Quote:
Originally Posted by Floppy
I think its more like this
Mavs trade Mekel + cash for cap space
Dirk $9.5 Million
Pau $9.0 Million
Ariza $8.0 Million
Harris $3.5 Million
Tolliver $2.0 Million or less
Carter $2.7 Million Room exception
PG-Harris / Calderon / Larkin
SG-Ellis / Ellington / Ledo
SF-Ariza / Carter / Crowder
PF-Dirk / Pau / Tolliver / 2nd rd Pick
C-Pau / Dalembert / Wright
Works under the cap and Mavs still have all their 1st round picks and the expirings of Wright / Ellington / Dalembert for other moves
Harris / Ariza provide the perimeter defense
Ariza makes up for Calderon 3 point shooting moving to the bench .
Harris / Ellis / Pau make up for Calderon passing moving to the bench.
I think this team has more than enough defense to go with a very good offense
PG-Harris 24 MPG / Calderon 24 MPG
SG-Ellis 34 MPG / Carter 14 MPG
SF-Ariza 34 MPG / Crowder 14 MPG
PF-Dirk 30 MPG / Pau 18 MPG
C-Pau 12 MPG / Dalembert 20 MPG / Wright 18 MPG
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I disagree. That lineup does not have enough defense to contend for a championship. We are coming out of the West. We had the worst defense of any playoff team last year.. and we were considered the exception not the rule. Don't forget we were playing for our playoff livelihood at the end of the season... this is because our defense was horrible. Ariza is not a complete game changer over Marion. He's an upgrade, but not an overhaul. For that matter playing Pau any minutes at the Center position is a downgrade defensively from what we saw last year. His added offense I would consider irrelevant as offense had very little to do with our struggles. Sure he drops Dirk's minutes which is nice (32-30 from your estimate), but its not enough.
Some other points I think I would contest.
1. The value of Ariza. He is going to command a contract of about 8-10 million a year. He is a career 33% 3pt shooter..... one good year should not convince us that he will continue shooting 40% from 3. Sure he plays solid defense.. but honestly I would much rather add a P.J. Tucker for less money.
2. I think its unrealistic to say that Pau and Dirk will only be in the game together for 12 minutes a game.. maybe I am wrong? That seems abit low. I would say Pau would be seeing closer to a 50/50 split at the 4/5. Again playoff teams we stand very little chance of stopping anyone with Dirk and Gasol defending the paint.