In hindsight, the Mavs lagged the league for the first 4-5 years they had Luka; they finally remedied that with the long, athletic wings and centers that took them to the Finals, but it’s intriguing to think about where they would be if they built around Luka with more patience and insight starting in 2018. The Lakers are so much like those early Mavs, one dimensional players, good defenders without reliable offense, not enough size or versatility. No real center. Now, every team wants long, athletic, defenders who can attack the basket and hit an open jumper. The Lakers have their work cut out for them, and not a lot of assets to work with. Mavericks need a high level ball handler or two - they can be competitive if they find a gem in the draft, and AD stays healthy. Will be interesting how aggressive Nico is this summer.
True, and I wrote about it at D Magazine here a lot. They were ahead of the curve with Rick and 5-out shooting, with KP in 19-20. But failed to adapt when that evolved to much faster, more dynamic game later. And are catching up since. And like you said Lakers in similar spot.
Great read. This year's playoffs are certainly the most physical I have seen in some time. At some level resolve and physicality have been added to the list of attributes that a team needs in its players. I am curious to see what the Mavs attempt to do this summer. It would not surprise me if Gaff played somewhere else next year. Unclogging the middle and bolstering up the perimeter both on offense and defense seem to be what is needed. I'm not completely bought in, but draft and summer moves might tell us a lot about what next year might look like
really really insightful stuff here Iztok. Well done
Thanks Chris, appreciate your support and feedback!
In hindsight, the Mavs lagged the league for the first 4-5 years they had Luka; they finally remedied that with the long, athletic wings and centers that took them to the Finals, but it’s intriguing to think about where they would be if they built around Luka with more patience and insight starting in 2018. The Lakers are so much like those early Mavs, one dimensional players, good defenders without reliable offense, not enough size or versatility. No real center. Now, every team wants long, athletic, defenders who can attack the basket and hit an open jumper. The Lakers have their work cut out for them, and not a lot of assets to work with. Mavericks need a high level ball handler or two - they can be competitive if they find a gem in the draft, and AD stays healthy. Will be interesting how aggressive Nico is this summer.
True, and I wrote about it at D Magazine here a lot. They were ahead of the curve with Rick and 5-out shooting, with KP in 19-20. But failed to adapt when that evolved to much faster, more dynamic game later. And are catching up since. And like you said Lakers in similar spot.
Great read. This year's playoffs are certainly the most physical I have seen in some time. At some level resolve and physicality have been added to the list of attributes that a team needs in its players. I am curious to see what the Mavs attempt to do this summer. It would not surprise me if Gaff played somewhere else next year. Unclogging the middle and bolstering up the perimeter both on offense and defense seem to be what is needed. I'm not completely bought in, but draft and summer moves might tell us a lot about what next year might look like
Thanks Terry! Yes, Mavs need some re-calibration...like you said, their centers are the best assets to get more wing/guard POA defense help
Very interesting article. Thank you.