Luka Doncic Discussion: Lean Mean Slovenian Scoring Machine

What else is he going to do? We have ZERO real depth. Kennard was a huge pickup. But, who is going to get him the ball coming off the bench? This team is literally only 8 deep. Ayton, Luka, LeBron, AR, Kennard, Smart, Hayes and Laravia.

You could count Maxi but again he's a 4/5.The 5 rotation is good. Not great but good. The 4 is essentially LeBron and Maxi. If LeBron handles the ball too much he starts having unforced turnovers like last night. Yes he is an all time great but he's 41.

Smart is the defensive anchor and another good ball handler but he's been out. Also, he's a starter. And he's 32.

There is no one else that will be good for minutes in big games. The problem with that lineup is that there are 3 ball handlers. They are all starters. LeBron shouldn't be playing more than 30 minutes at 41 years old. Staggering Luka and AR that's still not enough of a bench. You run out those deep bench guys and we are getting whipped.

When Bronny is playing rotation minutes that's not a good sign. Just sayin... We are too thin in the depth dept.

 

We are 9 deep… Rui as well

 

I forgot Rui. I see him as a situational player though. We essentially have bench guys that are part time starters. Ideally, I would love to see us bring in a good 2 way wing to take over that starting role for Smart. Having him come off the bench would be huge.

The problem is that OKC and the Spurs are just deep. And there isn't too much drop-off from the starters to the bench.

 

Our roster construction is flawed but it’s not terrible.

For example; Luke and Rui are valuable bench pieces as really good shooters. Ayton and Hayes is a pretty good center rotation, especially for the regular season. Smart and Jake are very good defenders.

It’s just we’re missing 1-2 good two way role players. It’s a shame Adou has been injured and likewise that Vando, Knecht and Kleber are pretty well 28m worth of dead cap space that does nothing. You turn that into a good two way player and have Goodwin still on the team and we suddenly look a lot better. As an example:

Luka / Smart / Bronny
Reaves / Kennard / Goodwin
Wiggins / Jake
Lebron / Rui / Adou
Ayton / Hayes

Steve Kerr plays that team and goes 13 deep every night while keeping our big 3 pretty well fresh at 30 mins a night.

 

https://x.com/shamscharania/status/2040187516754518125?s=46&t=M-bxX48TbLbJubSgrzc1Tg

 

well that all but guarantees a round one exit

just shut him down and keep him out of the national team games this offseason. they weren't getting past okc anyways

 

yeah. That’s was fun but it’s a wrap. We can fully plan for next season.

 

time for walter and co to get to work

get a goddamn bench and build around luka. running him into the ground isn't going to work given his health issues

 

i figured it was bad based on his reaction. i'm bummed, but i didn't expect much except for maybe a first round win. i guess we can try to play the scrappy underdog role or something.

 

teams are now licking their chops for the chance to play the lakers in round 1

 

Damn. That’s the season. Even when he comes back it would take a month minimum to get back to full game fitness. So it’s at minimum 6 weeks to get Luka back to form.

 

Who gives a f*** about these meaningless rewards...there's just one that counts. It's not like he needs these extra few millions.

 

I feel like Tom Brady’s balls right now.

 

Yep. That sucks. But, like was mentioned...we weren't getting past OKC. I don't think OKC is getting past the Spurs. The Spurs seem like the Thunder's Kryptonite right now.

The big question now is if LeBron comes back what is the price tag? If it's not reasonable I say move on. He can't come in at $50m per anymore. After that it's on to depth big time. $50m could get a big starter and quite a bit of depth too.

I would love to see if Dallas is willing to move Gafford. He is the type of enforcer we need down low. Rick Carlisle once said "I like milk drinkers but I don't want a whole team full of them". That's the attitude this team needs. We need to get some thug like defenders in here.

Gafford and PJ Washington allowed Luka to float more. They also got under OKC's skin pretty bad too. That's the kind of toughness they can't handle. That's why they struggle with the Spurs. Unless you are loaded top to bottom like OKC the key to winning in the playoffs is making the games ugly. That's how Dallas got through the West with Luka. Then again, even OKC makes the games ugly. They have guys like Dort that can get in there and muck things up.

Ayton looked good at the end of the season but is he willing to keep that going? Not sure. And can he provide toughness down low? I don't think so.

 

This sucks. Unfortunate Timing Sucks, but it is what it is.

 

2013 all over again.