Youth worth developing/building around

[Bryan_Wilson]

The Mavericks assigned Nicolas Brussino and A.J. Hammons to the Texas Legends, who have games Wednesday and Thursday.

https://twitter.com/ESefko/status/818210243251503104

[GermanStandard]

I dont think you can put Wes into a youth wort developing thread. He as reached or past his prime already me thinks. I dont think he will get better at this Point of his career.

DFS, Curry, Brussino and Barnes are the ones with upside. Powell seems to have reached his ceiling pretty much. Would have expected some Kind of breakout season by now.

[EricaLubarsky]

Tonight in the d league:

Brussino 25pts (6-8 from three)
P-Jax 32pts, 13ast, 6reb

[GermanStandard]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Tonight in the d league:

Brussino 25pts (6-8 from three)
P-Jax 32pts, 13ast, 6reb

Tells you all you Need to know about how good the D-League is.

[Budapest Maverick]

Originally Posted by GermanStandard

Tells you all you Need to know about how good the D-League is.

Yep. Every half decent NBA player is a superstar in the D-league. Bottom feeder Euro teams would blow these guys out.

[Bryan_Wilson]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Tonight in the d league:

Brussino 25pts (6-8 from three)
P-Jax 32pts, 13ast, 6reb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjKTFWEV_po

Highest arching 3 I've seen other than Dirk. His shots don't even hit rim. My only concern is it's a somewhat slow delivery and I'm not sure he has enough foot speed to be a 3. And he certainly doesn't have the body for a small 4. He has really good instincts though and really good passing+bbiq. He might just be too limited physically though. But if he could speed us his delivery I think he could at least be rotation worthy.

[Bryan_Wilson]

Brussino tonight 7-10 shooting for 17pts 8rebs 4 ast. Hammons 15mins 6 fouls, 5 rebs 2-3 shooting for 7pts. In Hammons defense he barely touches the ball. Still would like to see him rebound much better than that in the D league.

[yahyes]

Brussino honestly has the potential to have offensive capabilities if he can gain more confidence against NBA teams. His range is all over the half court. But it's about confidence right now. Mavs should keep him 5 years to see how he develops. Never know he could be our next Dirk on offense.

[tap2390]

Originally Posted by yahyes

Brussino honestly has the potential to have offensive capabilities if he can gain more confidence against NBA teams. His range is all over the half court. But it's about confidence right now. Mavs should keep him 5 years to see how he develops. Never know he could be our next Dirk on offense.

O_____o wut? There's a laundry list of guys who could put the ball in the basket but weren't athletically or physically gifted enough to make it in the league. Dirk is one of the most physically gifted players ever. He's seven feet tall with the balance and coordination to make ridiculously difficult shots.

It's easier to teach someone who is athletically & physically gifted how to play basketball than to get someone with basketball skills to the athletic/physical level needed to be a force in the NBA. See Clint Capela, Greek Freak, Shane Larkin, Adam Morrison, Jimmie Fredette, etc. etc. etc.

[Thebo]

I do not share high hopes for Brussino. Before season begun, he looked really nice addition but he seems to be boy among men when playing against NBA players.

[sike]

Very little love for Simba...

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by sike

Very little love for Simba...

Less love for Powell.

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by rimrocker

Less love for Powell.

That salary is hurting him

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

That salary is hurting him

Still shocked we gave him all that money when he hadn't found a niche on this team yet. I thought they'd be stretching it giving him mid-level money.

Beginning to think he has reached his peak.

[Just211]

So, I guess I waited just long enough to vote... Lol
Another undrafted player... Yogi.

I don't know about build around, but definitely a piece

[EricaLubarsky]

Originally Posted by Just211

So, I guess I waited just long enough to vote... Lol
Another undrafted player... Yogi.

I don't about build around, but definitely a piece

Ha! Yup. He wasn't even on the radar when I posted the poll

[rimrocker]

My predicted ceiling for some of our youth (not necessarily style as much as impact):

Yogi - JJB
Curry - JET
DFS - Aminu
Anderson - Crowder
Powell - Wright
Hammons - Bernard James
Barnes - Mashburn (When Fully Healthy)

[Melonhead]

Originally Posted by rimrocker

My predicted ceiling for some of our youth (not necessarily style as much as impact):

Yogi - JJB
Curry - JET
DFS - Aminu
Anderson - Crowder
Powell - Wright
Hammons - Bernard James
Barnes - Mashburn (When Fully Healthy)

Anderson has like 5 things he needs to get better at. Crowder is an actual contributor. Really wish we'd fill his spot next year. He's already hit his ceiling.

[Underdog]

@espn_macmahon: All signs point to Yogi Ferrell getting an extended audition as the Mavs' starting point guard.

[sefant77]

-

[Underdog]

@espn_macmaho: Quality 26-under Mavs additions since last season: Harrison Barnes, Nerlens Noel, Seth Curry, Yogi Ferrell, Dorian Finney-Smith.

[hayth.james.g]

Originally Posted by Underdog

@espn_macmaho: Quality 26-under Mavs additions since last season: Harrison Barnes, Nerlens Noel, Seth Curry, Yogi Ferrell, Dorian Finney-Smith.

I have to say this list looks much better than I could of hoped at the end of last year. I hope Nerlens head is right. Some of the comments/stories that were coming out earlier in the season didn't seem encouraging. Perhaps I am still perturbed by the Rondo craziness. He definitely has the talent and skill set to be a building block for the future.

The next step is getting it right come draft time.

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by hayth.james.g

I have to say this list looks much better than I could of hoped at the end of last year. I hope Nerlens head is right. Some of the comments/stories that were coming out earlier in the season didn't seem encouraging. Perhaps I am still perturbed by the Rondo craziness. He definitely has the talent and skill set to be a building block for the future.

The next step is getting it right come draft time.

The focus and pressure is on Yogi the rest of the season imo. If he can become a legit solid starter with all-star potential it will make the draft a lot easier for the Mavs because all we will need to do is draft either Wes' or Dirk's replacement.
I'm beginning to think Markkanen might be a good pick for us....a great complement to Noel.

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by Underdog

@espn_macmaho: Quality 26-under Mavs additions since last season: Harrison Barnes, Nerlens Noel, Seth Curry, Yogi Ferrell, Dorian Finney-Smith.

That could very well be our starting lineup 2 years from now.
I think we have the perfect blend of youth and vets right now. Dirk, Wes, JJ and Devin are great character/locker room guys and will be outstanding mentors for the young guys.
I actually hope Dirk stays another year for that reason...especially if we draft a guy like Markkanen. Maybe Dirk can become to Markkanen what Holger has been to him

[MavzMan]

Originally Posted by rimrocker

The focus and pressure is on Yogi the rest of the season imo. If he can become a legit solid starter with all-star potential it will make the draft a lot easier for the Mavs because all we will need to do is draft either Wes' or Dirk's replacement.
I'm beginning to think Markkanen might be a good pick for us....a great complement to Noel.

Looking for Yogi to be an all-star is really unrealistic at this point. It's much easier to do well in a game when opposing teams have no idea who you even are versus game-planning for you. However, it should be well within reason to hope he becomes a JJB type player that comes off the bench and keeps the offense rolling while getting anywhere from 18-30 minutes purely based on matchups.

[NeedlesKane]

I love how much younger and better the Mavericks are after yesterday's trade. I wonder when the last time was that they were this young. Only 5 Mavericks players are within 10 years of my age, and only one is older.

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by MavzMan

Looking for Yogi to be an all-star is really unrealistic at this point. It's much easier to do well in a game when opposing teams have no idea who you even are versus game-planning for you. However, it should be well within reason to hope he becomes a JJB type player that comes off the bench and keeps the offense rolling while getting anywhere from 18-30 minutes purely based on matchups.

Nobody is calling Yogi an all-star or even expecting it. The point is that he has the keys to drive this team the rest of the year and to put his ceiling at JJB is as premature as calling him all-star potential. Giving him this opportunity allows the FO to determine which part of that range he'll be closest to and what his role will be going forward. Dumping DWill will give them a much bigger sample size and that surprise element will not be there for Yogi going forward so it will be sink or swim. I think this is a brilliant move by the Mavs.

If he shows signs of being another IT or even close they can use the pick on something else, if his ceiling is closer to JJB's they might be more apt to take someone like Fox. Obviously if Fultz, Ball or Smith are there they'd take them anyway and Yogi would either compete with them for the starting position, have a backup role, or become a very nice trade piece.

He has certainly earned this opportunity and the Mavs have very little to lose by this move but a hell of a lot to gain. Again...Brilliant!!!

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by NeedlesKane

I love how much younger and better the Mavericks are after yesterday's trade. I wonder when the last time was that they were this young. Only 5 Mavericks players are within 10 years of my age, and only one is older.

I don't know about you but yesterday I could just feel the culture change in the Mavs....like they made a 180 degree turn. Now this team has the ability to start trending up instead of trending down...something that has been happening since the championship.

[NeedlesKane]

I think it's too soon to determine which position we're in the greatest need of getting help. I say we take the best player available this time around, regardless of the position. That should be a no-brainer. If we can get another player who will open the floor like Dirk I say that'd be the ultimate win for the Mavericks right now. I want to give our three young players we never see time to grow and see what kind of impact they can bring after developing in our system. It'd be nice if Hammons becomes another reliable big body. And then we have a pair of 6'8" guys. It'd nice if they turn into something good.

[NeedlesKane]

Originally Posted by rimrocker

I don't know about you but yesterday I could just feel the culture change in the Mavs....like they made a 180 degree turn. Now this team has the ability to start trending up instead of trending down...something that has been happening since the championship.

In my opinion this is the most positive move they've made since winning the championship. Aside from Tyson Chandler's return it's been as if the Mavericks cannot get a reliable big man. Now we have one, and he's not even 23 yet. This dude is going to be really good.

I have had a real negative outlook on this team, but that's changed now that the Mavericks have actually succeeded in getting younger and actually have young talent that should attract free agents.

I feel like the most attractive 4 players on the team right now to a quality young free agent are Yogi Ferrell, Seth Curry, Harrison Barnes, and Nerlens Noel. Their average age is about 24.5 years. The whole team's average age is 27.86. That includes Dirk. Remove Dirk and it drops to 26.96. Get Devin Harris out of here and we're down to 26.32.

For any Mavericks team that is young. It amazes me how young a number of teams around the league are. I did a quick Google search, and numerous teams are still younger. With an average age of 28.36 to kick off the season the Mavericks were the league's 4th oldest. I am not going to find out where we rank right now. Just be happy knowing that we're half a year younger than we were then. Throw Pierre Jackson and Satnam Singh Bhamara on the roster and the age is down to 27.26.

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by NeedlesKane

I think it's too soon to determine which position we're in the greatest need of getting help. I say we take the best player available this time around, regardless of the position. That should be a no-brainer. If we can get another player who will open the floor like Dirk I say that'd be the ultimate win for the Mavericks right now. I want to give our three young players we never see time to grow and see what kind of impact they can bring after developing in our system. It'd be nice if Hammons becomes another reliable big body. And then we have a pair of 6'8" guys. It'd nice if they turn into something good.

Yeah, even with the nice young building blocks we now have ,we still have several key areas of need.
Two of those LT needs are PG and backup PG which I think Yogi will be one of them but the question now is which one?
He'll certainly have the opportunity to answer that question the rest of this season.

My point is that if we are picking around 10, and say Fox, Tatum and Markkanen are on the board, the answer is probably one of the two latter if Yogi plays the rest of the season like he has so far and shows signs of clearly taking over this team. If Yogi struggles they might want to take Fox and address the other areas of need in FA or trades.

Either way I think the BPA when we pick will fill a need.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by rimrocker

Either way I think the BPA when we pick will fill a need.

Yeah, the top-end of this draft aligns perfectly with our needs.

[rimrocker]

Originally Posted by Underdog

Yeah, the top-end of this draft aligns perfectly with our needs.

Assuming we're in the top 13:

Any of the 5 PGs will fit...either way we'll need another guard (JJB and/or Devin replacement).

Monk....6th man or potential starting SG in near future.

Isaac, Jackson, Tatum would eventually fill the SF spot (Matthews replacement).

Markkanen, Giles.....Dirk's possible replacement.

Patton, Allen....backup center (Mejri's replacement)

[EricaLubarsky]

Mavs sign 23-year-old Quinn Cook to a 10 day

6'2" guard from Duke

[NeedlesKane]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

Mavs sign 23-year-old Quinn Cook to a 10 day

6'2" guard from Duke

And our average age for the team drops again (by .28 years)!

Average age for the team is now 27.58 years. I don't care that J.J. and Dirk are older. They can still play. The only older player that continues to have problems is Devin Harris. We don't need his 34-year-old ass on the team. The average age for the 11 youngest guys on the team is 25.53. Not bad. Get rid of Wesley Matthews and Salah Mejri. Then the other 9 guys are 24.42 years on average. I love how many of our players are really about the same age.

[Bryan_Wilson]

Harris doesn't have the stats that show it really but he makes winning plays on a nightly basis really. And while I don't really want us to win too many games I like the example he is setting for younger guys. He was a big reason we went to OT against Utah by knocking the ball out of bounds with almost no time. When we have a TO he's the one reading the fast break to draw a charge. When we are too jump shot happy he's attacking the rim. So I agree he has no place on the team I don't agree that he continues to have problems.

[sefant77]

i would still decline his 4m option. If he wants to stay he can sign later for the vet minimum, i think it jumped to 2m.

This 4m could be YUGE in the FA and would be SAD if we miss out on a great FA because of that and would have to sign some bad hombres instead.

[Underdog]

@ESPNSteinLine: The Mavs have struck 10-day deals with Ben Bentil AND Quinn Cook, according to league sources

@ESPNSteinLine: The Mavs' plan is to have deals with swingman Ben Bentil and PG Quinn Cook completed in time for both to practice Sunday, league sources say

@ESPNSteinLin: Also considered were Pierre Jackson (who has already played out two 10-day deals with the Mavs) and @nbadleague scoring machine Manny Harris

[rimrocker]

Just realized Cook and Curry were teammates at Duke.

I don't expect much from him....NBA Draftnet's take on Cook.

Strengths: Really developed into one of the more reliable three point shooters for Duke this past season ... Great floor general and leader both on and off the court ... Has the ability to play both guard spots although his size suggests he is a more ideal fit for the PG position ... Team first guy as he showed when he allowed freshman Tyus Jones to come in and run the point while he slide to the off guard spot ... Great transition player. Above average ball handling skills and a player with a high basketball IQ ... Doesn't turn the ball over at a high rate for a guy with the ball in his hands a lot (1.4 TO's per game during Junior and Senior seasons) ... A tough player with great intensity ... Great free throw shooter at just a tick below 90% during his senior season ... Four year player that knows how to run and team and an offense ...

Weaknesses: Not a great athlete and doesn't have great size or length ... At 6'1 he's got good enough height for the next level but his length and lack of hops really hurts him as he tested out on the bottom half in almost every statistical category for point guards ... While it helped his team, his move from the point to the off guard position hurt him last year as he projects as a point in the NBA ... Not a great play maker and struggles to get to the rim against bigger, longer guards ... Does most of his damage from outside of the arc which has caused some to think that he's a one dimensional player on offense ... Not a great one on one defender although he does play the passing lanes well.

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/quinn-cook

[Bryan_Wilson]

Originally Posted by rimrocker

Just realized Cook and Curry were teammates at Duke.

I don't expect much from him....NBA Draftnet's take on Cook.

Strengths: Really developed into one of the more reliable three point shooters for Duke this past season ... Great floor general and leader both on and off the court ... Has the ability to play both guard spots although his size suggests he is a more ideal fit for the PG position ... Team first guy as he showed when he allowed freshman Tyus Jones to come in and run the point while he slide to the off guard spot ... Great transition player. Above average ball handling skills and a player with a high basketball IQ ... Doesn't turn the ball over at a high rate for a guy with the ball in his hands a lot (1.4 TO's per game during Junior and Senior seasons) ... A tough player with great intensity ... Great free throw shooter at just a tick below 90% during his senior season ... Four year player that knows how to run and team and an offense ...

Weaknesses: Not a great athlete and doesn't have great size or length ... At 6'1 he's got good enough height for the next level but his length and lack of hops really hurts him as he tested out on the bottom half in almost every statistical category for point guards ... While it helped his team, his move from the point to the off guard position hurt him last year as he projects as a point in the NBA ... Not a great play maker and struggles to get to the rim against bigger, longer guards ... Does most of his damage from outside of the arc which has caused some to think that he's a one dimensional player on offense ... Not a great one on one defender although he does play the passing lanes well.

http://www.nbadraft.net/players/quinn-cook

Cook is the one ppl talk about because of his scoring in the d league and I think he was friends with bron and kyrie I read. But out of curiosity I looked up the ther guy, Bentil...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yImjWzPEBbY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26IXfgDOOWM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMBURHWePwc

Not going to go crazy over college highlights, and when I tried looking up his shot chart it said he took like 5 corner 3's in his 2015-16 season which makes no sense because his highlights clearly show he's taken way more than that. And his D-league stats are not good from the floor or from 3. He shot 29% from 3 and 35% from the floor. 21 years old though, so there is some optimism. And we need pf depth, so a flyer on a young 6'10 guy who seems to have the tools is something I hope turns into a rotational player. How many times can we get lucky in 1 year with undrafted players/d league call ups? I hope we get lucky once more... Also he's listed at 6'9, dfraftexpress said 6'8 and some articles say 6'10... Apparently he grows by the week!!