10-03-2022, 11:05 AM
(10-03-2022, 10:03 AM)DanSchwartzgan Wrote: I like your depth chart, but don’t necessarily agree about them trading a big. $11mm for Powell is a sunk cost. He may get some regular minutes and he is certainly able to step into a bench role if one of the bigs ahead of him is out for some period. That’s important for a team trying to chase home court and a long playoff run.
Clearing out the 12-15 spots on the roster this summer allowed them to put real depth on the team. 6-9 is really strong, but an unsung part of the offseason is the improvement of those last several roster spots. I like the way their depth allows them to adapt to just about anyone being out for a period of time in a way they couldn’t last season.
What I was ruminating on this morning is how key health is this year. The difference for the Mavs between a 52-win season and a 62-win season is Spencer Dinwiddie's health. Of course we haven't seen the injury problems during his short tenure here, but we have Cow to remind us constantly of how often that's been an issue in his career. If he plays 72+ games this year and is healthy throughout the playoffs, I feel like the sky's the limit - as in, for the current roster. If he goes out for the season like THJ did last year, then the year is almost as lost, imho, as it would be if Luka went down. The difference is that the latter is the solitary thing that could happen that would make tanking possible and realistic.