06-12-2021, 09:49 AM
(06-12-2021, 07:52 AM)Chicagojk Wrote: both Caruso and McConnel have made them really nice rotation pieces and they should both get solid contracts this offseason. Although IMO if the Mavericks are targeting this level of player this offseason, they are doing it wrong.
Improve your starters (2nd-5th best players) and not work around the edges.
In some ways, we are in the position Phoenix was in a year ago. Star guard in Booker. Imperfect Center in Ayton. Good 3-D wing in Bridges (similar to Luka, KP, DFS).
They had some decent bench pieces that most of us here wouldn't have wanted. Cam Johnson vs. Maxi? Saric/Kaminsky vs. Powell/WCS? Payne vs. Brunson?
They added Crowder with the MLE...roughly equivalent at that point in time to Caruso today. And obviously the difference maker has been Paul. Based on age, contract and prior year production, the chorus of experts here was at best luke-warm on him (I predict the next five posts will be the hand full of people who ever said anything positive about CP3 last off-season). Oh, and don't forget the cost...Oubre, Rubio and a protected first.
The point is we kind of have the same scenario this year. All of the Paul-like guys have some warts (mainly age). We see posts that say we don't want any of the 33+ guys. So, no to Lowry, DeRozan and Conley (but somehow people pine for Dragic). The young guys are all deemed to be headed to NY or Chicago (or will be retained by their current teams).
There will be risk to whatever we do. If Phoenix is the model, we will have to send out some salary and draft compensation (which we don't really have). They still had the MLE because the deal for Paul was a trade match. That is an important element here. A trade matched acquisition allows us to keep THJ and use the full MLE. Is the trade match Maxi/JRich? Do we have to put Dorian or Brunson in such a deal? Does one year of Willie have any value? The need is fairly clear. We need a point-of-attack 3-D guard next to Luka (like we've failed at two years in a row). And, we need some kind of Swiss Army Knife big next to KP. Trade for one, sign the other using the full MLE and keep THJ. Given the assets we have, it is likely the guy we trade for will have a wart or two. Hopefully it works out as well as CP3 has in Phoenix.