Now what?

[Kidd Karma]

Originally Posted by Zeus

He is a useable and valuable asset that if he walks is by definition irreplaceable from a cap asset perspective. He might be a great trade piece in 2 or 3 years to get us the missing piece. Hard to do that if he is gone. The only thing that benefits by JB walking is Mark's immediate bank account.

Exactly, GSW signed and traded KD for a sign and traded Deangelo Russell, not the perfect fit next to Curry, but less than a year later morphed that salary slot into Andrew Wiggins and a 1st round pick. Wiggins playing a key role in....this year's title....and who knows that 1st round pick is Kuminga.....so to me, given the win now mentality with Luka, you have to max out your pieces and if JB wants 25 million per.....you give him 25.5 per.

[saclare]

Originally Posted by Kidd Karma

Exactly, GSW signed and traded KD for a sign and traded Deangelo Russell, not the perfect fit next to Curry, but less than a year later morphed that salary slot into Andrew Wiggins and a 1st round pick. Wiggins playing a key role in....this year's title....and who knows that 1st round pick is Kuminga.....so to me, given the win now mentality with Luka, you have to max out your pieces and if JB wants 25 million per.....you give him 25.5 per.

My worry is it sneaking up to $30MM just because some dumb ass team like the Knicks or Pistons has it and is stupid enough to offer it. At what AAV does Brunson start to become less appealing? Don't get me wrong, fully understand we won't be able to replace him, but damn, the rumored numbers are starting to get a little large.

[Dtownsfinest]

Originally Posted by saclare

My worry is it sneaking up to $30MM just because some dumb ass team like the Knicks or Pistons has it and is stupid enough to offer it. At what AAV does Brunson start to become less appealing? Don't get me wrong, fully understand we won't be able to replace him, but damn, the rumored numbers are starting to get a little large.

I mean its tough but I have no issue with it. At this point I look at Brunson as a trade asset. We can't lose him for free. That's the one thing that can't happen.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by Dtownsfinest

I mean its tough but I have no issue with it. At this point I look at Brunson as a trade asset. We can't lose him for free. That's the one thing that can't happen.

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.

[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

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.

[Dtownsfinest]

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 agree. And I like Brunson and think he's apart of this teams future but if this front office decided he wasn't....that's fine. But I really hope they also believe that they don't have much trade assets to improve this team. When a player becomes available I'd rather have a even overpriced Brunson to bargain with as opposed to hoping someone takes on Hardaway Jr's contract. He can't walk to the Knicks for nothing.

[Zeus]

Originally Posted by saclare

My worry is it sneaking up to $30MM just because some dumb ass team like the Knicks or Pistons has it and is stupid enough to offer it. At what AAV does Brunson start to become less appealing? Don't get me wrong, fully understand we won't be able to replace him, but damn, the rumored numbers are starting to get a little large.

Again if 30 million is what it takes there is no down side. Letting him walk doesn't free up powder and keeping him at whatever price is an asset that will have value down the road. Keep in mind that 30 today wont seem like 30 when the cap is 30 million higher in 4 years. This is a no brainer in my estimation and I for one dont give a flying F about Mark's wallet. He will be fine