Thoughts in General, Random Rumors and Musings, Blah Blah 14.0 Eddie Najera Edicion

[K_chile22]

I dont have Brooks worth near this much and im not even sure that hes an upgrade over Derrick Jones jr. He's certainly not enough of an upgrade to be worth a 1st to a Mavs team with few picks to trade.

Well part of the value is Maxi is bad money but fair enough. He's definitely better than DJJ in a vacuum but maybe not for them specifically

Statistically, there's not much that separates him from DJJ, and while DJJ has a Lukai boost, im not sure how much more value they get out of Brooks. He's never been a much better shooter and his defense has always been more eye test than analytic based, which always gives me pause.

And while Maxi is bad money, he is a decent versatile defensive big at a position the Mavs are weak in and dont have a replacement. They should be looking to upgrade him, not just get off his money

Well... This is an upgrade. They don't need a center, he may be their 4th best option there past PJ at center at this point. He's not very good as a four and cant stay on the floor anymore

Also they may not be able to keep DJJ

[mademan]

Well part of the value is Maxi is bad money but fair enough. He's definitely better than DJJ in a vacuum but maybe not for them specifically

Statistically, there's not much that separates him from DJJ, and while DJJ has a Lukai boost, im not sure how much more value they get out of Brooks. He's never been a much better shooter and his defense has always been more eye test than analytic based, which always gives me pause.

And while Maxi is bad money, he is a decent versatile defensive big at a position the Mavs are weak in and dont have a replacement. They should be looking to upgrade him, not just get off his money

Well... This is an upgrade. They don't need a center, he may be their 4th best option there past PJ at center at this point. He's not very good as a four and cant stay on the floor anymore

Also they may not be able to keep DJJ

DJJ is a TMLE player who, by most metrics, provides more on court value than Brooks. There's no reason they wouldnt be able to keep him as wings who are so-so defenders and spotty shooter (like Brooks and DJJ are) dont go for much in this league.

I dunno man, im struggling to see how Brooks is an upgrade for the Mavs given their needs. Theyve been a top defensive team post trades and the biggest problem they have now is consistent shooting from their role players which is something Brooks would not help out with. Beyond that, in a vacuum, ignoring the Mavs...Brooks is just not worth a 1st. This is an analytic driven league and Brooks analytics are chit

[Texas Chuck]

Well part of the value is Maxi is bad money but fair enough. He's definitely better than DJJ in a vacuum but maybe not for them specifically

Statistically, there's not much that separates him from DJJ, and while DJJ has a Lukai boost, im not sure how much more value they get out of Brooks. He's never been a much better shooter and his defense has always been more eye test than analytic based, which always gives me pause.

And while Maxi is bad money, he is a decent versatile defensive big at a position the Mavs are weak in and dont have a replacement. They should be looking to upgrade him, not just get off his money

Well... This is an upgrade. They don't need a center, he may be their 4th best option there past PJ at center at this point. He's not very good as a four and cant stay on the floor anymore

Also they may not be able to keep DJJ

I mean Maxi Kleber is overpaid, no question. But not sure I understand this can't stay on the floor part? He's 2nd only to Luka in +/- since the deadline and he's mostly been on the 2nd unit so its not just Luka noise propping him up.

He's become almost utterly useless on offense--he has no confidence in his shot atm. But he still defends really well and is still one of the best switch bigs in the league. And Kidd likes him as a backup 4 and a sometimes small ball 5. Washington might have a minute or two as a small ball 5 since he got here, but I don't remember it? That's definitely not been something Dallas has used so not sure what you are referencing there?

[K_chile22]

Statistically, there's not much that separates him from DJJ, and while DJJ has a Lukai boost, im not sure how much more value they get out of Brooks. He's never been a much better shooter and his defense has always been more eye test than analytic based, which always gives me pause.

And while Maxi is bad money, he is a decent versatile defensive big at a position the Mavs are weak in and dont have a replacement. They should be looking to upgrade him, not just get off his money

Well... This is an upgrade. They don't need a center, he may be their 4th best option there past PJ at center at this point. He's not very good as a four and cant stay on the floor anymore

Also they may not be able to keep DJJ

I mean Maxi Kleber is overpaid, no question. But not sure I understand this can't stay on the floor part? He's 2nd only to Luka in +/- since the deadline and he's mostly been on the 2nd unit so its not just Luka noise propping him up.

He's become almost utterly useless on offense--he has no confidence in his shot atm. But he still defends really well and is still one of the best switch bigs in the league. And Kidd likes him as a backup 4 and a sometimes small ball 5. Washington might have a minute or two as a small ball 5 since he got here, but I don't remember it? That's definitely not been something Dallas has used so not sure what you are referencing there?

was talking about health. PJ has been very successful as a small ball 5 his whole career

[Texas Chuck]

And I think you probably aren't wrong on value, but yeah I think the Dallas defense being pretty solid with a 2nd rim protector and PJ being better defensively than expected makes it unlikely Dallas trades a 1st to turn Kleber into Brooks. I think his inability to shoot and unwillingness to stop shooting doesn't make him that much of an on-court upgrade over Maxi anyway.

[K_chile22]

I think his inability to shoot and unwillingness to stop shooting

that has not been the case this year, career low usage, plays within his role for the most part

[Texas Chuck]

Well... This is an upgrade. They don't need a center, he may be their 4th best option there past PJ at center at this point. He's not very good as a four and cant stay on the floor anymore

Also they may not be able to keep DJJ

I mean Maxi Kleber is overpaid, no question. But not sure I understand this can't stay on the floor part? He's 2nd only to Luka in +/- since the deadline and he's mostly been on the 2nd unit so its not just Luka noise propping him up.

He's become almost utterly useless on offense--he has no confidence in his shot atm. But he still defends really well and is still one of the best switch bigs in the league. And Kidd likes him as a backup 4 and a sometimes small ball 5. Washington might have a minute or two as a small ball 5 since he got here, but I don't remember it? That's definitely not been something Dallas has used so not sure what you are referencing there?

was talking about health. PJ has been very successful as a small ball 5 his whole career

Health is an issue for sure. But he's been fine as a 4.(other than against Kawhi, Kawhi eats Maxi up for some reason) And fine as a 3rd center. He's not a great player. But he's fine as a backup big. And Dallas has used PJ more as a big 3 than as a small 5. Not sure Dallas wants to do a lot of playing small, especially not in this conference. Guess you can do it against the Clippers and maybe the Thunder? Maybe. But probably better to play big and take advantage of those teams than trying to match.

[Texas Chuck]

I think his inability to shoot and unwillingness to stop shooting

that has not been the case this year, career low usage, plays within his role for the most part

Fair enough. Looks like he takes the same number of 3's he always has while taking a lot less 2's and clearly he's shooting rather than passing when he does get the ball because his assists are down 50%.

Not sure that's an encouraging offensive profile though. His defense would need to be a lot better than Maxi's and he's always been overrated at that end just because he plays physical and mean mugs lol.

[HornetJail]

was talking about health. PJ has been very successful as a small ball 5 his whole career

that's a stretch. Charlotte did better with him at C than PF because our centers (aside from the few games we've got out of Mark Williams so far) have been absolute trash with few redeeming qualities. It wasn't a long-term viable strategy because he'll get thrown around by the biggest Cs and blown past by the more athletic Cs. That happens to our actual centers also, but PJ has actual skill so he stands out more.

You don't ever need PJ to play C when Lively and Gafford are your centers. You need PJ to play C when one of Cody Zeller, Mason Plumlee, or Nick Richards is your center and you have no backup C. He's pretty much a prototype role player PF, nothing more nothing less. His shooting struggles this year have been weird though. He should be better. He's prone to prolonged droughts, but usually he'll be cold for a month and then hot for a month, not an entire season.

[K_chile22]

I think his inability to shoot and unwillingness to stop shooting

that has not been the case this year, career low usage, plays within his role for the most part

Fair enough. Looks like he takes the same number of 3's he always has while taking a lot less 2's and clearly he's shooting rather than passing when he does get the ball because his assists are down 50%.

Not sure that's an encouraging offensive profile though. His defense would need to be a lot better than Maxi's and he's always been overrated at that end just because he plays physical and mean mugs lol.

It's a pretty normal offensive profile for an off ball spot up guy which is what he's been for the most part this year. Assist rate is similar to a guy like DFS. Issue is he's been really inconsistent from three, either hot for a few weeks or cannot hit anything at all for a few weeks but he's been like their third best shooter a lot of the year so they need him to get them up. But won't force him on you if you don't want him, he's been solid but Houston has outgrown needing him defensively with Amen looking like he's going to make many all defense teams and Jabari getting better on that end

[jayjaysee]

I think I’d offer THJ, Maxi, Hardy and a couple seconds for Brooks? But probably shouldn’t. Would keep DJJ still and hope Green/Exum/vet-min can provide playmaking/offense when the stars are out, but like the idea of PJ/DJJ/Brooks on defense with the rim protection Dallas now has (still weird to say? Or you go find a bench gunner like Clarkson or such if hope is gone on Green.

Would hope Dallas doesn’t consider the suggested deal.

Maxi contract is bad, but on court he has a consistent/real impact.

[K_chile22]

I think I’d offer THJ, Maxi, Hardy and a couple seconds for Brooks? But probably shouldn’t. Would keep DJJ still and hope Green/Exum/vet-min can provide playmaking/offense when the stars are out, but like the idea of PJ/DJJ/Brooks on defense with the rim protection Dallas now has (still weird to say? Or you go find a bench gunner like Clarkson or such if hope is gone on Green.

Would hope Dallas doesn’t consider the suggested deal.

Maxi contract is bad, but on court he has a consistent/real impact.

I mean you can keep Maxi if you use thj

[jayjaysee]

I think I’d offer THJ, Maxi, Hardy and a couple seconds for Brooks? But probably shouldn’t. Would keep DJJ still and hope Green/Exum/vet-min can provide playmaking/offense when the stars are out, but like the idea of PJ/DJJ/Brooks on defense with the rim protection Dallas now has (still weird to say? Or you go find a bench gunner like Clarkson or such if hope is gone on Green.

Would hope Dallas doesn’t consider the suggested deal.

Maxi contract is bad, but on court he has a consistent/real impact.

I mean you can keep Maxi if you use thj

Na trimming salary there for DJJ

[NYG]

What is the max 2024-25 salary that Indiana can offer Jalen Smith?

[gottamakeit]

Jaylen Brown for Zion Williamson trade?

Why?
Because it maximizes Zion playing next to a spacing shooting big in KP.

The whys for the Celtics & Pelicans... haven't figured out that part yet

[jayu70]

Read on Twitter

?s=20

[MoneyTalks41890]

If the Knicks do well in the playoffs there will be lots of chatter about the fit with and without Randle. Unfair, but how it goes. Unfortunate for him.

Conversely if they do poorly they can say it's because Randle was missing.

[jayjaysee]

What is the max 2024-25 salary that Indiana can offer Jalen Smith?

They have full bird rights since he was never renounced/lost his bird rights.

So more than anyone else / more than he needs

[MoneyTalks41890]

https://nbadraft.theringer.com/mock-draft

If nothing else I feel like this draft is going to be really entertaining/unpredictable and someone is going to make a Jalen Williams like pick in the later lotto.

[kobe_vs_jordan]

https://nbadraft.theringer.com/mock-draft

If nothing else I feel like this draft is going to be really entertaining/unpredictable and someone is going to make a Jalen Williams like pick in the later lotto.

There is a a lot of high potential International talent that pushing down the juniors and seniors in rankings. Pretty good year to be a non lotto team looking for a win now draft pick.