09-19-2023, 07:55 AM
(09-19-2023, 12:30 AM)ItsGoTime Wrote: I think this goes the other way as far as realistic and fair value. THJ for Eason and KPJ is pretty much fair value. We float KPJ for a year then send him away for $1M. Don't allow him near the team all year (might be easy if he stays in legal problems all year). Have our SF/PF rotation set for the foreseeable future. Use Holmes and Maxi for the Cap trade and finish up with...
Luka/Exum
Kyrie/Hardy/Curry
Green/Eason/OMax
GWill/DJJ/Morris
Capela/Lively/Powell
Roll with that group til the young guys are all ready to go and in a couple years when Kyrie is on his last year, trade him to make room for Green to be the SG next to Luka and Eason or OMax to win the SF starting spot with Lively coming online and starting as well.
The Mavericks won't trade for KPJ due to the negative media attention it would create so this discussion is purely theoretical and simply a way to pass the time until the season starts.
However, I think you are greatly undervaluing Tari Eason. He was already excellent defensively last season as a rookie. He was + 1.5 defensively on EPM which is the same as Jaden McDaniels. McDaniels is considered an elite NBA defender. It's also better than Dorian Finney Smith whose defense we really missed after the trade. Eason's defensive RAPTOR was better than Aaron Gordon and Marcus Smart. He was that good as a rookie on a terrible team. He projects to be an all-NBA defensive player which is exactly what we need next to Luka and Kyrie. He is also an excellent rebounder as a forward which is our greatest weakness. He would immediately be the best rebounder on our team as a SF/PF. He would be a great fit here immediately.
It's not his fault that he played on a terrible team. He was one of the league's most effective rookies last season. I believe only he and Walker Kessler had positive total RAPTOR scores among rookies. He is limited on offense but could develop into a decent offensive player with experience. He'll likely never be a good 3-point shooter as his form is not very good. However, he hit 34% last season as a rookie. He can improve that with experience and his job on offense will mostly be to hit open 3-pointers and grab offensive rebounds. He can finish in transition and would be another lob threat here. His defense and rebounding though will be elite. What the Mavericks need are a couple of elite role players to go along with Luka and Kyrie. Tari Eason will be that within 2 years.
His stats were pretty good as a rookie. 9 ppg and 6 rpg in less than 22mpg. Aaron Gordon averaged 5 points and less than 4 rebounds per game as a rookie. He's now an elite role player and an NBA champion.
It won't actually happen but a Tari Eason trade would help the Mavericks immediately. I like THJ and defend him on this message board but Eason would be a better fit here and may already be a better overall player than THJ...and he's only 22 years old. I think he's clearly worth the 2027 1st. KJP can spend the year at home (or in jail) and we could use that contract later in the season on another trade if needed. Otherwise, we release him next summer and stay well away from the 2nd apron next off-season. We could extend Josh Green and might even have the full MLE available next off-season.
I like OMax's potential but we don't know what we have there yet. Tari Eason is already a good NBA player.