EUROBASKET 2022: Greece (Giannis), Serbia (Jokic), & Slovenia (Luka) out

[F Gump]

I'm struggling with this being the case in large part because I'm struggling to see how he is going to get the minutes.  Last year our big rotation after he joined the team was Powell/Maxi/Dorian/Bertans.  That's it.  And yet he played less than 14 minutes a game.  We just added Wood and McGee to that mix.  Its really hard to see where he gets more than 10-15 minutes a game and I think its hard for somebody getting those limited minutes to be a key in taking the next step.

You make a good point.

Of course, we can erase Powell from that mix and the MANY minutes he played (about 1800) will go somewhere else.

There are about 7900 minutes at C/PF. From game to game, players may be rested or injured, so we will just look at total minutes in the long run, rather than game-by-game split.

Return from last year, and assume these guys get basically the same workload again:
Maxi - 1450
DFS - 2650
Bertans - 900 over a full season (he was here 1/3 of a season and got about 300)
[Powell - 0]

That leaves 2900 minutes for Wood, McGee, and to bump Bertans (as needed).

I'd think McGee will get about his same workload as in PHX if he stays healthy (and no reason to think he won't), so if we pencil in about 70g x 14-15mpg, he gets 1000.

That leaves about 1900 for Wood. Last season he got about 2000, and I'd expect him to get similar in Dallas if all goes according to plan.

One factor -- The Mavs have whispered that they want to keep both Maxi and Wood from a heavy regular-season workload, so that they are full speed when we get to the playoffs, which might lead to a modest adjustment.

If I mix all of that together, it looks like there are enough 4/5 minutes for all of McGee, Wood (slightly reduced), Maxi (slightly reduced), Bertans (only the same as before), DFS. I'm in the ballpark of ...
McGee   1000
Wood    1950
Maxi      1400
Bertans  900
DFS       2650

SOOOOOO - where would the Mavs be able to get more minutes for Bertans, if it made sense? After looking at that, I would guess that DFS either gets some workload dialed back (which might not be a bad idea, since he's so vital in the playoffs) or some amount of DFS minutes are played at the 3.

In fact, it's probably going to be necessary for him to be used regularly at the 3. When he plays at the 3, where you already have Bullock, Green, Franky, and probably Dorsey, then that allows some of them to slide down to playing the 2 when either Luka or SD is on the court but the other is resting. It still doesn't cover for what happens if either Luka or SD are injured for a few games (or many), but that sort of rotation seems almost a given in light of the way their roster is constructed.