MAVS NEWS:

[F Gump]

As for every other point above, and again, only my opinion:
Yeah, I think Powell might still be better than Jones in this situation. He's experienced, plays hard, is well respected around the league, and in that scenario that matters this season...let's say game 4 of round 1, someone is hurt, then someone else gets into foul trouble, but you want to stay pretty big, and have to play one of those two guys. I'd honestly rather have Powell in that situation. He's been there before. 
Again, if Gafford was gone, I'd absolutely be thinking more about locking in a good, cheap 3rd guy with some type of upside, hoping to get ahead of the curve for this season and future seasons. 
But, while I like Kai Jones, I don't think he's anything special, and I probably would've forgotten him by now if we weren't discussing him so much. He can run and jump. This might be naive of me, but I feel like there will be other guys - younger guys, who can run faster and jump higher - around when I need to find one.

Got it.

It looked to me like Kai passed DP on the depth chart (starts and minutes) in Mar-Apr, not only when everyone was injured, but also when players came back. And I felt he way outplayed him as well. All of which says to me that MAVS would prefer Kai over DP.

Obviously you don't see Kai as worth having and you see DP as better, which obviously makes my idea 100% pointless when using your evaluation. We'll have to agree to disagree on current relative player values/ability as is. But if you're right, no I wouldn't want my idea happening either.

I do disagree a bunch with your roster-building idea on when you ideally should consider upgrading the 3rdS slot for C (or anything else) ... IMO the very time you should do it is WHEN you have 1stS and 2ndS well manned, rather than when you do not, because then is when you have the luxury of taking a chance on someone who you could develop, rather than needing to play it safe with a DP-type who is meh, will never be anything else, but a known quantity. Neither will play this year, so I say "invest" in the future (and maybe a better 3rdS now as well). Especially if you have a good candidate for min salary. Assuming you have an open slot or can have one at no real cost.

[KillerLeft]

Obviously you don't see Kai as worth having and you see DP as better, which obviously makes my idea 100% pointless when using your evaluation. We'll have to agree to disagree on current relative player values/ability as is. But if you're right, no I wouldn't want my idea happening either.

I do disagree a bunch with your roster-building idea on when you ideally should consider upgrading the 3rdS slot for C (or anything else) ... IMO the very time you should do it is WHEN you have 1stS and 2ndS well manned, rather than when you do not, because then is when you have the luxury of taking a chance on someone who you could develop, rather than needing to play it safe with a DP-type who is meh, will never be anything else, but a known quantity. Neither will play this year, so I say "invest" in the future (and maybe a better 3rdS now as well). Especially if you have a good candidate for min salary. Assuming you have an open slot or can have one at no real cost.

The first half...not quite. I'd be fine if they made the move. I like Jones fine. My original take was about "bending over backwards" to get it done, in that I don't see Jones as worth that type of fuss in their current circumstances. Since you pointed out that spending money to get it done could actually save the owners money, I suppose it's possible to avoid bending over backwards. Let's just say my take is that the Mavs should avoid giving up something they like to do this, even if it's just a 2nd round pick. I'd be more than ok with another method of adding Jones. 

You make an interesting point in the 2nd paragraph. I could get on board with that, especially depending on how they're thinking about Gafford. For example, if they know Gafford will be around only until the trade deadline, or gone by next Summer at the latest, then I'm with you - that's the same as trading him now, in some ways, and it's prudent to put some thought into long term depth. However, if Gafford is here for two or even three more years? I'm not sure it's worth singling out a Jones-level guy for that long. He won't play enough to be a flippable asset (with any value, anyway) and three years down the road there will be some other dude we like. I had never even heard of Kai Jones before they brought him in last year. Kudos if you had. I see the point you're making about developing a young guy who'd make Gafford (or Lively, if you prefer) even more expendable, it's just that I don't think Kai Jones is uniquely able to be that cog in the machine. I bet there are four more athletic bigs looking for opportunities and not finding them from this draft class, with more coming next year...and the year after, etc.

Honestly, the thing you've added that has swayed me the most so far is the idea that Mavs ownership could save money (real dollars) by spending money to dump Powell somewhere. That (along with the added benefit of wiggle room between the payroll and Apron 2) makes me want to do it more than anything else, because I just about lost my mind when they lost the ability to sign replacements late last year. Man, would $8 million be enough to get someone to take Hardy, I wonder? that's what, almost half of what he has left? Maybe more than half, depending on the last year option (can't remember the specifics of his contract). If they could move HIM without using a pick, sign me up!