Are you satisfied with the offseason (so far)

[Jakeospikez]

What was the draft board this time? Were Lively and OMax the 12th and 24th best talent on the boards when they picked or are they drafting for need?  Teams get into trouble reaching for need in the draft. I don’t blame GMs for missing out. The draft is always a crapshoot but I do care about talent and skill in the draft. The NBA is now more than ever a skill league.  OMax actually I don’t have complaints about. Teams might regret passing on Emoni but that happens. At 12 though you better hope Lively turns out to be really good because there were better skilled guys available. Teams don’t get better in a day. I don’t expect them to. However stacking up on skill gives you a chance that you might hit on something special and even if not, that type of asset is sought after in future trades. 

Let’s even put Lively aside when it comes to evaluating this off-season as even those supporting his selection are not factoring him to contribute much. I have rooted for this team when they barely managed double digit wins. I will continue to. However when it comes to grading off-seasons I see the lack of rebounding and defense at the center spot as a huge concern and don’t see a raw rookie helping there. I see the lack of a 3 headed guard rotation as a concern. These were glaring issues even last season. So without addressing those why the rush to give this off-season high grades?  If the answer is they are not done yet, I am fine with that. Again no need to rush to give a great grade.

To me a big part of this season, assuming no other blockbuster, is to force feed Hardy. Hardaway and Green are not the answer. Exum did not inspire confidence in his first stint.  I don’t know if Hardy is the answer but he brings certain things as far as skillset and putting pressure on defenses in ways that Green and Hardaway can’t. Even if Exum has got better the team absolutely has to give Hardy minutes. I also take back my concession on being ok with Lively not getting many minutes this year. Force feed him minutes even if 8-10 mins a night. I am thinking OMax will get minutes. If the Mavs do that with Hardy, OMax and Lively, I will totally be fine with how this season goes as far as wins and losses. They can’t afford to run journeymen centers or find some retreads and hope for different results. You have Luka and Kyrie. Be bold with some other moves or rotaions and take a chance to see if some of these guys can be difference makers.

Personally don't really care that much about pushing hard to be a contender this year so I don't knock the offseason down for that metric. From what I've seen so far, Luka/Kyrie/Green/OMax/Lively looks like an eventual contender starting 5 and that's all I really care about. I would be fine with giving OMax and Lively as many minutes as possible this year, let them learn on the job, deal with their mistakes and accelerate their growth. Also want them contributing asap and not be on the Josh Green plan where they finally become contributors by the time their rookie deal is up. Bench depth looks good too with Hardy/GW/Maxi, maybe THJ plus whichever other guys currently on the squad pan out. Just need to make the playoffs and give the young core as many playoff minutes as possible to get their feet wet. If the west looks really weak at the trade deadline for whatever reason or like Jokic gets injured or something then making a move for a hard playoff push is fine but I'd wait for the TDL and figure out what needs to be done. A lot of these teams now will be more willing to deal once they look like trash by the TDL. There are probably already plans on using expirings next offseason to go along with the draft picks that become available, so the THJ/Holmes/McGee contracts could be useful, not sure on what needs to be done there yet. How Green plays this year will be the biggest factor on future roster decisions imo.