(07-13-2021, 02:59 PM)Scott41theMavs Wrote: That's a great principle to have. Thing is, with this free agent class, the only great wing available is Kawhi (maybe), who is a pipe dream, and the only great guards available are Ball (whom many here are leery of money-whipping, for whatever reason) and 2 or 3 dudes who need a cane. Oh, and Dennis Schroeder, whom I want no part of.
If you don't want Ball and can't get Kawhi, then Collins is likely our best-case scenario for offseason. In free agency, that is. Perhaps we should be thinking entirely in terms of trades. We just don't have a lot of great assets for that (everyone knows that what I really want is Brogdon, but given RC and our lack of assets, that's going to be a tough get). That's one of the reasons I like the idea of trading KP for White or Murray, thus clearing a bunch of cap space, and then getting all four of Portis, Jackson, Tucker, and Payne, and signing the best center possible for the rMLE. Then you've stocked up on a lot of tradeable assets. You haven't really punted on the year because that's a decent enough team around Luka (who, after all, has established himself as a one-man wrecking crew) to have a shot at the second round or better, and can improve through trade (or clearing cap room by shedding tradeable guys) next summer.
All that said, I still think Collins is the best-case scenario because the Mavs used their best asset - cap space - to *improve their team,* something they notably haven't done the past two offseasons. Improvement of the talent base is huge this offseason. I am also hoping that Kidd and Sweeney can coach up Green, Terry, Bey, and Hinton into rotation players and/or tradeable assets. That would be huge, no?
I'm in the camp that would prefer Ball to the older guys or Collins. But neither Ball or Collins will just cost cap, they will cost overpay and asset to land. I am skeptical either are available.
If you do manage to dump KP (don't see SA giving up White or Murray, but who knows) and pick up Holmes, I would probably rather have Norman Powell. Actually, if we land Collins I would probably rather have Norman Powell and spend MLE level money on a center. I just think spending huge on both Holmes and Collins is a misallocation of resources.