07-26-2021, 06:51 PM
(07-26-2021, 06:10 PM)Scott41theMavs Wrote: Because I'm a Mavs fan, I hope every one of last year's rotation players other than Luka and DFS (and perhaps WCS) is gone before we go to war in November.
Edit: To elaborate, I'm talking about seven players in particular:
KP - Doesn't fit with Luka, might be unplayable if the defense doesn't get fixed, an injury apocalypse waiting to happen. Trade the man.
THJ - Cannot start on a Luka-led team because of his defensive deficiencies (loved his effort toward the end of the year, but still not good enough); retaining him at market value will gum up our ability to improve.
Powell - Great effort, actually better all-around now than he was before the injury (in all seriousness!) imho, but doesn't have the verticality he used to. Would be great to get out from under his contract.
Burke and JRich - Do you have to ask?
Brunson - Was exposed dreadfully in the Clippers series, can't start next to Luka in a playoff-competitive situation, need to get something of value out of him before he's due for extension.
Maxi - OK, here's the guy who's up for debate. In spite of his Covid-driven down year, from which he might be expected to bounce back, he's probably our most valuable trade chip (given the neutrality of KP) outside of Brunson (and DFS, whom I don't want to lose), so he's probably gone just from the good-faith effort to replace the other six.
While I agree with most of this, that group is not garbage. KP and THJ are quality starters (and KP might be more) and Powell, Brunson and Maxi are all quality rotational pieces. I would value that group at roughly 60 mil in value (AAV) and they currently cost around 70 mil. That is not terrible and the reality is we will likely be overpaying free agents as an alternative. The biggest issue with most of these guys is fit, so the goal is to get better fitting pieces.
As for Maxi, I think he got miscast a bit as a starting 4, and is much better as a backup stretch 5 who can also play the 4. I think he is more important to us than we will be able to get in trade, so he probably makes more sense staying. I understand it was suggested that we offered him to Atlanta for Collins, and the prevailing thought is that he would be a good fit with Capella, but honestly I think he would be an even better fit with Collins.