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

[surfpuckmd]

You had me until this, which I had to do a double-take to realize that it wasn't tongue-in-cheek. Hopefully Dwight is a bright enough bulb to realize he isn't being paid minimum wage to be a starter, and that that was decided before contract negotiations even began. 

If Dwight starts more than 10 total games this year, and that only in the event of injuries, that means we're tanking, and should be looking into Luka's trade market. Period.

Dwight's a proven NBA rotation player and is now on a really favorable contract.  

Lively has yet to play an NBA minute.

I think Lively can become an excellent starting center for us eventually.  I think he was a great draft pick and I look forward to watching him improve with time and experience.  However, rookie centers rarely make a positive impact.  Players like Bam Adebayo, Nic Claxton and Sabonis either were net negatives or barely played as rookies.   It is very unlikely that Derrick Lively will be as effective as Dwight Powell this coming season.  Kidd suggesting that Lively has a chance of starting this season creates unrealistic expectations.  It's foolish.  

If Lively ends up surprising and plays well as the season progresses, that would be amazing.  It's pretty unlikely however.