(12-23-2021, 10:15 AM)TXBamanut Wrote: The hard part to figure out with Jalen, to stay with the analogy, is he really "attractive" or is it just because we are nearly "closing time" (contract year)? I like the guy and think he's a hard worker, he's obviously a winner if you follow his career, and he's definitely in the category of what Nick Saban would call an "and" guy and not a "but" guy, but can he keep the production up or is the "contract year" thing, that honestly, seems to be playing out with THJ?
So, does he get paid and production levels off or does he keep improving? If it's the former, it's a sell high situation and get what you can...maybe with DoeDoe (contract year) too, but who knows? That's the question...is he what we need going forward and improving or do we parlay that into a better player?
The Mavs actually faced this same issue about 12-13 years ago with another player that they had drafted (well, draft night trade) that was improving, and they traded Devin Harris for Jason Kidd and won a championship...so, they've been here before. I really didn't want them to trade Harris, because he was improving and it felt more right to win it with one of "our guys", but I was wrong...we'll see now.
I'm not worried about Jalen being in a contract year, but there are a lot of things to worry about. Does he really fit into the starting lineup with Luka from a defensive standpoint? Does he want to be here if he is not starting? Does he want to be here even if he is starting? How much is he going to cost? Do we want to pay 15+ for an ideally 6th man? How are we going to stay under the tax and sign Brunson to a big contract?
I don't thing there is much chance we are going to trade him for a missing piece to a championship anytime soon, but there are a lot reasons to go ahead and pull the trigger at the TDL.