01-17-2022, 02:06 PM
(01-17-2022, 01:37 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: I agree with your POV, overall.
I've said this I don't know how many times, but I just don't think Hardaway is a bench player type. There is a tendency to look at these guys and arrange them according to some type of made up "overall rating" and make sure the top 5 overall scores are the starters, and while I can understand the desire to make sense of the roster, I just don't think it works that way.
Hardaway doesn't strike me as a 6th man, like at all. He's not an offensive creator, which is what every historically great 6th man brings to the table. Brunson? Sure, he'd be great in that role, if he's happy with it. A dream fit, actually. Obviously, he's up and coming and that might not be an option available to the Mavs at this point. It might be "start him or trade him" time.
But for Hardaway, I think he's a starter, and much more worth his contract in a high-minute, offensively featured role (one that's focused on creating shot opportunities for him like last season's Mavs offense). If they've determined (and I'm not sure they have - I think they're experimenting) that he's not going to be that here, then I think it's really important he's moved ASAP. I'm one of Hardaway's biggest fans, but I'm not excited in the least to watch him come off of the bench. I don't think he'll ever be successful in that role.
The issue is Kidd favoring defense. I don't think that there's any debate that THJ is greatly inferior defensively to all of the above of DFS, Bullock, Green, Sterling Brown, and Ntilikina (that's ***five*** freaking alternatives!!!), and having both him and Luka in the starting lineup is a major defensive problem if you want your team's identity to be defensive (as Kidd clearly does). Brunson is less problematic since he's learned the JJB trick (6th in the league in charges drawn). I just don't think there's a place for him on this team with Kidd as the head coach, and the latter seems to be a successful thing. I think they need to cut bait on the guy. The thing is, you don't trade him for an expirer (for example) just in order to sign JB unless you're 100% that JB is willing to stay for that money. I would imagine that, if THJ is moved on from for the sake of retaining Brunson, it's likely to be at the draft, attached to our pick.