05-11-2021, 04:56 PM
(05-11-2021, 03:53 PM)F Gump Wrote: The negatives that existed before - his size, and the huge contract he comes with - are still there. But the positives are not. It was believed that some of his negatives would not be such a factor if he could play on a better team, and instead it's work ed the other way around - instead of them making him better, he's made them worse.
Add in his lack of reliability, plus the fact that Brunson is already here and a way better fit than KW would be, and there's nothing in the massively overpaid, oft-injured, weak defense, mediocre 3, Walker that makes sense for the Mavs.
Fair enough. I don't have too much to argue about with your overall take. In the details of how you reached that conclusion, I'd push back on the following:
I don't believe "the negatives that existed before" are to blame for what he has or has not been in Boston - only his deteriorating injury situation. If that makes him less attractive now, then so be it. That's certainly valid. But, had he stayed healthy these past two years, and if he ever again becomes healthy, I disagree that Brunson is a better player, especially in the Mavs' system. I have an extremely high opinion of Walker's abilities as a pick and roll handler. Brunson (who I'm super high on) is great at getting into the paint off of screens, but Walker's pull-up jumper trumps anything we've seen from Brunson. He's much more of a three-level scorer than Brunson is (so far). Walker was and might be again a pick and roll master.
I do agree that Brunson's further development this season needs to be part of the conversation, I'm just not ready to put him on the pre-Boston Walker level yet.