2021-2022 MAVS NEWS: 4th in West | WCF loss [ARCHIVED]

[DallasBasketball]

I am from Slovenia, so my knowledge of NBA is slim. But I even if Dragic is a Slovenian, I am not sure he is the best solution. First thing first, Mavs are just waiting for him to be bought out, but who knows if an another team is more interested; they will not wait like mavs?

Also, I miss a proper analysis of Goran's impact at Heat in the last seasons, because, even if he is a proper and true sportsman, living a sports life, father time is creeping on him too; in playtime and injuries. I am also not sure about synergy between Luka and Goran. Yes, they are friends, but up till this year  in Slovenian team Goran was the boss and Luka just listened. Are they both capable to completely exchange roles (and egos)? Stars and players in general are prickly and what will happen when Luka starts to berate his former "boss" (from the last year) during the game? So, forget about friends and so and let us check facts, if Goran is really what Mavs needs. I hope so, but I am not sure as I do not have the analytics knowlege and nba statistics to check that. And I also definitely do not claim to have any personal or other knowledge at all about Luka or Goran, so this it is all my personal conjecture (and fear).

To quote Halfnir "Trey Burke and Ty Terry who qualify as PG in some manner"; I think Mavs needs a playmaker/ball handler who is justs that, and not only in "some manner", with all due respect.

I wrote a lot about this question because: 1. I think it is the number one problem for Mavs and 2. Instead of solving that all discussion is suddenly about shooters, wings and centers, which is nice, but certainly does not solve the main problem, that is, to find another ball handler to help Luka.

Hi Borkhan,

I’ve enjoyed reading your posts. I want to add my thoughts to your discussion.

On paper if you look at Mavs roster they have Luka who is obviously a 35 minute player and will play exclusively as PG. 

Continuing with the ‘on paper’ theme, Brunson is a 25 min per night rotation player that is good enough to situationally start, has shown over 3 seasons to be capable to run the back up PG in the regular season, and could step in and play 30+ minutes in a temporary role if he had to.

Further on paper, Trey Burke who is primarily a situational scorer, is also a solid situational point guard. If Brunson went down for some temporary amount of time, Burke would be a reasonable fill in. 

Lastly on paper is Tyrell Terry. There is not much to be written about him at this point. He’s a development guy, a G-league guy, but if he were called up to fill Trey Burke’s role as a situational scorer and situational back up PG, it might be okay. 

Now for the bridge test. If any one thing went wrong for a short while, mavs have a plan^, but if two things go wrong, Mavs are up river without a paddle. 

Is this secondary consideration an emergency? No. But it is a concern. And one I’d imagine they’d address when they get to that bridge.

So in summary I think the PG line up is well-planned, it has an initial margin of safety but not a large one, and I see that as a problem that can get resolved in time(not currently an emergency)

Lastly, your point about wearing Luka down is a good one. And I think Mavs have to play a delicate balance here. He’s young and developing as a superstar, so his usage should be as high as the player can handle, but consideration should also be made to his longevity and playoff stamina, so there must be some give of usage by Luka to make this work. And Luka must also keep improving his body. He does not yet appear to keep a veteran nba body/conditioning. Once he gets there, we will know even more about his usage. 

In the end you are right, he needs some help! And Mavs are trying. They were locked onto Dragic and it appears he’s getting away, but I think they have some margin of safety and can take the season to find the solution.