Trade & FA 2023-24: Stein-Ingram Trade Inevitable| LAL Want Lebron Back On Any Terms

[omahen]

I think there are two ways to look at what we have depending on where one places Luka

New Center/Powell
Luka/Maxi
Green/THJ
New Perimeter/Reggie
Irving/Hardy

New Center/Powell
New Big Wing/Maxi
Green/THJ
Kyrie/Reggie
Luka/Hardy

Conventional wisdom is the second grouping, but I wonder if making Luka the second tallest player and adding a perimeter defender might be just as effective.  DiVincenzo is certainly worth looking at in this regard.  Trade for a center and use your exception on DD?  You'd always have the flexibility to have Maxi close if need be (matchup dependent).  But someone controlling the paint with Green and DD disrupting things on the Perimeter wouldn't be bad.  And, both can hit outside shots really well.

Lots of good stuff. I like DD idea, but he will likely want to get paid, so he can only be get for full MLE or close to it, imho.  I find it difficult to see first option better than the second. You need an on ball defender, which is covered in both versions. However, I think Mavs do need a big wing for following reasons. 

1) help with PnR. Kyrie is small and can't switch on center. He will be certainly targeted in playoffs. I think Mavs need a good big wing to help in those situations. Could also be used as a small ball five. I just can't rely on Maxi to be available or even capable of manning that spot. I see him as a 20 minutes guy playing either with center or with the big wing. Here is his strength. 

2) Lots of teams, especially in the West, primary or secondary offensive option is a big wing. LeBron, Durant, Kawhi, Towns (when playing with Gobert), JJJ, Grant to name some. You don't want Luka on them and neither Green nor DD can guard them. Maxi is again very limited and we can't expect he is capable of playing 30+ minutes on this guys. Perhaps in the playoffs, but there is still regular season to fight through. 

3) Even if you have good on ball defenders, offense always looks for switches and attack your weakest perimeter defender. Especially in playoffs. So those on ball defenders will most likely end up guarding the corners. A bigger help defender is needed also in this case, imho.

Mavs need a primary on ball defender (can be Green) and a versatile wing defender, capable of guarding 3-4 (perhaps also play some small ball centre). Sort of what Dorian did, but better. I maintain that this guy is more important than the center, but very difficult to find. Green would be ideal, imho. But, assuming Mavs will spend the asset(s) on the center (no good big wing available), I could live in a world where someone like Crowder is brought in to man the position. One option would be to trade the 2027 for center and pick one of rookie big wings if one of those falls to #10. Mavs can't be good with Maxi as the only big wing, imho.