PGT: Mavs beat Thunder again, break d-m.com

[EricaLubarsky]

Ellis ain't perfect, but he's averaging a PER of 17.07, which would make him the 7th best SG in the league if measured by that stat.

Ellis is also 12th among SGs in assist ratio, which paints a picture of a guy who has no problem passing (he ends up with an assist on 21.5% of his possessions.

And for all the talk of poor efficiency, Ellis is still averaging a respectable 53.8% TS%, which isn't too much of a dropoff from Dirk, who is averagind 59.5%.

[jthig32]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

It almost makes it hard to seriously upgrade this team. The team needs to get better defensively. Where are they going to upgrade? 5's don't grow on trees. You have your 4. Your #3 is one of your better defenders.. Your 2 is Monta and is a key offensively... Your PG is extraordinarily efficient offensively and is an amazing shooter..

It's going to be interesting. They'll probably have to give up something offensively at least in the starting lineup to seriously improve this team.

This is the million dollar question. A few thoughts:

First of all, I'm not sure how great Marion is defensively anymore. He has his spurts but it feels to me like he's slipped significantly this year. So I think it's possible to upgrade over Shawn defensively this offseason (Deng being the obvious option).

There's also a *ton* of room for improvement in the backup bigs. You can upgrade massively in that area by replacing Wright and Blair's minutes with a quality defender.

If Shawn leaves and you replace him with a true 3, you could also help your defense by finding a true backup 4 that can defend. Shawn loses a lot of his defensive and rebounding advantages when he plays 4.

But in the end, there's only so much you can do to help the starting lineup if it includes Calderon and Monta. I think Calderon has played well enough that he can be traded as a semi-asset. If you can get a PG that fits better and is above average defensively, you can compensate the spacing issues caused by losing Calderon by getting a starting 3 that can shoot and has to be defended on the wing.

It's going to be a very interesting offseason, methinks.

Oh, and for the resident Jose homer, I actually agree that Jose is significantly underrated by the general Mavs fan base. He's been really important this season. But you're shooting your argument in the foot when you complain about Dirk getting more praise and you run Monta down to that degree.

[Kante]

People need to get their act together with starting the GDT after a win...

[Sportstudi]

Originally Posted by Kante

People need to get their act together with starting the GDT after a win...

What do you expect? It's the same one who ruined Sefant's mojo...

[Melonhead]

Originally Posted by Murphy3

It almost makes it hard to seriously upgrade this team. The team needs to get better defensively. Where are they going to upgrade? 5's don't grow on trees. You have your 4. Your #3 is one of your better defenders.. Your 2 is Monta and is a key offensively... Your PG is extraordinarily efficient offensively and is an amazing shooter..

It's going to be interesting. They'll probably have to give up something offensively at least in the starting lineup to seriously improve this team.

Thats what I worry about. There's not much upgrading besides the 5 spot. Blair and Sarge are two spots that should definitely be replaced for other players. We need a wing defender/3 pt shooter and a 30min per game center.
Anyone who thinks Calderon is going to be traded just because he and Monta dont work well on the court for defense, then they are going to be upset.

[Melonhead]

Originally Posted by jthig32

This is the million dollar question. A few thoughts:

First of all, I'm not sure how great Marion is defensively anymore. He has his spurts but it feels to me like he's slipped significantly this year. So I think it's possible to upgrade over Shawn defensively this offseason (Deng being the obvious option).

There's also a *ton* of room for improvement in the backup bigs. You can upgrade massively in that area by replacing Wright and Blair's minutes with a quality defender.

If Shawn leaves and you replace him with a true 3, you could also help your defense by finding a true backup 4 that can defend. Shawn loses a lot of his defensive and rebounding advantages when he plays 4.

But in the end, there's only so much you can do to help the starting lineup if it includes Calderon and Monta. I think Calderon has played well enough that he can be traded as a semi-asset. If you can get a PG that fits better and is above average defensively, you can compensate the spacing issues caused by losing Calderon by getting a starting 3 that can shoot and has to be defended on the wing.

It's going to be a very interesting offseason, methinks.

Oh, and for the resident Jose homer, I actually agree that Jose is significantly underrated by the general Mavs fan base. He's been really important this season. But you're shooting your argument in the foot when you complain about Dirk getting more praise and you run Monta down to that degree.

Agree on Marion and definitely on how underrated Calderon has been. I honestly think he has been solid for most of the season. He disappeared at times, but he is a warrior and I love his emotion on the court.

[oilfieldtrash]

I see plenty of room for improvement from this year's roster. A true backup 4 so Dirk isn't playing so much, a starting caliber center, a defensive 2 that can shoot and let Monta handle the ball. Rebounding and defense pretty much. Get some nasty defenders/rebounders to throw out there to make the other teams star uncomfortable. Basically a Deshawn or Chandler type that's gonna get nasty. We don't need the Kenyon Martin's or Birdman's of the world having career nights catching alley oops all night long.

[dude1394]

I continue to think the biggest backcourt issue defensively is monta. He's an undersized SG. At least Calderon has the size for the position.

[DevinHarriswillstart]

Originally Posted by dude1394

I continue to think the biggest backcourt issue defensively is monta. He's an undersized. At least Calderon has the size for the position.

At least Monta's size and quickness allow him to stay in front of his man. Calderon can't stay in front of...well...anyone who has even the slightest amount of quickness.

[sike]

I'm thinking that either Monta or Jose MUST be traded this offseason for this roster to have a chance at fighting for a title.

Offseason Needs to go something like this: Splash around some of that money getting a very good all around player (ex: Deng/Stevenson) and then move either Monta or Jose for a defensive stud Guard who can be your 3rd option on offense.

I might be dreaming, but those kinds of moves feel in the realm of possibility.

Originally Posted by jthig32

This is the million dollar question. A few thoughts:

First of all, I'm not sure how great Marion is defensively anymore. He has his spurts but it feels to me like he's slipped significantly this year. So I think it's possible to upgrade over Shawn defensively this offseason (Deng being the obvious option).

There's also a *ton* of room for improvement in the backup bigs. You can upgrade massively in that area by replacing Wright and Blair's minutes with a quality defender.

If Shawn leaves and you replace him with a true 3, you could also help your defense by finding a true backup 4 that can defend. Shawn loses a lot of his defensive and rebounding advantages when he plays 4.

But in the end, there's only so much you can do to help the starting lineup if it includes Calderon and Monta. I think Calderon has played well enough that he can be traded as a semi-asset. If you can get a PG that fits better and is above average defensively, you can compensate the spacing issues caused by losing Calderon by getting a starting 3 that can shoot and has to be defended on the wing.

It's going to be a very interesting offseason, methinks.

Oh, and for the resident Jose homer, I actually agree that Jose is significantly underrated by the general Mavs fan base. He's been really important this season. But you're shooting your argument in the foot when you complain about Dirk getting more praise and you run Monta down to that degree.

[sike]

Somebody flippin' start the DGT already!!!!

[DevinHarriswillstart]

I'd do it but my record is terrible.

[Zaknaf3in]

GermanStandard going by German Standard Time apparently.

[HopeIsAlwaysThere]

I guess Jose is a type of player that you will miss when he is not here, I agree that he don't have much defense, but he can shoot the three and feed the ball to Dirk, and most importantly, Dirk want him in the team, that's why we acquire him

I believe we need to sign a small forward in the summer, for example, Deng or Ariza, then move Marion to the bench, who will be solid with the second unit, a SG like Stephenson or Hayward, who can defend, then we can either start Monta or Jose on the PG role, and one of them as a sixth man off the bench.

[Underdog]

Originally Posted by sike

I'm thinking that either Monta or Jose MUST be traded this offseason for this roster to have a chance at fighting for a title.

Offseason Needs to go something like this: Splash around some of that money getting a very good all around player (ex: Deng/Stevenson) and then move either Monta or Jose for a defensive stud Guard who can be your 3rd option on offense.

I might be dreaming, but those kinds of moves feel in the realm of possibility.

All sorts of moves are within the realm of possibility - we're going to have a ton of cap space and tradable assets going into this summer...

Ellis: $8.7m
Calderon: $7.0m
Wright: $5.0m
Ellington: $2.5m
Larkin: $1.6m
Ledo: $800k
Mekel: $800k

Total: $26.5m

2014-15 cap: $62m
Available cap space: ~$35.5m

We need to re-up Dirk, figure out if we want to pick up the $3.8m option on Dalembert, and make decisions on Marion, Carter, Harris, Blair, Crowder and James.

I can see us keeping Dalembert as a backup/insurance policy at that price, plus Carter and Harris will probably come back on the cheap - they both seem to prefer playing for this franchise. James is gone, Blair is likely gone if/when we get a true starting center, but Crowder could probably be retained at a reasonable price and continue to develop under Carlisle... The big question is Marion - he's definitely declined, but he can still contribute mightily to a playoff contender. I'd love to see him take a hometown discount to come off the bench as a backup 3/4, but he'll likely get a better offer (money/role-wise).

At this point our offseason completely hinges on how much Dirk takes... He's easily worth $16m per in this current CBA, but a Duncan-esque $10m is what most folks are predicting. He can technically take as little as $2.5m/year, so I'd love to see him out-cool Duncan and sign for something in the range of $6-8m just so the Mavs can stack talent. Either way, Dirk is the first domino of the offseason.

And I'm not even getting into trades until this summer because all of our players have good value - we'll just have to wait and see what's on the table.

[Sportstudi]

Hey Mr. Hypocrite on realgm... I wouldn't give a damn if you use the content or parts of it of one of my posts on your board. Calm down bro. This is not a scientific article were you have to have to mark citations if you take some contents from elsewhere.

And actually, one of your fellow posters over there was absolutely right. I complained about Rick's idiotic substitutions concerning Dirk already much earlier. Look here if you don't believe it: http://www.dallas-mavs.com/vb/showth...03#post1329403
It's from that stupid GSW game we lost in December because of Rick's idiocy.

[dude1394]

Originally Posted by DevinHarriswillstart

At least Monta's size and quickness allow him to stay in front of his man. Calderon can't stay in front of...well...anyone who has even the slightest amount of quickness.

Watch monta play defense. For a guy who is super quick, he sucks.

[jumperh]

I was done with this post, but then I saw tonight's game vs the Clippers, none selfish Monta HAHAHAHA 4-19 OMG where's that guy saying that Monta wasn't a selfish player, my god the best shooter of the team with 6 attempts and *** Monta Ellis with 19, that's such a joke... he even shoot like 4 shots in the last 5 minutes of the game... Man you can't do that, when he started the game with an 0-6 from the field. Thanks for those nice comments on Calderon, one of the most underrated player in the NBA, was in the Raptors now in the mavs, at least Raptors fans loved him.

Ps: btw I'm not talking shit about monta, just saying...

[Kante]