(07-10-2023, 09:00 AM)Smitty Wrote: I agree that it’s possible Mavs could be a 3rd or 4th team in the big trades but I also don’t see them doing anything that takes them over the tax line unless it’s a significant improvement. The only real tradable pieces from the Mavs pov are THJ and McGee. I just don’t see a significant return there.
The roster seems balanced to me. Of course we’d want all-stars at every position and some sure things here and there but I think overall they have what they need.
Irving | Curry | Exum
Green | Hardy
Luka | THJ
Williams | OMax
Holmes | Maxi | Lively-Powell-McGee
Trading McGee for a minimum level guy or using his contract up to 6-7M for another wing makes sense, for injuries and depth during the regular season.
The starting lineup defensively is not ideal whatsoever. Green can't defend up and therefore I don't think is particularly ideal in the switching defense we want to play and obviously Williams is undersized. He can defend up obviously, but he would hold up much better with a big stout 5 next to him IMO. He's always played in a system with other great defenders in Boston. I think he will get taken advantage of much more than we expect in this kind of lineup.
Basically I think this team is going to be very reliant on Omax being a lot more ready than is ideal to step in and play a lot of minutes as our switchable big wing. If that doesn't happen I just feel like we are still going to have significant problems defensively, lacking significant size and flexibility at almost every position. I can see us barely moving up at all in the defensive ratings vs last year. This is a lineup for 2-3 years down the line, not one that looks to be particularly in the mix next season. Unless we wanna rely on just outscoring everybody, which we know isn't a good recipe for playoff success.