3 hours ago
(4 hours ago)KillerLeft Wrote: The only two guys we've discussed I have almost no interest in for the Mavs are Mara and Lendeborg. I like the profile of the latter, but I just can't wrap my head around drafting a 24 year old with this opportunity. You can say it doesn't matter, but it does to me.
Mara is just the type of player I don't enjoy watching and personally don't believe you can win with nowadays, especially as a highly-paid 1st round pick and expectations that he'd be an integral piece of how the team is constructed. You have Lively, and I'm nowhere near giving up on him. I'm more intrigued with Cisse in some ways than Mara, and I think the focus should be on finding CHEAP insurance for Lively, and when it's time to give up on Lively, I'll hope to have found another player like HIM, or I'll make finding another player like HIM my priority at that time.
Mara is a tough evaluation. We are usually in lockstep when it comes to bigmen. If they cannot defend in space I am not interested unless it's a special talent. And Mara might just be that. Might. In the end it's probably too much of an upside gamble for me. There will be options left that I like more than him.
I have talked myself into Lendeborg but probably not at #9. The Michigan guy that I would actually consider in a non trade scenario is Johnson Jr.
In a pipe dream scenario with another lottery pick I could actually talk myself into taking both Michigan forwards/small ball bigs. Ujiri's dream come true. The 6'9 visions lives on.