(12-01-2022, 05:28 PM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: I wanted to explore this a little while I had some time today.  First, let me say that I'd probably have tried Wood/Maxi starting (with DFS/Green/Luka) if it were me.  But, there are some challenges to making the rest of the rotation work around this lineup.

1. I think we have to consider Maxi's limitations as about a 24 minute a game guy.  If you want him to start and finish halves, then his 24 minutes would be the first and last six minutes of each half.  There just isn't much point in subbing him out sooner than six minutes into the half.  Most teams leave starters in for about 8 minutes, sit them for 8 and bring them back for the final 8.  Maxi can't quite do that.  You can play around and do 8 on then 12 off then 4 on, but ultimately the issue is the same.

2. Pairing Maxi with Wood to start and finish halves together eats up most of Wood's minutes.  This is a good thing as they play well together.  But, if Wood gets 32, then you have about 4 minutes a half of Wood as solo-big and then need 8 minutes a half with Powell as solo-big.  Yes, you can overlap that some by playing Powell more minutes.  Kidd has only tried that 17 minutes all season.  Instead Kidd is giving Wood and Powell (or McGee when he plays) about the amount of solo-big minutes listed above.  So, the lineup change is essentially just mixing up when they occur with one exception... the unintended consequence of moving Wood/Maxi to starter status and Powell to the bench is....

3.  We only have one Dorian.  If you want him starting and finishing halves, there isn't enough of him to also play during the solo-big minutes for Wood and Powell.  Without him we are playing those minutes with an undersized center and a bunch of guards.   When you put Wood/Maxi/DFS together for significant time there just isn't enough Dorian to also cover 16 minutes of Powell-solo big time and 8 minutes of Wood solo-big time and play.  

I think you need another player like Maxi or DFS to make the Maxi/Wood starting lineup work.  Or, you have to split up the Wood/Maxi/DFS starting trio.  That is essentially what Kidd has done.  He's just chosen to do it differently by starting Powell/DFS.   They are +5.6 together.  Maxi with Wood come off the bench and are +8.4.  Going the other way around, the pairings aren't nearly as good.  Wood/DFS is -2.6.  Powell/Maxi +0.0.  And, the 3-man lineups with Luka are also better the way Kidd is doing it.  Powell/DFS/Luka is +9.3.  Wood/Maxi/Luka is +16.  Wood/DFS/Luka is -4.6.  I think if we hid the names your affinity for +/- might lead you to the same conclusion as Kidd if you take into account that DFS can't play 48 minutes.  At the very least, what he's doing isn't idiotic or stubborn or a plot to undermine the team or the GM.

As I've said before, I'd prioritize building up Wood's minutes over starting him.  That might change if we traded for someone like Crowder.  Short of that, the Powell/DFS and Wood/Maxi pairings make a lot of sense.   It feels to me like Kidd is trying to make the shortcomings of Powell and Wood work as best he can while also positioning things to have DFS and Maxi finish halves.  I'd probably prefer to continue playing around with what Kidd is doing around Powell/DFS/Luka (the THJ experiment).  I might also try a Green experiment and even a THJ/Green experiment (moving SD to the bench) before I'd go through the gyrations necessary to make a Wood/Maxi starting lineup work.  Even more important than that though would be to find a closing lineup that works and give that group time to gel before the playoffs...especially if that grouping includes a younger player like Green.  He needs reps if he's going to be counted on in that role.

(12-02-2022, 08:39 AM)Smitty Wrote: I posted this over a month ago, it could use some tweaking, sure. But it's more than possible:

First half:
 
Luka_______12 _________     Din______7______Luka__5____
RB ___6____Din____6____     THJ______8_______RB__4___
DFS___8_____Green__4___    Green__4__RB__4__Green__4__
Wood __8____ DFS____4__    Wood_____7_____DFS__5_____
Maxi___8_____Powell__4___   Powell__4__Maxi__5__Wood__3__
 
Second half:

Luka_______9_____ Din__3_      Din___4___Luka______8_______
Green __6__Din_3__THJ__3_      Green__4__THJ___4___Din__4___
DFS____6____RB____6_____      RB___4___Green__4___DFS__4__
Wood __8____ __DFS___4__      Wood__4__DFS___4___Wood__4__
Maxi___6___Powell___6____       Maxi__4__Powell___4___Maxi__4___


Total minutes:

Luka 34
DFS 35
Wood 34
Din 27
Maxi 27
Green 24
Bullock 24
Powell 18
THJ 15


Starting LU: Luka - Bullock - DFS - Wood - Maxi
Closing LU: Luka - Din - DFS - Wood - Maxi

(12-02-2022, 10:22 AM)Chicagojk Wrote: Nico Q &A.
 
Says during FA, Kidd told him the wrong time and date of their FA meeting.  Didn't find out until after that they signed McGee.   Just kidding.

https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/mavericks/2022/12/02/nico-harrison-qa-how-mavs-gm-views-jalen-brunson-exit-christian-wood-future-and-more/

(12-02-2022, 08:39 AM)Smitty Wrote: I posted this over a month ago, it could use some tweaking, sure. But it's more than possible:

First half:
 
Luka_______12 _________     Din______7______Luka__5____
RB ___6____Din____6____     THJ______8_______RB__4___
DFS___8_____Green__4___    Green__4__RB__4__Green__4__
Wood __8____ DFS____4__    Wood_____7_____DFS__5_____
Maxi___8_____Powell__4___   Powell__4__Maxi__5__Wood__3__
 
Second half:

Luka_______9_____ Din__3_      Din___4___Luka______8_______
Green __6__Din_3__THJ__3_      Green__4__THJ___4___Din__4___
DFS____6____RB____6_____      RB___4___Green__4___DFS__4__
Wood __8____ __DFS___4__      Wood__4__DFS___4___Wood__4__
Maxi___6___Powell___6____       Maxi__4__Powell___4___Maxi__4___


Total minutes:

Luka 34
DFS 35
Wood 34
Din 27
Maxi 27
Green 24
Bullock 24
Powell 18
THJ 15


Starting LU: Luka - Bullock - DFS - Wood - Maxi
Closing LU: Luka - Din - DFS - Wood - Maxi

(12-02-2022, 10:31 AM)Chicagojk Wrote: Do you regret or reflect as management on not making a stronger push during the thick of free agency to re-sign Jalen or add another point guard, especially knowing how crucial three ball handlers was to the playoff run last spring?

Harrison: One, us not re-signing [Jalen] wasn’t our choice.

(12-02-2022, 10:41 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: That's well done.  Key is the Powell/Wood minutes.  Kidd hasn't tried it and there are those here who think that combo kills Wood's effectiveness by forcing him to stand in the corner on offense.  If the Powell/Wood combo actually works you've got a good answer here.

(12-02-2022, 10:55 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: I hate to dig this up again as the volume of 'Brunson-I told you so' posts is down considerably (but this is the NY game Saturday).  I don't trust anything anyone has said in this episode.  Not Nico, Not Cuban and Not Rick Brunson.  But, I've always thought that by the time the summer came around it was too late.

I think the mistakes were not trading him at the TDL and presuming NY would need to deal with Dallas to get to the number they needed to hit.  Brunson got a big pay day, family and a starring role in NY.  Two of those things were not available in Dallas and none of us truly know what was and wasn't offered here financially.

(12-02-2022, 12:01 PM)StrandedOnBeauboisHill Wrote: This board definitely understates the fact that Brunson was leaving and there most likely was not anything that the Mavs could have overpaid to prevent it from happening.  Don't get me wrong, Cuban has been cheap and Brunson was a mismanaged asset but he was mismanaged by the fact that they let him hit UFA.  I would argue that the summer before the season started may have been a little too late.  There was no reason for him to sign a 55M dollar extension if he already had a promise (I'm assuming at least) from his dad's former agent that he could get him at least that much and a starting role if he let free agency come.

When I look back on Brunson, aside from structuring his deal in a way that allowed all this to happen, the one person I actually get most upset with is...Robert Sarver.  He made a decision during the 2020 draft that I feel two franchises should be upset about.  With all the reporting that Brunson was getting paired with that pick to move up for Haliburton combined with the fact that Jalen Smith would have absolutely been waiting for the Suns at pick 19...it's honestly the biggest what if scenario I play through my head around the Luka era.  The Suns would have been much better off taking a flier on Brunson while still getting the guy they wanted and paying him less while they were at it.  I'm sure Brunson finding out how much he was being shopped probably made the tampering a lot easier over the next two years as well.

(12-02-2022, 10:55 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: none of us truly know what was and wasn't offered here financially.

(12-02-2022, 01:15 PM)F Gump Wrote: He sees the higher and higher usage rate by Luka as who Luka is.

(12-02-2022, 10:31 AM)Chicagojk Wrote: Well this sort of pisses me off.   As the relationship guy, this is your job.   I understood when we hit the summer it was most likely a lost cause looking back.  But still....just incompentance.

Do you regret or reflect as management on not making a stronger push during the thick of free agency to re-sign Jalen or add another point guard, especially knowing how crucial three ball handlers was to the playoff run last spring?

Harrison: One, us not re-signing [Jalen] wasn’t our choice.

(12-02-2022, 01:32 PM)F Gump Wrote: The Nico narrative seems to indicate that Brunson was going to NY as long as the Knicks could get him a number he liked - rather than a number that was better than the Mavs - and once NY did that, he was satisfied and didn't care what Dallas might offer.

It's impossible to know if that's true. But it's certainly possible that, just so long as some financial basics were part of the equation, JB wanted to be a Knick. That would be unusual that other factors besides money were so high on his list, but it's certainly possible.

(12-02-2022, 01:15 PM)F Gump Wrote: Reading that interview with Nico, there's so much he says that makes me think he's a big part of the problem. I think his vision is flawed and an incredible dead end. (I have to admit that this flows from the fact that HIS view for how to maximize Luka, and what he wants the team to do, is very different from what I think makes sense.)

What I think he's saying, all of which makes me think we have huge problems ahead ....
1 He sees the higher and higher usage rate by Luka as who Luka is. IOW it's not a problem to have, or an obstacle to team success.
2 Harden-ball and Hero-ball and a steady diet of Luka-ISO must be accepted as part of the landscape from here going forward.
3 The role Brunson had last year - the 2nd high-ability playmaker paired with Luka and two playing at all times so always one could take the ball out of Luka's hands, and change the look and the focus, and imo who opened up the offense for everyone - is not really something to pursue in Nico's mind.
4 So he thinks the Mavs are well supplied with PG/playmaker types, and Kemba (like Facu before him, and like Dragic not being interested) is just being brought in to be an emergency 3rd stringer.
5 He sees the shooting problems as simply unfortunate, and not particularly connected to a lack of playmakers and variety in the offensive flow

I see a team where the ball sticks and doesn't move, and that is incredibly predictable. I see a lot of 1-on-5, which is made possible because Luka can be that good, but which ultimately has a low ceiling. It also makes it hard for other players to get in the flow, when they are all just an afterthought and get scraps. And Luka bails on defense, tired from all the wear-and-tear on offense, which has a trickle-down effect. The slow pace? Luka saving energy and limiting possessions. The wild 3s? Luka dribbling out the possession and settling for a shot.

(12-02-2022, 01:57 PM)JamesConway912 Wrote: Brunson was coming off a 2nd round rookie scale contract, match the annual numbers of NY and/or increase them a bit and put the 5th year on the table and you could have outbud NY by a mile.

The Mavs just didn’t want to. They drew their line in the sand at Van Vleet money and as always miscalculated the big offseason decision.

(12-02-2022, 02:23 PM)Kammrath Wrote: https://twitter.com/mavsmoneyball/status/1598759533492436992