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

[mvossman]

I can't agree with that. Last season clearly demonstrated that Powell is not a reasonable stopgap solution. There was zero protection at the rim once the first line of defense was beaten, which happened often and will continue to happen often since we have Irving and Luka guarding on perimeter (1-4 is basically perimeter in modern NBA). The second problem was rebounding. Grant Williams is an upgrade at PF, but he is still relatively small for the position. 

Ideally, Mavs center rotation would be:
- Primary center taking roughly 30 minutes at the position. Something Mavs don't have and what we are considering to be filled with a mix of Holmes and Powell. So a third center on Sacramento team and Powell
- Lively playing developmental minutes and
- Maxi playing roughly 20 minutes per game either at PF or C. His minutes can increase in specific situations where the primary center could have problems
- break in case of emergency solution in Powell as deep bench

As I said plenty times before, problem is that Holmes and McGee contracts are difficult to move while they are eating capspace and roster spots. 

Mavs have two capable wing defenders in Green and GW. Green can guard positions 1 and 2 and GW can guard 3 and 4. We only have two replacements on the bench - Exum replaces Green and Omax replaces GW. I like both of them, but I have my doubts at this point if any of them is actually capable of playing significant NBA minutes (will their offense be good enough to stay on court). Problem occurs in times if one of the primary defenders is out. There is just not enough depth. Maxi can help against some of the big wings. 

Seth contract can be considered as great, but where will his minutes come from? He is basically playing totally same role as Hardy and THJ and as long as they are on the team, I just don't see minutes for him. 

By all accounts we can assume Mavs know they have not done enough and have recognized that THJ and McGee (and Holmes, but more difficult to move him) are basically redundant on this team, while eating over 35 mil of cap space. Something I totally agree with. All three of them have 2 years left and the partner team would need to see value in having them on roster. We can be pretty sure that no one in the league sees value in having Holmes or McGee on the roster at the money they are paid. THJ could be seen as a positive player in the right situation. But, Mavs are unsuccessfully trying to move him for value for quite some time now. 

So, as I wrote yesterday. In my opinion, Mavs can go to a season like this, but they have to be aware they are not anywhere close to a contender and that it can easily happen that result will be similar as last season. I think there is a considerable possibility of this to happen, certainly far above neglectable. But, situation next summer will be much better with THJ, Holmes and McGee expiring and 3 picks available for trade. Irving will also be a year older in this window and who knows if still available. Is this acceptable? Especially, is Luka fine with this? Be realistic with them, or dissapointment can be huge. Personally, I can also accept this option, if Mavs are realistic about what they have. 

If this is not acceptable (lets be honest, Mavs really lost all of the trust in the five years of mistakes they were making), than I think the only alternative is to bring the 2027 pick into play for a better starting center and some wing depth, while part of the pick value will be offset by the non expiring status of Mavs contracts.

Disagree on the Powell stuff.  When the McGee experiment failed spectacularly, replacing him with Powell changed the season around.  We won games because we started him at center.  That is exactly what you want from your stopgap center.  Can he anchor team defense, and account for nearly zero perimeter defense?  No, but he can give you quality backup minutes and an occasional start when necessary.  

I agree with most of the rest of this, but I think its clear the Mavs are focusing on door number 1 (reset) as opposed to 2 (contend now).  They spent almost all of their assets on guys 24 and under.  That is not the move of a team in full win now mode.  The focus seems to have shifted to long term growth and improving the locker room.