09-17-2020, 05:10 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-17-2020, 05:19 PM by DanSchwartzgan.)
(09-17-2020, 04:27 PM)StepBackJay Wrote: The Dwight Powell thing is the biggest head-scratcher of the last several years. The Mavs have been overall disciplined and able to sign their guys to reasonable contracts. Powell was finally going to roll off his last contract where he was overpaid and the Mavs extended him for no discernible reason. It feels like this whole time it's been Cubes' desire to still justify the Rondo trade which turned out so poorly.
Powell had great stats in terms of FG% and whatnot but what we have seen and will continue to see is that a large share of that success belongs to Luka who makes a lot of roll men look amazing. Powell is a good player but there just wasn't ever a reason to overpay for his role which has become marginalized in recent years.
Where is that down vote button when you need it.
(09-17-2020, 04:54 PM)SleepingHero Wrote:(09-17-2020, 04:27 PM)StepBackJay Wrote: The Dwight Powell thing is the biggest head-scratcher of the last several years. The Mavs have been overall disciplined and able to sign their guys to reasonable contracts. Powell was finally going to roll off his last contract where he was overpaid and the Mavs extended him for no discernible reason. It feels like this whole time it's been Cubes' desire to still justify the Rondo trade which turned out so poorly.
Powell had great stats in terms of FG% and whatnot but what we have seen and will continue to see is that a large share of that success belongs to Luka who makes a lot of roll men look amazing. Powell is a good player but there just wasn't ever a reason to overpay for his role which has become marginalized in recent years.
The only explanation I could come up with is that Cubes, Donnie and Rick all thought Powell was THE 5 to play next to KP. They valued his elite above the rim skills and his elite finishing ability. They felt that KP as a help defender could hide Powell's obvious defensive deficiencies and he's agile enough to guard wings. Put that package together with the fact that Powell is an incredibly smart and by in large a fantastic locker room presence, the Mavs FO felt that they needed to extend him at his current salary. And they probably thought they'd be getting a deal too looking at it from that perspective.
Once Powell went down and KP moved to the 5, I think they saw their mistake finally. It really opened up this team's offense once KP moved and KP exploded in production (26/11/2 blocks on 50/39/86 in Feb.)
If the Mavs are self-aware, they'd admit Powell was a big mistake. Especially given that he suffered the most lethal injury career-wise for a basketball player. Who's to say Powell has any sort of bounce he once had? I don't think they'd trade him for anyone. But if I was Donnie I'd be trying to find something this summer.
THJ+Powell+18+31 for Hield+35+43 is one deal I've been ruminating over.
As much as I like Powell, I would probably do the proposed deal if Holmes were included and 18 were removed. The injury probably will take away some portion of Powell's effectiveness. If Sac really wants to get rid of Heild, then they shouldn't get and effective but expiring Hardaway AND picks (recall it will be challenging to deal current picks and Hardaway as he will probably wait until after the draft to opt-in).
I think "admit Powell was a big mistake" and then tying KP's emergence to Powell going down is a "big mistake". There was no rule saying Powell had to be the focal point and KP had to stand in the corner. They were bringing KP along slowly. At any point they could have run more plays for KP. BTW, it isn't like the offense wasn't working with Powell setting the picks and rolling. Imagine how much more diverse we would be with Luka having both options (thus the interest in Holmes...who is a much better defender than Powell).