2020-2021 ROSTER TALK: Archived

[dirkfansince1998]

One of the reasons Dallas has been successful in this series so far is that they know who their top 8 guys are, and the Clippers are really struggling to figure that out about themselves. 

So, it seems to me that anyone you want to bring IN to be a top 8 guy means that someone else has to STOP being a top 8 guy, right? While fan opinions of these guys might vary, I'm confident that none of them will be content getting pushed out of the top 8 while remaining on the team. So, to bring players in, players have to go. 

You want Markkanen? Fine, but understand that his role here would replace someone else's. Do you want him more than Kleber? Do you want him more than WCS/Powell? More than Porzingis? Those are the options, and LM probably won't sign on for WCS/Powell minutes. That's not what he means when he says he wants to land here (if that's even true). He's looking at Kleber's job, I promise. 

You want Dragic? You should ABSOLUTELY say goodbye to Richardson, in that scenario, and honestly, Dragic might be ok with a slightly reduced bench role at this point, given his age, but as others have said, he has a lot of equity built up in the Miami machine, and my guess is that he'd like to stay there if given the opportunity (though I bet Dallas would be high on his list if Miami decides to part ways). Plus, there is no question he has overlap with Brunson, so that could be tricky. 

My point is that these things are harder to pre-judge than we think. There really aren't any actual jobs open here next year unless Richardson opts out or THJ leaves in free agency. Sure, all of these guys are upgradable, but we have to consider the logistical and continuity cost of making these moves.

That might be true in the Mavs case but I think it is more about RC trusting 8 guys to perform on the highest level. Don´t think he would mind another big wing that could take some minutes from Maxi or DFS. The rotation depth depends on the available talent. Nuggets play 9/10 deep. Lakers at least 9. Clippers have even more options. The depth isn´t hurting them. They have other problems.
I really don´t get all the but we don´t have minutes for player x/y/z takes. If player x/y/z is better than one of the current rotation players he will get minutes. Not to mention that over the length of a season all players will get opportunities. Injuries/suspensions and other freak incidents happen. This season the Mavs started Johnson, Iwundu, Burke and/or Green for nearly a month. Replace one or two of them with better options and the Mavs probably are the 2nd or 3rd seed. Same for the bigmen rotation. With KP on the roster the Mavs could need another legit big that can start in 10-20 games. Maxi and WCS tend to miss games as well.
Players obviously want to start or at least play a lot of minutes but looking around the league quite a few players are willing to give up some minutes or accept a bench role as long as the team is a legit contender.