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

[KillerLeft]

I don't know where else to pose this question, so I'll drop it here.
Filled with good vibes from the SL performance of our rookies, SnT for Williams, draft day trade for Holmes, and ongoing speculation that DAL can get in on a deal for either Towns or Capella, I took a sip of Koolaid and put on my rosiest of glasses and started looking into the future.
I'm thinking about how this summer has been about surrounding Luka (I still consider it HIS team) with decent defenders, more size, a bigger frontline, 40%-ish 3pt shooters, and bigs that appear to have some handling skills (e.gl, OMax) and more depth of PG-type ball handlers.
So my question is, If the supporting cast improves as much as we hope it will, does Kyrie become superfluous?
The reason I'm asking is I'm not sure there's enough balls in play with both Luka and Kyrie and 8 other guys wanting to get their shots as well. Individually, both are phenomenal talents. But I'm not sure they are complementary, longer term. I'm interested to see what gets worked out in training camp, but, IMO, we have two alpha dogs but only room for one. If it leans too much Luka's way, does Kyrie get triggered into being a problem?

I think multiple playmaker/all star types is probably a necessary thing if they want to contend. Even Dirk always had someone else, despite the Mavs taking grief for how little talent they put around him. First, there was Nash and Finley (how dumb were they to break that group up) and the truth is that Terry ran the pick and roll with Dirk amazingly. They made art together - probably one of the 5 best pick and roll duos in the history of the league. 

We might not think so much of Jamal Murray, but this past year he was probably more effective than a lot of names that ring out more. This exercise could go on and on. In a general sense, I’m sure we’re all on the same page about needing multiple creators of offense.

Your question about the overlap involved with Luka and Kyrie is an interesting one. There are times when I wonder if Luka will even be a PG for his entire NBA career. He’ll always be great with the ball in his hands, both scoring and passing, but he has been wearing down a bit at the end of seasons, recently, especially last year. He also seems incapable of doing anything but walking the ball up the court every time. The way he uses pace in his 1-on-1 play is second to none, but he doesn’t seem to get how advantageous it would be for the pace of the TEAM’s play to be unpredictable. Or, he has to conserve so much energy that he CAN’T play any other way.

Now, we’re hearing that he’s trying to get back in bubble shape. That’s encouraging, I think, if he’s going to be the main PG. But, if weight continues to be a problem as he ages (relatively, it’s not like he’s Zion) I wonder if it doesn’t ultimately make sense to have another guy be the PG who brings the ball up, assesses the scene, looking for a way to press or a mismatch somewhere before setting Luka up to go to work. In other words, make him a forward on BOTH ends, albeit an exceptionally great playmaking forward.

Also, the Mavs have slowly but surely been turning into the Harden Rockets, a team on which 4-6 players are asked to play defense and then make shots when Luka creates them. Great on paper, but that’s a difficult rhythm for players to thrive in, and the best teams always seem to understand that when everyone touches the ball, good things happen.

Kyrie understands all of that. I don’t know how well they’ll fit, but one training camp will be enough. We should know by Christmas if it’s a promising fit, I think. What I’ll be looking for is something more synergetic than “my turn, your turn” where both of them are engaged when they’re off-ball, rather than resting. It’s obviously Luka’s team, but if I’m being honest I have a little more faith in Kyrie’s understanding of how to do that off-ball thing right now.