MAVS NEWS: Luka Is Hurt, But is Trudging On | DLive's Mom Passes Away| Maxi OUT

[omahen]

1-2 I think those sentences accurately summarize your whole post, and I disagree with both.That is, I think they did have a defined direction, but I think they failed in doing it properly.

1-2 I think their goal was to get 2 stars who could complement each other and build around. Luka was the 1st. Where they failed was thinking KP would be the 2nd, and by going all-in on him, that was their wrong direction move. They thought they were getting Anthony Davis 2.0, and instead they got a KD wanna-be who was extra tall for a shooter, but not an elite shot, and not interested in dominating in the middle. And brittle. Their analysis and evaluation was a total fail, in their over-eagerness to get the 2nd star.

IMO They certainly had a plan, and were all-in. But their lack of proper evaluation killed them.
 
In that same vein, I think the Kyrie acquisition was the next stab at the same plan. I don't think he was brought in to be a short-term band-aid, but instead they simply see him as the 2nd star they need, with the intention to make it work well and to ride it out as long as possible. In time we'll see if they did better this go-round than with KP.

3 Tanking and development?

The fact that they (wrongly) thought they had their 2 stars kept them from tanking. They spent picks on who they thought was the 2nd star. And I do think they tanked more this year than anyone knew, so they get some credit for that from me -- but they really cut it tight, in keeping the pick, which I thought was dumb because it was so needless.

But it doesn't excuse the fact they failed to develop at the bottom of the roster, and have an expert development team to make things happen. Those were several wasted years they can never get back. And they never got a talent expert and negotiator until this year, which was inexcusable as there's no cap on hiring experts.

Agree with the part about the general plan and them failing it. Also agree with the Irving part. A lot of us thought KP is ideal partner to play with Luka. I was personally very surprised by the outcome, I remembered KP as a very different player before coming to Mavs. I think very few of us think that Irving is a right star next to Luka. I mean, they let Brunson walk, because they thought that a small PG that is not great on defense is not an ideal partner next to Luka to break a bank on. I hope we are all wrong now.

I don't agree they were all in on the plan. So many missed opportunities. They could have go far beyond the salary cap in the summer after KP trade because of his low cap hold, but didn't. Just one example, many more. I don't think it is just about failing to do so. It is also about saving money, as you also said in your last paragraph. I mentioned, I don't remember them spending cash for SRP or correcting their mistakes, it was always SRP. I didn't get an impression that they are willing to do everything it takes to win. 

Even this season it seems, they will go below the lux tax. Who knows, perhaps that was a general direction they have to go to. Cuban said last season that tax is not a problem, because it will only be for one season. And if that is true, how many opportunities were perhaps missed?

As for FO, I was certainly one of the loudest expressing doubts about Nico hiring. Mavs lost 2 seasons with him learning the job. Unfortunately, totally predictable outcome that Mavs should be aware of and take measures to limit those risks. Perfect analogy for the risks I fear in this coming seasons and the counter measures that could be taken to mitigate those risks.