09-13-2022, 07:37 AM
Listening to Hardwood Knocks ranking of NBA backcourts the last two days. The Mav's duo of Luka/Dinwiddie ranked eighth. Both hosts had them at the same place. They don't like Luka/SD as much as they liked the Luka/Brunson pairing (though they said Dallas would only move up a slot to 7th with Brunson as he isn't the perfect off-ball partner for Luka either). As has been said, Dinwiddie largely replaces Brunson. It is the Dinwiddie role that hasn't been replaced. The criticisms/concerns about Dinwiddie were mostly about injury history. The teams ahead of them were 1. GS, 2. Phoenix, 3. Atlanta, 4. Philly, 5. Cleveland, 6. Memphis and 7. Boston. Dallas has the better "star" than almost all of them. The thing that made Dallas 8th is the quality of the #2 guy.
If we don't sign another creator, the duo is only going to play about 12 minutes a game together (so are they really a backcourt duo?). The combo will get about 60 minutes and 48 or those will be used to cover the PG position. But, I doubt Luka/THJ would rank any higher.
I have a fairly clear bottom five currently in Powell, Bertans, Pinson, Hardy and Frank. Here is how I see a typical game against a good team when everyone is healthy:
McGee 18 Wood 30 Powell
DFS 24 Maxi 24 Bertans
Bullock 28 DFS 8/Green 12 Pinson
Dinwiddie 12 THJ 28/Green 8 Hardy
Luka 32 Dinwiddie 16 Frank
Basically there are 8 proven guys soaking up all but 20 minutes a game most nights. There is room for some of those guys to eat some additional minutes in an important game reducing that 20 minute spot to 8-10 minutes. I think Green gets the first shot here. He played well in the regular season in a similar role and it is probably more important to build his value than it is any of the other guys. There is a logical backup that can be called up for all five slots among the bottom 5 players. I personally think Frank is as good a third PG as many. The issue is how much Dinwiddie is counted on to play two different roles. If he were to go down you'd pile 16 minutes on inexperienced Frank and a good bit of an additional 12 minutes on inexperienced Green. If there isn't an additional move, Frank and Green are being heavily counted upon.
If we don't sign another creator, the duo is only going to play about 12 minutes a game together (so are they really a backcourt duo?). The combo will get about 60 minutes and 48 or those will be used to cover the PG position. But, I doubt Luka/THJ would rank any higher.
I have a fairly clear bottom five currently in Powell, Bertans, Pinson, Hardy and Frank. Here is how I see a typical game against a good team when everyone is healthy:
McGee 18 Wood 30 Powell
DFS 24 Maxi 24 Bertans
Bullock 28 DFS 8/Green 12 Pinson
Dinwiddie 12 THJ 28/Green 8 Hardy
Luka 32 Dinwiddie 16 Frank
Basically there are 8 proven guys soaking up all but 20 minutes a game most nights. There is room for some of those guys to eat some additional minutes in an important game reducing that 20 minute spot to 8-10 minutes. I think Green gets the first shot here. He played well in the regular season in a similar role and it is probably more important to build his value than it is any of the other guys. There is a logical backup that can be called up for all five slots among the bottom 5 players. I personally think Frank is as good a third PG as many. The issue is how much Dinwiddie is counted on to play two different roles. If he were to go down you'd pile 16 minutes on inexperienced Frank and a good bit of an additional 12 minutes on inexperienced Green. If there isn't an additional move, Frank and Green are being heavily counted upon.
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