Game 9: Dallas Mavericks (2-6) vs. Memphis Grizzlies (3-6) | 7:00pm

[Chicagojk]

Top3 pick/Max/Coop/ PJ / Lively is a start and i bet all the fanbase will come back strong than ever.

Let's go Mavs.

The Lively injury is really depressing.  Knee contusion turned into a knee sprain in an injury that I couldn’t tell when he got hurt.  And then misses 8-10 games.  That is really rough.  If he could stay healthy he is a core part of this team moving forward.

Whether the Mavs pick in the top 10 or top 5, things are not bad if you can get another core block to build around Flagg.  In reality, Flagg, a healthy Lively, a rotation player in Max and another pick is a nice start.  Better than a lot of rebuilding teams.

In all honesty even keeping Kyrie and AD is fine.  They have a few more years left and then maybe you can clear their contracts before Flagg’s extension.

The issue is you need to get rid of most of the old or odd fitting parts.   They need at least two competent to good creators and they also need their bench pieces to be guys who can spread the floor (and hopefully do more).

Lastly, Nico can’t be the one looking to fix this.

[loki]

The one bright side is that there is actually something to build on. I think Flagg and Lively is a fantastic starting point. Heck Christie has surprised me too. That right there is 3 guys worth a ticket. Adding a top 5 pick to that core (hopefully a dynamic playmaker and scorer) and we're cooking. Of the guys remaining I only really want to keep PJ. 

____/Christie/PJ/Flagg/Lively is a solid start.

It's a shame we haven't seen much of the PJ/Flagg/Lively frontcourt. Only 29 minutes so far this year with a +13.75 net rating. That's what I'd want to see a ton of moving forward before deciding if PJ is a long term fit here.

[FireNicoHarrison]

The Lively injury is really depressing.  Knee contusion turned into a knee sprain in an injury that I couldn’t tell when he got hurt.  And then misses 8-10 games.  That is really rough.  If he could stay healthy he is a core part of this team moving forward.

Whether the Mavs pick in the top 10 or top 5, things are not bad if you can get another core block to build around Flagg.  In reality, Flagg, a healthy Lively, a rotation player in Max and another pick is a nice start.  Better than a lot of rebuilding teams.

In all honesty even keeping Kyrie and AD is fine.  They have a few more years left and then maybe you can clear their contracts before Flagg’s extension.

The issue is you need to get rid of most of the old or odd fitting parts.   They need at least two competent to good creators and they also need their bench pieces to be guys who can spread the floor (and hopefully do more).

Lastly, Nico can’t be the one looking to fix this.

I think if Harrison is done here(as apparently is) then AD and Kyrie will be out too.

Lively is ok until he is in rookie scale contract... After it they have to take the decision.

[F Gump]

In that situation you look for leadership from your star player, but AD is exactly the kind of sulking personality that would crumble under this kind of trade pressure. Prime Westbrook would be like: I´m better than Luka. Let´s go. AD is like: it´s so mean that people expect me to work out in the off-season, actually run during games and try hard every night. I´m not Luka. Leave me alone, let me play golf, drink and smoke and show up for 30 games a year.

Maybe. But there may be more to the story to consider. 

I agree 100% that AD is not the right player to build this team around. He is a two way talent and csn be an incredible defender. But he isnt a good fit on this roster (too much overlap of positions), he's too brittle, and his contract is too big. He needs to be traded ASAP for value (but finding that trade is not going to be easy and we have the wrong GM to find that deal and get full value in return.).

However I don’t think any of the AD experience comes from him being a slacker. I just think he's dealing with something out of his control. The nature of the RECOVERY PROCESS after surgery to repair a detached retina demands no exercise, no running, etc to allow the eye to try to heal properly. Very limited movement to allow it to reattach as needed. (I didnt know this until a friend of mine came down with a DR in August, and I have watched the process unfold.) And the recovery time can drag on and on -- it's apparently hard to predict and just takes as long as it takes. Many doctor visits to see what's going uon. So the fact AD came into camp out of shape and overweight is to be expected in light of that situation where he could not exercise.

[Chicagojk]

I think if Harrison is done here(as apparently is) then AD and Kyrie will be out too.

Lively is ok until he is in rookie scale contract... After it they have to take the decision.

That might be true but I guess what I am saying if the mavs get another building block in the draft, then I won’t be disappointed if they keep both.  Even a guy at the level of a Tre Johnson type level talent.

Earlier this week I went back and watched AD’s highlights as a Laker last year.  He was moving much better than he was this year.   The New Orleans movement is probably long gone, but can he get back to what he was last year?  I have not enjoyed watching AD on The court as a mav (when available) and I probably have to change my vision that I had hoped for, but I would not be in a rush to move him.  The injury issue is legit and I could understand moving him early.  I do not think him and Kyrie are number 1’s but could they help you win with the right roster over the next few years?  That roster needs to be built correctly though.

[KillerLeft]

It's a shame we haven't seen much of the PJ/Flagg/Lively frontcourt. Only 29 minutes so far this year with a +13.75 net rating. That's what I'd want to see a ton of moving forward before deciding if PJ is a long term fit here.

We've seen enough to know it's gonna be great, imho. 

We just need Lively to stay on the court for longer than 10 games at a time. I believe he can, but he needs to show it.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Memphis always seems to find gems when they draft. It started with GG Jackson, then Jaylen Wells, now with Cedric Coward who had 21 pts off the bench.

[F Gump]

We just need Lively to stay on the court for longer than 10 games at a time. I believe he can, but he needs to show it.

I would love for Lively to be available in every game (or nearly that many). But I think the reality is that he has never shown any durability to handle the physicality of the NBA game.

As I have shared before, imo that has to be part of both your roster-building decision making, and also the way minutes are distributed (if he's on your roster, you will need someone else to absorb a big percentage of the physical beating that a center takes).

IIRC someone in the forum (my apologies for not remembering who) said Lively will give you 1000 minutes a season, and you should plan accordingly. I think that was a smart thought process in figuring out the Mavs' best way to use Lively. For reference sake, there are almost 4000 regular-season minutes for each position (and up to over 1150 in the playoffs). As a rookie Lively played 1294 (regular season) + 462 (playoffs). In year 2 he played 833.

[KillerLeft]

I would love for Lively to be available in every game (or nearly that many). But I think the reality is that he has never shown any durability to handle the physicality of the NBA game.

As I have shared before, imo that has to be part of both your roster-building decision making, and also the way minutes are distributed (if he's on your roster, you will need someone else to absorb a big percentage of the physical beating that a center takes).

IIRC someone in the forum (my apologies for not remembering who) said Lively will give you 1000 minutes a season, and you should plan accordingly. I think that was a smart thought process in figuring out the Mavs' best way to use Lively. For reference sake, there are almost 4000 regular-season minutes for each position (and up to over 1150 in the playoffs). As a rookie Lively played 1294 (regular season) + 462 (playoffs). In year 2 he played 833.

And as I've said before, I'm not ready to go there (yet). I still think this might be a blip at the beginning of his career. You could replace "think" with "hope" if you want, and that's fair, but that's still where I am. 

Clearly, you can't PAY him as if he's shown he can stay healthy without him doing so, and I get that. But, if they find a way to work around that issue (hopefully by paying him less than we expected they'd have to) then I, personally, am content to wait on this to materialize with him for quite a bit longer. His on court presence is THAT valuable, to me.