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

[ItsGoTime]

We have two superstars then a lot of role players on the roster.  There will be some flaws with every lineup we put out there.

I think lineups with Kyrie, Luka and THJ will be poor defensively but even better offensively and so we'll generally win those minutes. 

I think lineups with Luka and THJ (without Kyrie) will require another ball-handler.  I anticipate Jaden Hardy getting a lot of minutes in those situations because he is our third creator.  Josh Green is an option who brings better defense but doesn't shoot as well as Tim.  Dante Exum is an unproven but potential solution as a 3 and D who seems to be able to handle the ball a bit.  I think he might become a useful rotation player for us.

The player who I don't think fits well in all of this is Seth Curry.  I think Seth will be somewhere around the 13-15th man on the roster.  I think he's a really good 13th man.  I think he's also a player they brought back because they like him and wanted him in the locker room.

Regardless, I think we can anticipate some injuries and rest days opening up some minutes for everyone as well.

Your argument seems to be that we're really deep so we should trade someone away.  I would argue that they have prioritized good depth this summer and I think it will help us win some games during the regular season.

The best thing that could happen to the Mavericks this season would be that the younger players (especially Hardy, Green and Exum) to earn minutes during the season at Hardaway's expense.  THJ averaged over 30 mpg last season.  I hope he averages less than 25 mpg this year.   It that occurs, then Tim becomes very expendable next off-season and we trade away his expiring contract to improve the roster elsewhere.  I think we should let the season play out though and see what we have prior to trading THJ.

We all have our “I think that…” answers to all the question marks. I was one of the first ones to post optimism about the upcoming season, so I am not talking doom and gloom. I see a potential issue and think it’s better for the team to get ahead of it.

Players getting less minutes than they want in roles they have to fill that are less suited to them breeds discontentment. That doesn’t mean our players will feed into that, but, better is better. What I mean by that is the better balance we can get from our roster where players are playing in their most optimal conditions getting their most optimal minutes is better. It’s what breeds the harmony and chemistry we hope to achieve.

The post I originally replied to was one talking about using Hardy as the outgoing to fill the biggest question mark we have on the team right now (and a question mark that I think will stunt the team growth and potential this year and beyond). I stated my thoughts on that. It was a change in thought I previously had in that I wanted to keep all our young guys by using the 27 first to get an answer to that question mark.