07-15-2023, 11:29 PM
(07-15-2023, 11:22 PM)Dundalis Wrote: I started off thinking this way, but the more I look into it, the more worried I am he will end up becoming a matchup problem for us. I don't care how good you guard up, when you are consistently giving up significant amount of size at your position, you are likely to end up getting punished for it, especially when you are now playing a starting role consistently against other starting lineups. There's a reason he wasn't a starter in Boston and got dropped from their rotation in the playoffs.
I still like the pickup, but I can see a lot of matchup problems with him playing heavy minutes at the 4 spot, especially when he's gonna often be on an island playing alongside a much lower caliber of defender than he used to to with the Celtics where he would have gotten a lot more assistance with defensive duties than he will get here.
Sure, there’s a risk of drop off with increased minutes and responsibility.
But, he can also handle the ball a little (much better than Kleber or DFS, so that will be a big plus over years past). More than enough to attack closeouts and handle the short roll when playing with Kleber.
Also, he’s specifically a good CORNER shooter, coming to a team that can roll out of bed and create 5 wide open corner 3’s in 7 possessions.
Good point about the quality of the other defenders…but you’ve got to start somewhere, and I think Green and OMax (who I think is cemented into the rotation by about game 20) might make for a more cohesive team defense than we expect. This is wishful thinking, I know, but hey - I’m a Mavs fan.