2020-2021 AROUND the NBA: Archived

[DanSchwartzgan]

@"DanSchwartzman" Are you really anti-LaVine for the Mavs? 

I think he's one of the best possible semi-realistic options.

I really don't.  I'm perfectly willing to admit that some of my opinions may be outdated.  Once I sour on someone's character I don't tend to recognize the possibility they might mature over time.  He would be the third option here, so that meets the criteria I set out in my post above.  HOWEVER:

My opinion is he's not a winner.  He's almost never a net positive and has been REALLY bad at RPM especially given what he is paid.  Defense seems to be optional.  Chicago was 8 points worse defensively when he was on the court last year.  I don't think we need another 30% Usage guy here.  He's relatively efficient at that high usage (which makes it even more puzzling why he doesn't contribute to winning).  But, the main thing is I think LaVine is kind of a selfish ______ (fill in whatever unflattering word you'd like).

That last part is what I mean when I talk about my opinion potentially being outdated and not giving the benefit of the doubt for potential maturity.  I got to see a lot of Julius Randle when he played AAU as a teen.  I never want that guy on the Mav's.  I had one degree of separation with two people who knew Buddy Heild and his family at Oklahoma.  Without getting into why, I'm anti-Hield also.  The Randle opinion dates back to High School, but so far he's done basically nothing with his immense physical gifts.  The Hield opinion dates back to college.  Same thing.  My negative opinion of LaVine dates back to when he was 19, but I've yet to see anything to change my mind.  The league values scoring, so I doubt we have enough to trade for him and frankly it is a relief to me.

---

- if nothing comes along, I guess they will shop Markkanen. Someone like White from San Antonio would be a decent target and a solid move for both teams. San Antonio has too many guards and they could see a benefit in Markkanen.
 

Interesting.