12-09-2022, 11:03 AM
(12-09-2022, 07:25 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: Interesting topic on the 77th Heaven Pod this morning. Cato and his co-host did a draft of "most important" players to the success of the team for the entire season and potentially the playoffs”. This is based not only on what they've done so far, but for the role you envision them taking as the year progresses. Here is the order they came up with:
1. Luka (obviously)
2. Dinwiddie (when you only have two guys who can dribble and create...)
3. Maxi (indispensable skill set. Closes, but also plays with Wood which makes his contribution to the team work)
4. DFS (Good at both the 3 part and the D part plus a little bounce off the dribble. Best wing defender)
5. Green (almost went 4th. Has become important with D, 3 and especially ability to get to the rim and score or create)
6. THJ (could have been Wood, The Mav’s style needs a good volume shooter. Good Tim makes this team good).
7. Wood (great production offensively. Adds dimensions that we didn't have. Not a star, but adds a lot)
8. Powell (Slightly above replacement level big. Has limitations, but he maxes out what the team tries to do both ends)
9. Bullock (as bad as he's been, it is important to the Team that he figure it out eventually in order to get his D on the court).
10. Hardy (Changes the ceiling if things go well. They think he will get some opportunity before the year is out)
11. Kemba (probably behind Hardy in terms of impact he might have. They don't have a strong feeling about his contribution)
12. Bertans (if we are going to shoot tons of 3's, then he probably gets minutes here and there)
13. McGee (He can't be this bad and sooner or later they will need him to do something)
Like we do a lot here, this was a bit of a love-fest for the potential of Green and Hardy. It was also an acknowledgement of the importance of the roles Maxi and DFS play. Not stars, but valuable contributions that Dallas can't live without.
They think Green has secured at least a 25 minutes a night bench role. He makes the minutes when one of Luka or Dinwiddie are out more dynamic. Not a primary ball handler, but who else can touch the paint on a drive and score on their own or make a great pass as the D collapses on him. The team's pace is up to league average the last five games and they think Josh getting more minutes has been a factor.
This is very close to where I would be, and for many of the same reasons. I do think there is some shuffling depending on regular season vs playoffs. In the playoffs Maxi and Bullock will be higher (I think Maxi is too high in this list for regular season) and Green and Powell will probably be lower.