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[F Gump]

I don't think anyone is saying the team didn't blow some (several) opportunities in the recent past.  I also haven't seen anyone say we don't have holes (or at least a hole).  But we had the same wing hole while playing in the WCF's.  If Wood added and Brunson subtracted is truly "just where they were before", then you are missing the improvement of McGee over Powell and the return of Hardaway compared to what we had in the playoffs.  Those aren't insignificant.  

I think the biggest difference is I'm not willing to blast their inactivity on the 15th slot on August 3rd.  There is time.  I personally don't see the wing hole when the roster has Bullock, THJ, Dinwiddie for some of his minutes and presumably a youngster like Green eating up all of the two/three minutes.  DFS may even get some minutes at the three.  It might be accurate to say we'd prefer a different wing, but probably no room for another wing.  The hole is third PG.  Our first two combine to be arguably the best PG combo in the league.  I bet we can find someone to fill the third spot.

Good rational viewpoint. "It's only Aug 3" is a fair reply, but only IF you can see some routes still available out there to fill the gaping hole at 3rd Creator. Can you? I can't.

They had 3 things to do.

1 Upgrade the middle. In so doing, add one playoff-playable core player.
FIXED, it appears. (Note: Wood-McGee add up to 1 core addition, since they split one position).

2 Add a 2-way playoff-playable wing to rotate with DFS/Bullock. In so doing, add one playoff-playable core player.  DID NOTHING. HOPING TO GET LUCKY BY TURNING SOME OF LAST YEARS LEFTOVERS INTO WHAT THEY NEED. But nothing has been accomplished here so far.
..... THJ can fill minutes, but there is no world in which you want THJ to be doing what DFS/Bullock have been doing, especially in the playoffs. Now maybe you think THJ can be traded to get that guy, but if that's the plan, there's no indication they have found that trade partner, if one exists.The 3rd guy is still missing.
..... Green might improve enough to become  the 3rd guy in time. Perhaps. He has to become more aggressive on offense, and it remains to be seen if he can make that step. But so far, he's definitely not the 3rd guy. And c'mon, Dinwiddie is neither a 2-way wing, nor does he have any spare minutes to offer elsewhere.
 
3 Sign Brunson (nope) or replace him, even with a slightly lesser version (nope). BIG STEP BACKWARDS. LOSS OF A CORE PLAYOFF-PLAYABLE producer. The 2-at-a-time creators unleashed Luka to be off the ball at will, which changed the Mavs' whole dynamic.
..... Now there is NO ONE to be backup for TWO core players every game. This is not the ho-hum you paint it as.  
..... The Dragic negotiation by Mavs makes even less sense now than it did back in July, in light of their total failure to have anything else lined up. THEY NOW HAVE A GAPING HOLE HERE.

In total, there's a +1, a 0 (with dreams it later becomes a +1), and a -1. The need was to be +2 and so far, it's +0 when added together.