Should we give Donnie credit?

[reckoner07]

And if they find a strong long-term player that makes it worth passing on Giannis earlier than expected

Why are you so convinced that signing a long term contract means passing on Giannis? My take is, IF Giannis express a wish to come here, we will find a way, no matter what contracts we have. Did you see Miami as capable of getting Butler before the season with their huge over the cap roster?

GSW using us to get KD. Utah moving Favors to get Bogdanovic. I’m sure there are many other examples. If you sign guys to reasonable contracts, you can move them and get assets. If you make a wrong decision and sign someone to a bloated contract, you attach the extra assets. That’s how other FO’s work, why can’t ours? Getting better players is better.

Oh yeah, I see impact players being obtained all the time for packages of role players.   With a team to package almost no draft assets with.

Mavs just signed a bunch of role players past '21, who are valuable, but valuable in a system, alongside an ascending all-time great. There might be an impact guy to be had on a short-term deal with these guys sure... but a quality player locked into a deal past '21, with our assets? Forget about it. And I'm not talking about eating a shit Chris Paul contract, and screwing the team (which the Mavs would never do)...just an expectation of fair market value.

The discussion is around giving credit for Donnie’s performance in the last off-season. Not about what he can do with the assets he got.


I would contend that an off-season where we didn’t sign Curry, Wright and Boban and instead signed Brogdon and acquired Favors (doesn’t actually have to be these two specific names, just better players) by trading Lee and the Utah and GSW seconds for air (similar to the Favors trade) that our team outlook with Luka’s unprecedented rise would be so much better. Add to that that Green sees the moves and decides he wants to join without wondering about the Kawhi decision and we move THJ with our 2025 first rounder for air to another team and sign him. We then have some exceptions for possible further coat-tail riders.

Better players are just better. 

With the availability of so many better players to add to our roster, players that probably wouldn’t mess with our chemistry, I cannot give credit to Donnie for his performance in the off-season. I’m ecstatic that he was able to scramble yet again after multiple plans fell through and got RC a team that he is able to get to do what they’re doing to this point.

I posted for 6 months that Brogdon was getting paid while Dlord argued vehemently for 3 million low. I wanted the Brogdon/Favors combo as much as anyone....but we can't have what we want, so we put together what we can get. Donnie didn't even really have an option to get Brogdon without massively overpaying, because he was staying put with that team. Period.  In fairness, I put out a range of $18-$22m on Brogdon, but I actually threw out the idea that it could get to like $24 if the Mavs did that.

Better players are better - if they are available. Donnie doesn't get to decide if Kemba wants to go to Boston. Donnie can't massage Danny Green to Dallas because he wants to go play in LA.  Maybe the price is wrong (bitch ) on Favors. We don't have assets. Klay & KD...dammit Donnie, how could you not pull that off!

What we do have is a very nice assembly of chemistry, and experience playing together. That's what this entire plan is - continuity. And fit with Luka. Everything of course is what optimizes Luka. And this is the team that Donnie built. It is a very good team right now.

This is exactly the team that Luka needs now. He is 20 years old. While mature beyond his years on the court, he is still just a kid. He can't drink in a bar legally. Having a young, laid back team makes it so easy for him to feel happy with life, and play his best.  

Obviously, this is not to say that they would sacrifice talent just to keep it like this. They went after Kemba and Brogdon, and those guys decided not to play with Luka. Dan said that nobody was coming to play with a 20 yr old , while I said some player is going to see what Luka is, plus they got KP. Dan was right, lol. I guess I gave the players too much credit. But I think Porzingis was viewed as a wild-card too....which he kind of is.

The thought of trading the 2025 pick makes me nauseous.

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I love the way you stated this. Having to contend with the Dallas starters knowing that you are laying points because the Mavs bench is better than yours? Priceless.

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For the 100th time, Brogdon was traded only after he agreed to 4/$85 with Indiana.  If we are assuming he's a rational human being, that's the highest offer he got.

If you offer him 4/$86 or more, he signs your offer sheet.  Then you wait to see if Mil matches.  It's not like the Mavs did anything with their cap space while they would've waited.  I would've given him 4/$95 and seen how much tax Mil is willing to pay.

As you've pointed out before, we generally agree in most opinions. We were both eager to pay $95m to Brogdon to get him.

Where I diverge is with the "rational human" theory. Baseball players sit around and get paid the most to hit and field. These guys want to play where they believe they win a championship, and where they have an easy path to great performance. 

It all depends on his preferences, but who knows what would have happened if Dallas had posted it. ( posted, as in let his agent know the offer). Maybe the Bucks go up to $90m. In any event, I think these guys are so driven by the star(s) and cast they're joining for the next 4 years of their basketball life, that they will take significant cuts to stay, or to go.

And it doesn't get quite as illogical financially if the player puts himself into an optimal situation where he will put up bigger numbers for the future. Maybe it's being a #2 guy on a different team instead of a #3...or for Brogdon, it might be an important role on a championship team. All speculation of course...but I'm not convinced we could have gotten him.