ROSTER TALK: Mavs favs for Vogel if no HC job exists. Kyrie handshake deal?

[DanSchwartzgan]

If I were coach, I’d want to see this rotation (healthy) for 20 games before making any big trades:

Powell 
DFS
Green
THJ
Luka

Dinwiddie plays big minutes in rotation with Luka/THJ

Wood plays big minutes, ALL at the 5. 

Kleber plays big minutes, some at the 4 and some at the 5, when Powell or Wood are in foul trouble, when one of them is really struggling, when they need to cut Powell out completely and play 40 minutes of 5-out, etc. 

If Wood plays well enough to force Kidd to try starting him, I’m totally fine with that, but really I just want to see him used in such a way that the team can benefit if/when he figures out how to play well consistently.

Wood said something interesting the other night in his post game.  He mentioned how Powell and Maxi “anchor” the D.  I think the words had meaning.  Wood has looked fantastic to me the last three games.  The numbers back this up.  His D-Rating has been unbelievable without Maxi.  It was good with Maxi, but off the charts good in these last three games.  For the season his D-Rating is 110.9 and this is the only season besides Detroit with Sweeney that his net rating has been positive.  The last three games Wood’s D-Rating has been 91.5 (team was 99), 96.8 (team was 110) and 104.8 (team was 119).  There is a difference between old Wood and recent Wood.

I think his defensive position has changed.  At the very least, they’ve changed the way he’s playing the position.  Possessions end with Wood under the bucket and with Wood getting many more defensive rebounds than when Maxi has played with him.  With Maxi, Wood is on the perimeter more and having difficulty knowing where to be.  I’d have to go back and watch some old game tape, but I think the change is moving Wood defensively to C.  Yes, this is me saying you may have been right all along about this.

Offensively, Center on the Mav’s is the guy setting picks.  I don’t know that I’ve spent enough time watching the difference between what Wood does and what Maxi does when both are in the game to know which one is actually the “center”.  But Wood’s words say it was probably Maxi.  The eye test probably says the same.  I’ve said Wood ‘should’ continue to play with Maxi.  You’ve said he ‘can’ probably play without him.  Over three games the evidence of ‘can’ is starting to look good.  But it appears to me it isn’t Wood just being better at what he was doing.  It is Wood being allowed to do something different.  It didn’t look very impactful in two to three minute stints as subs came in and out.  But, these elongated runs without Maxi are showing me “can” may actually be true.

If this holds up, then it changes everything in terms of roster building.  Wood the “center” off the bench means you probably want to improve Powell.  Wood the starting “center” with Luka, DFS and Green (eventually) probably means you need to look in the realm of players where Anunoby and P J Washington reside.  The odd thing is Sweeney has to know what Wood can and can’t do.  So, what was the motivation for trying to force a square peg into a round hole?