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

[BeiBeau]

Say what you want about Green but he is better than Cedi Osman, Dean Wade, and Kira Lewis which is the level of NBA player that 5-7 million gets you. You’re living with a perception of salaries that is much closer to 2015.

I think MLE money is about 5th starter to 6th man. 7-8th man about 10M, 9-10th man is 6-7M (not counting ring chasing vets).

How over paid Green is depends on your perception of his role off the bench?

I think he's overpaid and the team should be open to moving him, but THJ being an expiring, a well-respected veteran, and a shooter with size, he's just more attractive as salary matching to most teams(maybe all? Or maybe there are a couple teams that like Green?)

But if you trade Tim, you need to keep Green. Hardy has shown nothing to suggest he's ready for a bigger role and while Exum has been solid in his minutes, his health is always going to be a huge concern so you have to cover for that. And if Jones leaves that's more minutes to cover.

I get he's not some great player, but he's been an on court positive his first 3 years and nearly neutral this year. He's not killing the team when he plays. Obviously you'd love to upgrade him and when he gets healthy it will be interesting to see if he can force his way back into the rotation in a meaningful way or if he just takes the 6-8 minutes Hardy has been getting in his absence. But I love that right now he and Tim have to prove they deserve that 9th playoff rotation spot instead of just being defaulted in because they have no options.

Agreed on keep Green if we move THJ. I do disagree that Hardy hasn’t shown enough. I want Hardy to get consistent minutes for an entire season next year.

THJ is just such a high variance player and I just don’t know if that is conducive to Dallas winning. Luka and Kyrie are so consistent on offense. And Dallas is becoming a consistently good defensive team. I don’t know if there is room on this team anymore for a player that can shoot you to a win or shoot you to a loss.

[babyjax13]

Say what you want about Green but he is better than Cedi Osman, Dean Wade, and Kira Lewis which is the level of NBA player that 5-7 million gets you. You’re living with a perception of salaries that is much closer to 2015.

You can’t listen to Daoneandonly about Green, he irrationally hates him. Just in that post alone he lied about him twice. Green is easily playable and is literally playing the same he did last season.

Kira Lewis isn't an NBA caliber player, Osman is overpaid, and I'm not convinced Green is appreciably better than Wade - imo they are similar caliber players with an edge toward Wade.

I liked him quite a bit before the extension, now he's overpaid.

I like Wade but you have a fundamentally poor understanding of who Green is as a player if you have an edge going to Wade.

I do agree has overpaid. But not by 8 million a year.

No, I don't think I do. He's a good defender who can hit some open threes and pass, I like what he does. He is not as good of a defender as Wade, and Wade is just as good of a shooter (39 from 3 for Wade vs 40, similar volume). Do you want the better defense or more secondary offensive creation? Depending on your answer, that's the player you prefer.

[Texas Chuck]

[
Agreed on keep Green if we move THJ. I do disagree that Hardy hasn’t shown enough. I want Hardy to get consistent minutes for an entire season next year.

THJ is just such a high variance player and I just don’t know if that is conducive to Dallas winning. Luka and Kyrie are so consistent on offense. And Dallas is becoming a consistently good defensive team. I don’t know if there is room on this team anymore for a player that can shoot you to a win or shoot you to a loss.

No arguments on Tim. I don't expect him on the roster next year.

Disagree on Hardy. Guys like him are a dime a dozen and you can find them on the min every year. You think more highly of him than say Trey Burke because he's young, but in terms of what he actually offers its really no different. He's fine to have when Kyrie misses a game as just a guy who can create his own shot in a pinch, but there is no reason for this guy to be playing 4th guard minutes next year without a real leap. He's cheap so he can stay on the roster, but he's inefficient as a scorer, not much of a defender, and is nearly as much of a black hole as THJ is.

[BeiBeau]

[
Agreed on keep Green if we move THJ. I do disagree that Hardy hasn’t shown enough. I want Hardy to get consistent minutes for an entire season next year.

THJ is just such a high variance player and I just don’t know if that is conducive to Dallas winning. Luka and Kyrie are so consistent on offense. And Dallas is becoming a consistently good defensive team. I don’t know if there is room on this team anymore for a player that can shoot you to a win or shoot you to a loss.

No arguments on Tim. I don't expect him on the roster next year.

Disagree on Hardy. Guys like him are a dime a dozen and you can find them on the min every year. You think more highly of him than say Trey Burke because he's young, but in terms of what he actually offers its really no different. He's fine to have when Kyrie misses a game as just a guy who can create his own shot in a pinch, but there is no reason for this guy to be playing 4th guard minutes next year without a real leap. He's cheap so he can stay on the roster, but he's inefficient as a scorer, not much of a defender, and is nearly as much of a black hole as THJ is.

Hardy would be 5th guard after Luka, Kyrie, Exum, and Green. And I think my larger point is that we don’t truly need a full replacement for THJ. If we need inefficient secondary creation Hardy is much cheaper and could potentially develop. Plus just give Green 5 more shots a game. His efficiency will go down some but I doubt it drops to THJ levels.

[daoneandonly]

Good to see criticism thrown Josh Green's way that he's absolutely deserved (but the FO that took him even more so).

Yea Dean Wade is a far more useful player than Green, yesterday, tonight, and come postseason

I want to see a straight swap of Josh Green for DFS. But I'd imagine BKN declines despite Green being younger and having "upside"

[jayjaysee]

are the post-trade Mavericks like good? Seems like they are. And everyone important is under contract for next year save Derrick Jones Jr. So Dallas tries to use the THJ contract and limited assets to replace him right? Would be nice if Prosper looked like he could take some minutes next year, but that doesn't appear likely.

Does DJJ really cost more than the taxMLE to keep though? I think he can be kept for that..

I think Dallas is really good and set Luka/Kyrie up to be stars and maybe go on a run. But I thjnk they’re underdogs against 4 teams in an series even with the recent success. But that’s a great improvement and exciting..

I have no idea what Jones will command. I'm assuming off a min deal he might be seeking the biggest deal possible(maybe TMLE is it). Or maybe he realizes this is a good fit playing on this team and takes a one year TMLE deal to get early Bird Rights?

Even with him back, I still think trying to turn THJ/assets into a better version of him should be a priority. Find a team that needs/wants to shed some long-term money maybe?

Yeah, I’d like to keep DJJ and think giving him the taxMLE with a player option on year 2 (or ideally year 3) is good enough to keep him.

But definitely would be looking at a lot of THJ+ one of Powell/Maxi if needed for salaries + 2025 first for wing trades. Not as big on Cam Johnson as that thread was, but some other names are out there.

[kobe_vs_jordan]

Looking into playoff matchups and its seem pretty balance in the west. All matchup dependent . West have 11 teams in the west over .500. Expect teams like the Spurs and Grizz to be more competitive next season too.

[MoneyTalks41890]

Looking into playoff matchups and its seem pretty balance in the west. All matchup dependent . West have 11 teams in the west over .500. Expect teams like the Spurs and Grizz to be more competitive next season too.

It's kind of insane actually. I think there was a GB thread on this, but the play in is really driving teams to be more competitive. I think you could argue these are all teams that would be motivated to do so anyway, but I like the atmosphere the play in creates, even if the overall structure isn't everyone's favorite.

[Colbinii]

Looking into playoff matchups and its seem pretty balance in the west. All matchup dependent . West have 11 teams in the west over .500. Expect teams like the Spurs and Grizz to be more competitive next season too.

It's kind of insane actually. I think there was a GB thread on this, but the play in is really driving teams to be more competitive. I think you could argue these are all teams that would be motivated to do so anyway, but I like the atmosphere the play in creates, even if the overall structure isn't everyone's favorite.

The Play-In is a major success and was predictably so when it forced more teams to try and be competitive.

The IST is going to need some tweaks to get to the level, but I expect the NBA to do right with the IST as they did with the Play-In.

[daoneandonly]

The IST is utterly useless IMO

I'm still not a fan of the play-in. If they at least had some more criteria like only eligible if you're this # of games back, and only impacted #8 instead of 7 and 8. Teams like CHicago and Atlanta should not be playoff eligible, but are because of the play in

[NYG]

The IST is utterly useless IMO

I'm still not a fan of the play-in. If they at least had some more criteria like only eligible if your this # of games back, and only impacted #8 instead of 7 and 8. Teams like CHicago and Atlanta should not be playoff eligible, but are because of the play in

I get it, but that's the exact idea of the play-in... to have more teams in it for longer

[Mavrelous]

The IST should replace the all star game, also having 4 month can make it much easier to schedule the games.

[daoneandonly]

The IST is utterly useless IMO

I'm still not a fan of the play-in. If they at least had some more criteria like only eligible if your this # of games back, and only impacted #8 instead of 7 and 8. Teams like CHicago and Atlanta should not be playoff eligible, but are because of the play in

I get it, but that's the exact idea of the play-in... to have more teams in it for longer

The problem is you're almost guarenteed to reward mediocrity, or even below it. And 82 games for what if someone subpar at 9 or 10 just comes up by winning 2 games?

[K_chile22]

The IST is utterly useless IMO

I'm still not a fan of the play-in. If they at least had some more criteria like only eligible if your this # of games back, and only impacted #8 instead of 7 and 8. Teams like CHicago and Atlanta should not be playoff eligible, but are because of the play in

I get it, but that's the exact idea of the play-in... to have more teams in it for longer

The problem is you're almost guarenteed to reward mediocrity, or even below it. And 82 games for what if someone subpar at 9 or 10 just comes up by winning 2 games?

82 games to make that play in tournament and give yourself a chance or play your way into a top 6 seed. Play in is fantastic and has teams still trying in March when they'd all be tanking by now

[Texas Chuck]

I get it, but that's the exact idea of the play-in... to have more teams in it for longer

The problem is you're almost guarenteed to reward mediocrity, or even below it. And 82 games for what if someone subpar at 9 or 10 just comes up by winning 2 games?

82 games to make that play in tournament and give yourself a chance or play your way into a top 6 seed. Play in is fantastic and has teams still trying in March when they'd all be tanking by now

so first I concede the play-in has been a positive for the Association regardless of my personal feelings. So it should stay.

But for me I think there should be a cutoff. Like if 9 or 10 are 3 or more games behind 8 I don't think they should get to be in a play-in. I think the league should protect the importance of regular season games.

[daoneandonly]

The problem is you're almost guarenteed to reward mediocrity, or even below it. And 82 games for what if someone subpar at 9 or 10 just comes up by winning 2 games?

82 games to make that play in tournament and give yourself a chance or play your way into a top 6 seed. Play in is fantastic and has teams still trying in March when they'd all be tanking by now

so first I concede the play-in has been a positive for the Association regardless of my personal feelings. So it should stay.

But for me I think there should be a cutoff. Like if 9 or 10 are 3 or more games behind 8 I don't think they should get to be in a play-in. I think the league should protect the importance of regular season games.

Yea at least some of the criteria they put in the bubble. And the 7 seed should have their playoff spot. It should be only 8 that's play-in eligible if like Chuck said, the teams at 9 & 10 are within 3 games.

So if both 9 and 10 are within 3 games of 8, they play each other. Winner plays 8. If 8 beats 9 in their first showdown, they are in. If 9 wins, then they have to beat 8 again in game 2, otherwise if 8 loses the first but wins the 2nd, they're still in. Make the team outside the top 8 really earn it by having to win 3 games.

If only 9th seed is within 3 games and the 10th is not, then forgo that game and just make it 8 vs 9, same mandates, 9 has to win 2 games, 8 just has to win 1

[Colbinii]

Both the 9 and 10 seeds have < 25% chance of making the Post-Season.

[jayjaysee]

I think I’d like it more with just being a single seed, 9th vs 10th and winner vs 8th. But that forces 8 seed into a single game elimination versus two game.. But I feel like that would push the importance of seeding for the playoffs more. 7th seed being a locked in playoff spot while 8-10 force the extra games and then facing the first seed.

But I do like the addition of the play-in. Who doesn’t want to see Curry/Dray and LBJ/AD in the playoffs? Except fans of western conference playoff teams..

[Colbinii]

I think I’d like it more with just being a single seed, 9th vs 10th and winner vs 8th. But that forces 8 seed into a single game elimination versus two game.. But I feel like that would push the importance of seeding for the playoffs more. 7th seed being a locked in playoff spot while 8-10 force the extra games and then facing the first seed.

But I do like the addition of the play-in. Who doesn’t want to see Curry/Dray and LBJ/AD in the playoffs? Except fans of western conference playoff teams..

This gives the 8 seed even less value than it currently has though.

[daoneandonly]

I think I’d like it more with just being a single seed, 9th vs 10th and winner vs 8th. But that forces 8 seed into a single game elimination versus two game.. But I feel like that would push the importance of seeding for the playoffs more. 7th seed being a locked in playoff spot while 8-10 force the extra games and then facing the first seed.

But I do like the addition of the play-in. Who doesn’t want to see Curry/Dray and LBJ/AD in the playoffs? Except fans of western conference playoff teams..

This gives the 8 seed even less value than it currently has though.

Not if you make it where 8 only has to win 1 game, but the 9/10th winner has to beat 8 twice. So essentially, that 9th/10th winner has to win 3 games to get in. Seems fair for a team on the outside looking in.