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

[Kammrath]

Just some random observations on the Mavs from my three week sabbatical from the board:

• Luka is looking MUCH better. He is thinner. He is more explosive. He is moving much better (most of the time). In the last 15 games he is +13.8 On/Off (+8.1 O, +5.7 D). He has dug himself out of the basement and is now -2.4 On/Off for the season (and only 3rd worst on the team after being the worst for months). His D at the end of the OKC game was a huge reversion to what he looked like most of the early part of the season, but he noticed it and hopefully it is the outlier moving forward.
  
• THJ going down sucks from an asset standpoint this TDL and summer. 
  
• But THJ going down might have been the best thing to happen to RB. RB had already turned a big corner post-COVID, but he has now reached a new level in the last 5 games. Overall he is now the team lead in On/Off for the season at +8.3 (+1.2 O, +7.1 D). As I predicted in the off-season, if RB could fill in the JR role in the way he was capable the team would make a massive leap by that alone. It is now playing out in the last 17 games (post-COVID for RB). 
  
• Kidd post-LAL can coach. Hell of a job.
  
• The two losses against ORL and OKC were BAD. But the Mavs D had started to slip, so it was a good wake-up call that they need to bring the D EVERY game. 
  
• The Mavs are 2nd in D in the NBA in the last 25 games. 
  
• The Mavs are 3rd in net rating (+6.3) in the NBA in the last 25 games.
  
• JB has been great, GREAT, but I think the Mavs should trade him...even if that means trading him in a year after locking him into a contract. I think someone in his position next to Luka needs to be a longer defender for this team to take the leap.
  
• KP still needs to be traded, but he has been really good when available. The Mavs need someone more consistently available in his position as well as having better chemistry with Luka (though there have been a couple flashes of improvement there in the last three weeks).
  
• I think this team is a "low-level" contender as is with Luka having lost weight and even with THJ out, BUT I think trading JB and KP are the way to making that most difficult jump into the top tier. Those trades shouldn't be rushed necessarily, but I am hoping by the start of next season the roster has been reshaped based on what we have learned this year.