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

[omahen]

This is a lot to digest so I'll try my best to state where I agree and disagree. Great post by the way! Powell was resigned to be a backup center. Full stop.

I believe, as currently constructed, the Mavs may view Maxi as a C/F not the the other way around. That means you can at minimum split the center minutes in half if you'd like. Holmes 24 | Maxi 24. It won't look like that but 18 & 18 seems reasonable. Then you have 12 minutes of either Powell or Lively. 

Of course that means that OMax is having to cover the backup PF minutes (16-18). Jae Crowder played 78 games his rookie year and 17.3 mpg. Brunson played 73 games and 21.8 mpg. Both second round picks. I feel confident in saying Omax will be able to cover the backup 4 spot behind GWill.

I don't think Curry has the same role as Hardy or THJ at all. Curry might be the only capable player from the bench that can play PG in the NBA. We know THJ can't, Hardy has been really bad at it and who knows what Exum can do. If one of Kyrie and Luka aren't playing then THJ is the 6th starter, leaving a capable PG (Curry) to run the bench unit. Hardy is a scorer and will have a role on this team but I think all of us will be complaining about how much time THJ is getting and how little Hardy gets....

I think the Mavs are very close to contention. If Nico and Co. think they are one piece away, I have zero issue with them using the FRP to bring that player here. I think most would agree that a top 5 center would make this team a 'contender'? Kyrie-Luka-Green-Williams-Capela? is much better than what they started in the WCF 2 years ago.

Thanks. Agree about Curry being the "break in case of emergency" PG. A thing I did forgot to add. Mavs still lack capable third creator, and will have big problems every time Luka or Irving are out. PG is not natural position for Curry and he would be far better utilized in the THJ role (just on smaller minutes), imho.