Preseason Game 4: Mavs vs. Hawks | 7:00pm CST

[loki]

I'm mostly in line with this, but to me it's not just another creator that's needed, it's the main creator that's missing. 

This team is going to lose a ton of games - if it were me, I'd want to lose with De Larrea playing a much bigger role than I fear he's about to. He'd be the starter for me, I think, and Kyrie would be right back into the role he played next to Luka, where we know he's a plus. Larry is big enough, like Luka, to guard bigger players, and Sasser seems to have enough to play a fairly big, consistent role off the bench. It's not that I'm sure De Larrea going to be able to handle it, it's that there isn't a better option, so if I'm going to lose anyway, I'd make it a point to find out what I've got. He'd play a ton of minutes and get a looooooooong leash.

From there, I'd probably go Risacher/Flagg/Johnson, but there are arguments for other permutations as well.

I don't expect any of this to happen, which for me is kind of a bummer.

I'm on board with that. I've been pretty checked out on the Mavs lately due to post-Naji extension depression, but from the little I've seen in pre-season I agree they're in for another rough year. 

My main hopes are for Coop to take a leap forward and for Kyrie to play at a high enough level that he gets moved for meaningful assets at the deadline. At that point I think the odds of seeing Larry, Risacher, and Johnson being given a longer leash will be pretty high.