Which pieces do you want to move forward with...

[Murphy3]

The Mavs have made some dramatic improvements this year, but there have been some disappointments as well.. So much of the improvements have to be laid at the feet of Doncic who has turned out to be far better than anyone could have imagined at this point. So, who do you want to move forward with from this roster after this season?... obviously talking about players that are currently on the team..

[EricaLubarsky]

Tier 1 - build around
Doncic, only Doncic

Tier 2 - priority pieces
Kleber
Brunson

Tier 3 - okay returning
DFS
Jordan, but would prefer another center
Barea
Barnes in a limited role

Tier 4 - please make them go
Matthews
Powell

[sefant77]

Brunson because he is solid and dirtcheap
Kleber (if someone doesnt offer him crazy money)
DFS (if the price is right)
Barea/Harris on minimum deals because vets/lockerroom etc

thats it

[Bryan_Wilson]

We are so devoid of assets that I'd literally consider everyone not named Luka expendable if it could return assets or if their price was no longer team friendly when they hit free agency. All these years of not committing to a rebuild has killed us. We lucked into Luka and this would be so much better if we had assets to build around him. Instead, just like we rely on Luka to save us in games we will have to rely on Luka attracting a difference making free agent. A case can be made for Kleber being a consistent guy on the court but aside from him nobody else moves the needle for me so much that I think they are must keeps.

[j0Shi]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Tier 1 - build around
Doncic, only Doncic

Tier 2 - priority pieces
Kleber
Brunson

Tier 3 - okay returning
DFS
Jordan, but would prefer another center
Barea
Barnes in a limited role

Tier 4 - please make them go
Matthews
Powell

Sound about right

[Murphy3]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Tier 1 - build around
Doncic, only Doncic

Tier 2 - priority pieces
Kleber
Brunson

Tier 3 - okay returning
DFS
Jordan, but would prefer another center
Barea
Barnes in a limited role

Tier 4 - please make them go
Matthews
Powell

To be honest, it's kinda depressing..

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

To be honest, it's kinda depressing..

Yup and we have almost nothing to improve

Assets we have to improve the team
1) second rounders (If our 2019 pick conveys, we can trade or keep the 2020 pick)
2) dust/expiring contracts (Jordan, Matthews, Dirk, Barea, Harris, Mejri, DFS, Kleber) - 52 mill total in expiring contracts
3) Smith
4) A one-time cash sweetener
5) Cap space of around 57million
6) People like Doncic and he may be able to recruit? Maybe?

Assets we don't have to improve the team
1) first rounders - we can't trade a single draft pick until ATL gets their pick. Because the pick can be 2019, 2020, or beyond and we can't trade two consecutive picks, we can't trade ANY pick until after we know when year that pick will convey
2) Young talent - Other than Smith, we don't have a lot of young talent. Doncic is untouchable. Kleber and Brunson aren't worth a lot and probably worth a lot more to us than they are to other teams.

Sad thing is that teams aren't desperate to shed salary so those expirings are probably not going to net us much if anything and if they do, they destroy our cap space.

The 57mill in cap looks great on paper, but only if players will come here and we also have a lot of work to do with that 57mill

2019-2020 Roster based on guaranteed contracts
???/Powell (PO)/???
Barnes (PO)/ ???/???
Doncic/???/Broekhoff
???/???/???
Smith*/Brunson/???

Little likelihood that Barnes will opt out of his 25.1mill next year or Powell to opt out of his 10.3mill. Our only real chance to get them to leave is to make them look good so another team offers them a multi-year deal worth good money.

[turin]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Little likelihood that Barnes will opt out of his 25.1mill next year or Powell to opt out of his 10.3mill. Our only real chance to get them to leave is to make them look good so another team offers them a multi-year deal worth good money.

No way those guys opt out, and it won't be easy to trade them. They are basically Wes 2.0 and Wes 3.0 with regard to ridiculous contract and undesirability. Nobody wants them, and I don't think there is a long enough streak possible to change perceptions about the type of players they are. If anything, the extended exposure in crunch time has not been kind to Wes or Barnes, especially recently. :-( If you're going to trade for somebody who drags your team down, at least trade for somebody young enough with enough potential upside to possibly not be an anchor around the neck of the franchise. Yeah, this is harsh, but I'm really bummed out about the current state of the Mavs and anybody not named Luka or Kleber. Brunson is a big meh at this point for me. He has youth, but he's a 2nd unit PG. Still, he ranks above everybody else left besides Luka and Maxi not named DFS.

My keepers:
1. Luka

2. Maxi

3-4. Brunson, DFS

5. Broekhoff

[turin]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

To be honest, it's kinda depressing..

Yep. :-(

What's ironic is that the better Luka shows himself to be, the more depressed I get about the rest of the roster.

[MavzMan]

I guess I'm a little more optimistic than everyone else. Yeah, we have a lot of holes to fill, but we aren't saddled with a long term bad contract. Wes comes off the books this year. HB and DP come off next year. Then we are left with all young player contracts which you gotta have those to help balance out the big ones.

We pretty much have a 4 year window to get a team built and ready for Luka's max contract hit. Any contract that extends beyond that better be one that helps us contend for a championship. While if it expires before then, it's not that important. Basically, I hope to pick up one significant starter this off season and then another after that. That is Luka's big payday and we better be pushing really hard for multiple championships.

But back to your question, yeah, it's realistically Luka and noone else. However, it would be nice to keep Maxi, DFS, and Brunson based on their current performance. I'm not ready to give up on DSJ, but I'm clearly in the minority on that one which is understandable at the same time.

JJB and Dirk I expect to retire for obvious reasons. DH I kind of expect to give him a year to year contract until he's done.

DJ and Wes both could be back for the right money. Teens for DJ and 10-ish for Wes but a bench role. I could easily see both of those chase greener pastures than what we will be willing to offer.

HB and DP will get their options and then I expect them both to go the year after unless they take bottom dollar money as they've both been overpaid more or less.

The Mej I would hate to see go just cause I love the guy and his antics, but RC won't even put him in against other teams bigs when we need him so I don't see him coming back.

Broekhoff i have no opinion as he is literally the 15th roster spot.

[mac222b]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

To be honest, it's kinda depressing..

It is. Its years of shortsightedness come to bear.

Luka is our only prime asset. The rest are expendable. Brunson is cheap, so he has some value. And Kleber at the right price. Trade of DSJ likely incoming.

The rest? I'd be most happy if they could flip Barnes and DAJ for picks or younger, cheaper players. Even if attached to contracts, depending on the circumstances. Unless said players have an "in" with any star FA's to be. Unlikely...

I'd like to see this team look a few moves ahead for once instead of always going for instant gratification. As always, I blame Cuban. And having the 3 front office power players on differing pages at times.

[mac222b]

I could see Barnes opting out. Even if he doesn't its a 25m expiring contract to attach to other assets outgoing. But if some team offers Barnes something like 4 yrs. for 72 with a PO he'd be gone. The question is, what if he opts out and WE re-sign him for something in that ballpark? Lot of moving parts this offseason...