wrote: We just need a 3rd star. The rest takes care of itself. Look at Blake and LMA with the Nets. Drummond with the Lakers. You just need to be a true contender. It´s just idiotic to work around the edges, but of course to acquire that 3rd star you either need draft picks or draft talent, two things the MantiBT doesn´t believe in, so they are stuck with this useless begging exercise every summer.
Fast moving board today and really good conversation. What I wanted to comment on is the idea of "working around the edges". When our starters on the floor we have a net rating of +12.9. That's one of the best in the league. Utah, Philly, LAC, LAL, Den and outlier Sacramento are the other teams who can say something similar about their most used lineup. The O is an outstanding 127.7. The D isn't good at 114.9, but is trending better. It is a small sample size because we don't platoon our bench like some teams, plus our bench is super thin. Basically it is Brunson, THJ and somebody playing backup C (changing who that is from night to night).
We've talked about how challenging it will be to add a star without risking the loss of a current starter. The other challenge is finding ONE GUY who can do PF-Things that are needed next to KP an C-Things next to Maxi. Or, finding ONE GUY at guard/wing who can hit 3's, play D and be a secondary playmaker. We've been linked to a number of PF types since the TDL a year ago. It may be that we will use a couple of guys at the backup big spots rather than spending a ton on one do-it-all star.
Similar situation at guard. Now we have Redick, another specialist. We really need a guard who can hit 3's, play D and has the ability to create for himself and for others. Right now, JRich isn't doing any of those things well. But, those guys who are good at just two things cost $25mm or more. We don't have the assets to trade for one of those and the best multi-skill options in free agency are pretty old. Maybe the most realistic option is plugging the hole with a couple of specialist types. Maybe one is JRich, maybe it isn't. Maybe Josh Green is destined to be the defensive specialist in certain lineups next season and Richardson is replaced by a distributor/shooter (Graham?).
Once you get to a certain point in team building, beefing up one spot can hurt you elsewhere. To me it might be easier to work around the edges and fix holes. For instance, Powell is a net positive in a lot of lineups, but put him and DFS together and we absolutely die. How can we fix that? A PF who can hit some outside shots for a few minutes when Maxi is out might help. You know what else kills us? Almost any lineup with THJ and Richardson. I don't know why. Sure, we can take a huge risk and pay Oladipo to replace one of them. Or maybe there is a specialist we can add working around the edge who helps depth and makes it easier to separate those two. BTW, I don't think THJ is the one who goes. His TS% is above .600 each of the last two months. That is huge for him.
Bottom line, we might see quite a bit of improvement if we could get our hands on our version of Jordan Clarkson (Dinwiddie?) in Utah or our version of Batum in LA or Jae Crowder in Phoenix (assuming it isn't Melli
).