MAVERICKS 139, PELICANS 107

[cow]

It will be hard to be bad/tank with Luka on the team.  You also have to worry about keeping Luka for his third contract.  Don't think tanking for 2 year and rebuilding a year before his contract is up is the best way to keep him on the team.

The only way I see to move forward is work on the edges for the next couple of years until they get access to their picks.  For example, at the deadline it would make a lot of sense to trade for Theis (maybe WCS/Green/Second) and pickup a bought out Dragic.  If you don't think you can keep Brunson, then ship him out with Powell for something decent.  Next offseason you pay DFS and Brunson (if he is still here) what it takes to keep them.  Cuban is going to have to be willing to cross the tax line if necessary.  Then in a couple of years when you have access to your picks, you make a Bucks like trade to become a real contender (and keep your superstar).  Not surprisingly, a Jrue Holiday type player would be perfect next to Luka.  

I realize that plan does not leave much room for drafting.  The reality is that this team has generally been much better and hitting on cheap reclamation projects then middling draft picks.  We should be taking a shot at one or two of those a year, preferably at the minimum.  

Not an exciting path, but I don't see another reasonable route.  Any KP trade likely lowers our ceiling and makes us worse without any obvious path to get better soon enough to matter.  The clock is ticking and our time table is 3 or 4 more years at most.  Don't think there is enough time to go back and reset, especially when this organization has shown limited ability to do so correctly.

Luka is smart.  Two nights ago when we were getting bodied by the Cavs (THE CAVS) I saw Luka make an overly complicated pass to the corner (THJ) when he had a much easier pass to DFS on the wing.  THJ of course missed and you just saw a look of defeat on his face.  Pretty much the opposite of how he looked when playing for his national team.  KP is playing better this year and KP and Luka are playing better together but it still doesn't look like a natural fit and it's understandable why both we be frustrated with one another while putting on a good public face.  I think Luka is loyal.  I also think he can look at the landscape of the NBA and know he has no shot at a title with the roster construction and a WCF would be a massive overachievement.  I don't think he wants to put his nose into team building just yet, but if I were Nico I'd sit him down and talk to him.  Ask him how he views this team and its' potential.  And based on that conversation I'd float the idea of a rebuild.  I'd also have a presentation of how we'd approach the draft, the type of players we want to surround him with and projected free agents and trade targets for the next three years.  

Yes Luka is never going to let you get the number one pick (though the f'ing ping pong ball Gods do owe us) but this team isn't to far away from being one to pick in the later part of the top ten.

I don't think Mark would ever allow any of this, but if Nico is worth anything, he has to be having these conversations with Mark.  We look like a play-in team as we stand and duct tape like Dragic and Theis only puts you in the late seed contention.