Random Mavs News & Articles

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by EricaLubarsky

For people complaining about us resting our stars vs OKC

We just picked up two wins and now hold the tie breaker against the 6th and 7th seeded teams ahead of us.

And the guys are fresher.

That is all.

Also, we're now only 1.5 games behind Denver for the 5th seed. The Mavs are 11-3 over the last 14 games, with two of those losses being the aforementioned OKC game where Luka and KP rested, and the crazy nailbiter against Portland where Dame hit the buzzer-beating step back 3. The other loss came against the #1 seeded Sixers who, who are arguably the championship favorites (certainly in the top 3-5 anyway.)

But yeah, we need to fire Carlisle and Donnie, and Cuban needs to sell the team.

[purplefrog]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

Also, we're now only 1.5 games behind Denver for the 5th seed. The Mavs are 11-3 over the last 14 games, with two of those losses being the aforementioned OKC game where Luka and KP rested, and the crazy nailbiter against Portland where Dame hit the buzzer-beating step back 3. The other loss came against the #1 seeded Sixers who, who are arguably the championship favorites (certainly in the top 3-5 anyway.)

But yeah, we need to fire Carlisle and Donnie, and Cuban needs to sell the team.

All of that is fine and dandy, but when I look at the amount of salary dedicated to JJ, Powell, THJ, Burke, WCS, and Iwundu it is over $50M in contracts. It is also a short-term resource that could be leveraged, in theory, to improve the team (JJ and THJ are expiring). I would hope the MBT are looking to improve the team and not just assuming they have a championship roster.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by purplefrog

I would hope the MBT are looking to improve the team and not just assuming they have a championship roster.

If the MBT thinks this is a championship roster, they should not only be fired, they should be fired out of a cannon into the sun.

Honestly, do you think that they think this is a championship roster? Whatever you might think of their decisions over the years... you can't possibly think they're that dumb, right?

[purplefrog]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

If the MBT thinks this is a championship roster, they should not only be fired, they should be fired out of a cannon into the sun.

Honestly, do you think that they think this is a championship roster? Whatever you might think of their decisions over the years... you can't possibly think they're that dumb, right?

Cuban said he thought continuity was important and that "we have a good team". He seemed to downplay the likelihood of any deals being completed by the trade deadline. He might just be blowing smoke, but I could see them sticking with their current roster. I believe that at the minimum they should be looking to trade JJ and his large expiring contract. I like JJ and thought he would play an important role, but it hasn't really turned out that way in my opinion.

If you believe the rumors there are quite a few very good players available if the right deal comes around. I hope the MBT is on the phone and aggressively pursuing something and not passively waiting around for something to fall in their lap. They might be thinking they will continue to evaluate the current roster and look to make deals in the offseason. That would not surprise me. I feel some urgency to upgrade, but I am not at all certain the MBT sees it that way.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by purplefrog

Cuban said he thought continuity was important and that "we have a good team". He seemed to downplay the likelihood of any deals being completed by the trade deadline. He might just be blowing smoke, but I could see them sticking with their current roster. I believe that at the minimum they should be looking to trade JJ and his large expiring contract. I like JJ and thought he would play an important role, but it hasn't really turned out that way in my opinion.

There's about a 1000% chance he's blowing smoke. Every coach and every owner says they have a good team. What the hell is he supposed to say? "The team sucks, we need to make a trade otherwise the season is over?"

If you believe the rumors there are quite a few very good players available if the right deal comes around.

I'm honestly not sure which rumors you're referring to. So I don't know if I believe them or not. Which "very good" players are supposedly available? So far the potential trades that I've seen floated around in the media are very, very "meh." Unfortunately I don't think anyone so desperate at the moment to shed salary that they'll trade impact players in exchange for an expiring contract. Especially before the offseason. I hope I'm wrong. Keep in mind that since pretty much everyone re-signed with their teams before the season even started, this is now one of the weakest free agent classes in recent memory. So I doubt anyone is particularly motivated to clear salary for a free agent signing- unless someone really wants Andre Drummond or something.

I hope the MBT is on the phone and aggressively pursuing something and not passively waiting around for something to fall in their lap. They might be thinking they will continue to evaluate the current roster and look to make deals in the offseason. That would not surprise me. I feel some urgency to upgrade, but I am not at all certain the MBT sees it that way.

I'm going to go ahead an predict that there will be no significant trades before the deadline and we will have to wait for the offseason for any meaningful movement. Not because the MBT loves the team so much, but because there simply isn't a deal to be made. I want to upgrade the team as much as anyone, but I don't want to force a trade just for the sake of it.

This applies not just to Dallas, but to anyone. Meaningful midseason trades are actually quite rare. There's maybe 1 or 2 per year across the league. The other 28 or so teams usually wait until the offseason.

[MFFL]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

I'm going to go ahead an predict that there will be no significant trades before the deadline and we will have to wait for the offseason for any meaningful movement. Not because the MBT loves the team so much, but because there simply isn't a deal to be made. I want to upgrade the team as much as anyone, but I don't want to force a trade just for the sake of it.

I agree

There are some names that I am interested in like Gordon and Collins but, (a) I doubt they REALLY get traded, and (b) I don't think the Mavs have the assets to acquire them

There might be some championship-level teams filling out their roster but we're not in that category yet

[purplefrog]

Originally Posted by Thespiralgoeson

There's about a 1000% chance he's blowing smoke. Every coach and every owner says they have a good team. What the hell is he supposed to say? "The team sucks, we need to make a trade otherwise the season is over?"

Maybe, "We like our team, but we will be looking to improve our roster at the trade deadline"?

I'm honestly not sure which rumors you're referring to. So I don't know if I believe them or not. Which "very good" players are supposedly available? So far the potential trades that I've seen floated around in the media are very, very "meh." Unfortunately I don't think anyone so desperate at the moment to shed salary that they'll trade impact players in exchange for an expiring contract. Especially before the offseason. I hope I'm wrong. Keep in mind that since pretty much everyone re-signed with their teams before the season even started, this is now one of the weakest free agent classes in recent memory. So I doubt anyone is particularly motivated to clear salary for a free agent signing- unless someone really wants Andre Drummond or something.

Gordon
Horford
Collins
Aldridge
Rubio
Oladipo
Tucker
Fournier
Markkanen
Lowry
Drummond
Reddick

I'm going to go ahead an predict that there will be no significant trades before the deadline and we will have to wait for the offseason for any meaningful movement. Not because the MBT loves the team so much, but because there simply isn't a deal to be made. I want to upgrade the team as much as anyone, but I don't want to force a trade just for the sake of it.

This applies not just to Dallas, but to anyone. Meaningful midseason trades are actually quite rare. There's maybe 1 or 2 per year across the league. The other 28 or so teams usually wait until the offseason.

We know that Aldridge and Tucker will be on new teams before the season is over. It may be through a buy out rather than a trade and if that is the case, I seriously doubt they would choose Dallas. Same goes for Drummond. That trio will likely sign with a contender, making the chosen team even stronger. The Mavs' trade assets will be fewer in the offseason, so I think the time to be on the phone wheeling and dealing is now. It may be that I am overestimating the value of the expiring contracts of JJ and THJ, as well as the reasonable contracts of WCS, Burke, and Iwundu (maybe even Powell, if the incoming salary was for multiple years), but given the realities you point out it may be the Mavs are stuck for the next couple of years and the most we can hope for is that KP stays healthy and reaches his potential as a legitimate #2. If so, then prayers are more important than looking for a trade partner.

[Thespiralgoeson]

Originally Posted by purplefrog

Gordon
Horford
Collins
Aldridge
Rubio
Oladipo
Tucker
Fournier
Markkanen
Lowry
Drummond
Reddick

Those are all reasonable targets. Although I'm not sure I even want a few of them.

It may be that I am overestimating the value of the expiring contracts of JJ and THJ, as well as the reasonable contracts of WCS, Burke, and Iwundu (maybe even Powell, if the incoming salary was for multiple years),

I think they are tradeable assets, but the catch is I don't think anyone wants to give up value for an expiring contract alone. So if we're going to trade JJ or THJ, I think a package would probably also have to include something like say Brunson, Green, and two second rounders. Would you give that up for any of the guys on that list? I would for only a couple of them- Collins is a no brainer. Lowry is still really good, but he's very old and he's also a free agent at the end of the year, so there's not much incentive for Toronto to trade him for an expiring contract. The other guys on that list are all pretty "meh" to me, and would probably fetch more on the open market than the Mavs can offer anyway.

Everyone needs to realize that it is 100% a seller's market right now. I mean, look what the Pelicans got for Jrue Holiday.

On that note, we really, really, really need at least one of the guys we drafted to become a productive NBA player. We're not going to be competitive in trades without at least one promising young prospect.

but given the realities you point out it may be the Mavs are stuck for the next couple of years and the most we can hope for is that KP stays healthy and reaches his potential as a legitimate #2. If so, then prayers are more important than looking for a trade partner.

Sadly, I think this is it. I'm leaning very heavily toward the "prayers" scenario. KP essentially fell out of the sky for us. He was disgruntled and the Knicks were all star-eyed about the possibility of signing Durant and Kyrie. I worry that the only way we're going to be title contenders is if someone else falls out of the sky too.