Is Lewis the right way to go??

[Nellie]

I was asking myself this question a lot over the weekend. There is no question that Lewis is talented but assuming that we sign him somehow, is he worth it?? Allow me to explain. The exception would be gone and we would still not have our most obvious weakness addressed which is a big man. Can we still obtain a big man without the exception?? We have often tossed around the theory of trading NVE for a big man and I would think that is the card we would be obligated to play if we signed Lewis. For purposes of this conversation, lets use the NVE for Ward/KT trade. If we get that deal done, our starting line-up would be:

-Nash
-Finley
-Lewis
-Dirk
-Raef

Not bad at all..but where is KT?? It seems to me that something has potential for trouble here. If KT comes off the bench, the thing we need to address the most is not being used to potential. In other words, if KT is who we get to address rebounding and defense, he should probably be on the floor a lot in order to have that problem eliminated. However, Cuban will have to keep his promises made to Shard which would be that he is a starter and gets his playing time. Does anybody else see a problem here?? In an ironic way, Reshard would be hendering us from addressing our biggest problem. Would KT be happy coming off the bench?? I doubt it. Shard can't come off the bench due to promises made. Who's left?? The big 3 ain't leving the court. Raef?? I suppose he is a possibility but I would think you would need him on the floor at the same time as KT so get the right balance near the basket. How does this help us??

My question for discussion is:

We all know Shard is talented but is there room on this team for him AND everything else we already need to address?? What is more important??

[Just211]

UH OH

[Nellie]

<< UH OH >>



Insiteful.

[Dooby]

Well, the problem is that Kurt Thomas is not a free-agent. Most of the free-agent big men are restricted or undesireable. Another problem is that the Mavs have very little interest in the big men that are free-agents and are assumingly desireable, i.e. Keon Clark. Finally, of all the availeable big men out there, IMO, none are currently impact players. IMO, while I would take Kandi, part of his value is still potential, and I question his impact on a current playoff team. Anyway, we probably won't get Kandi.

Rashard Lewis is an impact player. He may be the only FA impact player out there. If we can get him, we have to do it.

As for the illusive big man, well we can sign Rashard Lewis and still do a Kurt Thomas trade. Other than that, I don't see any quality big men available via free agency or via trade.

Is there room? Sure there is. Because we will have to trade to get a big man here anyway. And you won't get a big man for a bunch of scrubs so assume we will lose something of value.

Oh well, I am rambling. I will stop now.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]


Edit: Now that I have looked at your question, I realize we have not answered it. IMO, if we get Lewis, we prob. don't get Kurt Thomas. Instead we will try and get a change-of-pace forward. That can muscle around the inside for 15 minutes a game. I still think Othella Harrington is the guy to get for that role, but everybody thinks I am an idiot.

[Just211]

I think if we land Lewis, Cubes is set on keeping NVE. It seems they think all this line up needs is time, I tend to think all options of getting a inside presence suck. Thomas is the best option, but you'd have to take Ward or some other scrub to get him. I think if we get Lewis, we should keep NVE at least until the deadline, see how things are going, and if we still need that presence and NVE is having problems, deal him. You never know who will be available, maybe better players maybe worse, but right now I say wait

[FilthyFinMavs]

<< I think if we land Lewis, Cubes is set on keeping NVE. It seems they think all this line up needs is time, I tend to think all options of getting a inside presence suck. Thomas is the best option, but you'd have to take Ward or some other scrub to get him. I think if we get Lewis, we should keep NVE at least until the deadline, see how things are going, and if we still need that presence and NVE is having problems, deal him. You never know who will be available, maybe better players maybe worse, but right now I say wait >>




Exactly what I was thinking I agree. If Mavs obtain Lewis than Kurt isnt the way to go in my book. Lewis can bang just as much as KT. Im guessing KT is the better rebounder but I dont sere Cuban trading nick after a signing of Lewis. If it does happen.

[seelenjaeger]

Actually if we get Lewis we have kinda adressed some needs, maybe not the usual way.

We get an increase in rebounding by switching Finley to SG and having more size at SF.
We get a quite versatile and athletic defender at the three.
We gain size.

[FilthyFinMavs]

<< Actually if we get Lewis we have kinda adressed some needs, maybe not the usual way.

We get an increase in rebounding by switching Finley to SG and having more size at SF.
We get a quite versatile and athletic defender at the three.
We gain size. >>



This is what I was trying to say lol. I agree.

[Nellie]

<< That can muscle around the inside for 15 minutes a game. I still think Othella Harrington is the guy to get for that role, but everybody thinks I am an idiot. >>



Actualy, I agree with you. Harrington is a guy that can be relyed upon to rough it up and is within our price range no matter the outcome of the Lewis situation.

[Hoopsmeister]

I would agree that if you think our first priority this off-season needs to be a 'banger' then there may be reason to hesitate over Lewis. Getting him would mean that we have only Van Exel and veteran minimums to pick up said banger--and if we trade Van Exel, we also have use the trade + minimums to come up with a backup point which seems unlikely.

On the other hand, I have always thought our priority needed to be a legitimate NBA starting small forward. And Lewis clearly addresses that need.

I've made most of this argument before and won't go into it all again but just hit a few points--

a) On the negative, Thomas would not have started here in any case. Dirk is our starting power forward. His flexibility does mean that at times he can and will move to the 3 or the 5, but he is going to play the bulk of his time at 4 simply because he is less of a defensive liability there. If he works on his defense, he could even become a decent defender at the 4. But he will never be a good defender at the 3. He's just too much larger than the people he has to try to guard there.

b) Adding Lewis to our starting line-up fixes Finley at the 2. We would then have a great rebounder at 4, a good rebounder at 2 and 3, and a decent rebounder at 5. This would solve our rebounding problems.

c) It would be the end of small ball. NVE (or his replacement) would actually back up Nash (and thus legitimately cut his playing time and conserve his legs for the postseason) rather than being in effect a 5th starter since we had no actual starter at the 3.

That's not to mention that Lewis is 22. In 3 years when Finley and Nash are starting to show some age, we will have Dirk and Lewis at 25-26 as our core.

To me, this signing is a no-brainer.

[seelenjaeger]

I´d only wish it was a two-sided no-brainer

[Murphy3]

lewis doesn't address our maine need. however, it offers the mavs the unique opportunity of instantly adding a young member to the core to go along with dirk and raef for several years down the road.

maybe the mavs wouldn't have the banger they desperately need..but by all means sign lewis if you can.

the mavs become better defensively at the 2 and 3 spot by signing him.
fin will be playing most of the 2 guard instead of fin and nve.. this instantly makes them stronger defensively at that spot.
and lewis is a better defensive 3 than fin...

if you can sign lewis, well..you deal with your other issues later

[Bayliss]

Thank you Hoops, for summing it up. Everything you said I agree with.

I will add jusat one more thing: if you think by adding a defensive banger a la Kurt Thomas is going to make us all of a sudden &quot;NBA Champs&quot; then you're reasoning is flawd (IMO). A banger is still not going to give Nash rest. A banger is still not going to stop guard penetration. A banger will still not stop Nellie's small ball.

If we get Lewis, it does solve some problems, but not all problems. Just like a banger would do. Albiet they are coming in at different ways.

[Murphy3]

well..nash getting rest if thomas came in could be easily solved.. nellie, give nash a little rest.
easy as that.

however.. no move will resolve all needs... no move will make the team perfect by any means. they still have to do it on the court..they still would have to go through adversity and go through some very talented teams...

no move is a sure bet by any means.

but hell..i'm in favor of the KT move.... but if i had to choose between the KT move or adding lewis.. i'd go with adding lewis because the mavs would still have some trade commodities to address their interior defensive issues at a later time