02-14-2024, 11:35 AM
(02-14-2024, 09:49 AM)meistermatze Wrote: It's funny: When you read this thread you would think we are a full-on tanking team. If you reread the Thunder-gamethread, you would think we already won the Championship this year. Learning: We all need to chill the f*** out and not overreact to small sample sizes.
I think it is pretty clear, that we raised our ceiling with these trades significantly, and this is a great thing.
We played super bad the whole game, Luka had a total off-night and still had a triple-double. THJ is bound to have nights like this and it was clear that he might suffer because his role and minutes gets diminished when a) we want to play bigger and b) Kyrie and Luka are healthy. Gafford is not prime Shaq but he is a true big.
Him and Lively together give you real center minutes for as long as you need it. If bigs get played-off the floor (which is likely in the playoffs), we need Maxi out there and apparently, him and Washington looks like a gread combo. This gives me the most hope going forward, tbh. PJ is a huge surprise so far on D and I don't care about his 3-point-shot. If he shoots 33% and plays good defense, we are okay since all our other rotation players (not named Lively or Gafford) shoot the 3 well.
Looks like the DJJ-experiment is over. Not to a fault of his, he played a great season so far, but he will suffer due to a reduced role as well. He played with confidence since we relied heavily on him as a starter but now that this is gone, I expect him to regress significantly with this shooting and then he might be difficult to play.
I am happy Green looks like a true NBA-starter. Luka is the MVP, Kyrie is healthy. If Exum comes back and stays healthy, our 8 man-rotation for the playoffs is set.
What do you guys think it will look like?
Luka (30), Exum (18)
Kyrie (42) Hardaway (6)
Green (24), Luka (12), Exum (6), DJJ (6)
Washington (24), Maxi (12)
Lively (22), Gafford (16), Maxi (10)
With DJJ and Hardaway probably cut and minutes going to Kleber (we have to watch hin minutes due to health concern) and Washington or Green.
Luka (42)
Kyrie (42)
Washington (24) +6
Green (24) +3
Exum (24)
Maxi (22) +3
Lively (22)
Gafford (16)
If we need offense desperately: Hardaway (6)
If we need athleticism and some defense: DJJ (6)
I think your playoff players and minutes are pretty close other than situational matchups we can't plan for. On your regular season minutes, I think PJ will be getting 30 minutes a night. I think the Mavs are big believers in him and unlocking his 2 way potential. Some players are going to get squeezed out of the lineup do to PJ and Gafford, but that's the business of winning. I truly believe they think PJ is a different player than everyone saw in Charlotte. He definitely has the tools and ability to be more and he's happy now. He seems locked in and that can definitely change a players career.