Now what?

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

Precisely. If this were the Mavs of a couple of seasons ago that was struggling just to make the 7th seed, I might be more receptive to letting Brunson walk in the hopes of making better moves in the future. But the Mavs just made the conference finals. This team is ready to contend NOW. Now is exactly the time to overpay to keep the team together. Especially with the Wood trade. This is one of the two or three best teams in the conference. We could very well end up in the finals. I'm not saying it's likely, but it's very possible. Losing Brunson now would be a huge step backwards and would set us back multiple seasons. Pay him now, worry about the financial implications later.

I actually see the total opposite of this. If we were the 7th seed, then we NEED Brunson just to stay relevant. That's not the team now. We were still the 5th seed when Brunson was a nice 12 ppg backup pg two seasons ago who didn't show up in the playoffs.

Again, I want to keep Brunson at basically any cost, but I don't see the logic on it setting us so far back if he walks. Losing the future trade trip would be the biggest loss, but we weren't exactly a peasant team before his emergence.

Brunson was middling vs Phx and GS as well. I don't know if we're having this conversation on how badly we need him if it wasn't for the Jazz series. And yes, we don't even make it out of the first round without him. I just don't think we're back to the dark ages if he goes to NY.

I have every confidence in Nico to pivot to something else.

[Melonhead]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

I actually see the total opposite of this. If we were the 7th seed, then we NEED Brunson just to stay relevant. That's not the team now. We were still the 5th seed when Brunson was a nice 12 ppg backup pg two seasons ago who didn't show up in the playoffs.

Again, I want to keep Brunson at basically any cost, but I don't see the logic on it setting us so far back if he walks. Losing the future trade trip would be the biggest loss, but we weren't exactly a peasant team before his emergence.

Brunson was middling vs Phx and GS as well. I don't know if we're having this conversation on how badly we need him if it wasn't for the Jazz series. And yes, we don't even make it out of the first round without him. I just don't think we're back to the dark ages if he goes to NY.

I have every confidence in Nico to pivot to something else.

There?s nothing to pivot to since they?re already at the cap without JB

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by Melonhead

There?s nothing to pivot to since they?re already at the cap without JB

Lol you can't make trades anymore? THJ and change for Brogdon or Hield. TJ Warren? There are a number of wings the Mavs could get for the right price. Yes, it might not be a Brunson guard, but with Dinwiddie, you can fill in more of a ball handling wing if need be.

People get stuck on not having cap space, but we made the KP trade for the very reason of trade flexibility.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

People get stuck on not having cap space, but we made the KP trade for the very reason of trade flexibility.

True, but the "flexibility" part of it was based on the assumption that Dinwiddie was just filler and would not be an integral part of the team. Yes, you can trade him, but you definitely lose something valuable in the process. Something that is not easily replaced. Just about all the players we have left that would attract any interest are important parts of our rotation. After that you're getting into guys like Maxi and DFS. Guys we would really miss.

That's why I'm really hoping we can flip Powell's expiring contract into something useful. That's one of the last real trade chips we have left.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

I actually see the total opposite of this. If we were the 7th seed, then we NEED Brunson just to stay relevant. That's not the team now. We were still the 5th seed when Brunson was a nice 12 ppg backup pg two seasons ago who didn't show up in the playoffs.

Again, I want to keep Brunson at basically any cost, but I don't see the logic on it setting us so far back if he walks. Losing the future trade trip would be the biggest loss, but we weren't exactly a peasant team before his emergence.

Brunson was middling vs Phx and GS as well. I don't know if we're having this conversation on how badly we need him if it wasn't for the Jazz series. And yes, we don't even make it out of the first round without him. I just don't think we're back to the dark ages if he goes to NY.

I have every confidence in Nico to pivot to something else.

You don't see the logic in losing your second best player for nothing being a step backwards? Also, remember that the Porzingis trade turned the whole season around, which was very underwhelming before that. The reason is because we desperately needed a third ballhandler, which Dinwiddie provides. If we lose Brunson, we're right back where we were.

I don't think we're back to the "dark ages." But I'm almost positive we're back to 6-7 seed range, and nowhere near the conference finals.

As Melonhead already said below, we can't just "pivot." The Mavs have extremely limited assets, and losing Brunson leaves us with even less. I don't think THJ gets us any of the players you named. If he could, I honestly think it would have already happened. Apparently Nico shopped THJ around all last season and nobody was interested.