08-23-2020, 10:26 PM
Dan and Kamm, LOL, y'all are basically guaranteeing me that Burke is a Mav next year. We'll see. Let's put it this way - if the Mavs do not retain Burke, then they essentially enter the offseason a significantly worse team than they are today. Burke is the solitary guy on roster who reasonably qualifies to take on that role of the third- or fourth-best (likely fourth-) player on a playoff team that has been the Mavericks' talent gap this year (Luka, KP, two fifth-best starter on a playoff contender candidates in DFS and THJ, and a crew of decent bench players). If they don't find a way to keep him, they take a significant step back. It's not a Nash/'11 Tyson situation quantitatively, but it's like that qualitatively.
I remember being frustrated that Burke was the best playable player we got in the Knicks trade last year and we didn't find a way to keep him. He had more efficient play and scoring than any other player other than Luka the last part of the season last year, but he just "wasn't part of the future." What's new this time around are his brass balls and his defense, as well as a little bit of a sense that he might somehow be part of the Mavs' future as well as their past and present.
I remember being frustrated that Burke was the best playable player we got in the Knicks trade last year and we didn't find a way to keep him. He had more efficient play and scoring than any other player other than Luka the last part of the season last year, but he just "wasn't part of the future." What's new this time around are his brass balls and his defense, as well as a little bit of a sense that he might somehow be part of the Mavs' future as well as their past and present.