Quote:
Originally Posted by Jack.Kerr
Not to dispute the points that you make, but I would like Adams for the space he occupies, not the spacing he creates; the intangibles that he brings in terms of toughness, plus a little opportunistic production.
He is the type of hard-nosed player who would serve as a bodyguard for KP and Doncic, although admittedly he would be a very expensive enforcer.
At the other end of the spectrum for that TYPE of player was Kyle O'Quinn, who filled that role for KP in NY; but O'Quinn just signed with Philly for one-year vet minimum. Probably could've been had if Mavs were interested.
I don't think, though, that you can pass every acquisition opportunity by, waiting for some as yet undetermined 'ace wing player' to sign. My intuition is that Donnie is on the phone with the NYKs every day asking about Ntilikina, and the Knicks just keep hanging up on him; if the Mavs got a future #1 back along with Adams for providing the Thunder some cap relief (and Courtney Lee), then the Knicks might take that future #1 for Ntilikina; or the Mavs could just remove the protections on one of the #1s they already owe the Knicks. |
I'm certainly not saying that Powell is better. Adams is a better defender and rim protector. But we disagree in total value.
Adam's salary is literally over twice what Powell's is, and he is not, by any metric - defense or offense - twice as good as Powell. He would have to be "Giannis-like" in terms of being a difference maker.... and he's not. The salary is important as it relates to cap space, so it's not just a vacant number.
Even with the newer defensive metrics, Adams would not be twice the defender
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features...-defense/#fn-1
Even Valanciunas's new contract is 10 million a year cheaper than Adams. I'd like to have Adams, but I don't want him at that price. The stats say he wouldn't make enough of a difference on the Mavericks team to change anything in the standings.