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

[BackToSquareOne]

They are scary now. 

But the real litmus test is when KP comes back. Luka/KP/Brunson have started zero games together this season. I am curious to see how they look; is there another gear this team can reach? 

I'll be honest, I'm not particularly high on KP. My prediction when KP went out was that they'd go undefeated until he returns, which would ramp up the trade rumors. Now there is Myles Turner talk. We'll see but lets enjoy the ride for now.

The bold is the key and even with Luka/KP I don't think they've played more than the number of games you can count on one hand with both non-injured/visibly-still-recovering. 

That's one reason why I think all of the "get rid of KP for any asset at all" talk is crazy. At the start of the season Kidd talked about needing until Christmas (~23 games) to see what was what. Well he hasn't had any of that for Luka/KP/JB. So, all you can really do is wind the clock back and see what happens in the next month and/or take a huge leap in the dark where you haven't properly evaluated that you do have in hand. For me the former looks so much more sane that I can't really understand the other pov (obv there are some chicken-little KP will break at any moment, get rid, get rid posters .. but meh). 

And, ok, so maybe you miss on Myles Turner. Are you confident that Turner instead of KP is going to take the Mavs from whatever your current projection is to whatever your promised land this year is? And if so, how confident? And what happens going forwards? And what if Turner - who does jump - lands on someone's foot and tears his ACL?

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One strange season followed by an even stranger one. Last season the Mavs had really bad luck and lost crucial players (Brunson, DFS, Kleber) for nearly a month. Also had to deal with KP´s injuries. Other teams weren´t as effected.
This year it feels like at least one out of KP/Luka is out all the time. Add the recent hardship stretch and the team played some games with less than three guys that would usually be in the rotation. Difference is that this time the entire league is dealing with similar problems. Some teams had it even worse than the Mavs.

Recent games were really encouraging. If they can build upon the defensive improvement and get a little bit more consistent on offense I might get my hopes up.

And the one before was the one that was suspended and ended up in the bubble! Of course as observers we want to make predictions and as a FO the FO has to make predictions .. but the last half-season+a season+this half season have been such outliers - for the Mavs particularly, but in general as well - as to make rational discussion really hard