2023-24 Team Developments: Trades / Free Agents / News / Rumors / Ideas

If Bontemps knew anything about ball , he would know a team can get better with some continuity and improvements of some young players ...

Our only weakness is we don't have a credible backup and physical center right now to throw at Jokic .

I'm surprised it hasn't been adressed

 

am i crazy in that i had none of those guys except gordon going over minimum, and even gordon i thought could possibly be had there? every one of those other guys has been a third stringer--most of whom are in their mid-to-late 20s and thus have had many chances to not be third stringers? i was interested in kbd...as a third string reclamation guy.

i just don't get the "they knocked it out of the park" narrative here. they signed a bunch of vet mins. honestly, several other vet mins around the league were obviously better signings (e.g., beasley at milwaukee).

 

I think they added solid players who fit their gaps. They only needed guys to defend, rebound and provide spacing. Okogie, KBD and Watanabe have large wingspans, can shoot the 3 and are solid defenders. Eubanks is a solid center backup, pretty much the best at the min. He was balling out when unleashed last year. Gordon will make the most of the huge spacing he will have and can defend at the post. They are all young, except Gordon, which is key for a team with Beal and Durant.
Watanabe and KBD were likely BAE/NTMLE.

Their ceiling remains the same. They are as good as their star players are healthy. They did what they had to do and got solid depth

 

I don’t think there was a realistic way to adequately address the backup center position

Doesn’t seem that Beasley, Bamba, and/or #17 was enough to acquire a better center in a trade. My guess is if we wanted someone of Myles Turner caliber, we would have also had to throw in the 2029 pick, and maybe even that isn’t enough for Indiana. That would be too risky of an overpay IMO

There were really no solid options in free agency. Landale went for $8M, Plumlee went for $5M. Do you forgo a backup PG like Vincent to go for one of them? Maybe the best bet would have been to try to split the MLE between Jevon Carter and Plumlee. Or forgo the Prince signing and try to convince Plumlee to take our TPMLE. But I’m not sure if Plumlee is THAT much of a difference maker.

At the end of the day, we made it to the WCF with Wenyen Gabriel as our primary backup center. Sure we clearly need more help there for depth purposes, but I don’t think we needed to overreact and prioritize size over everything else. Despite our limitations at center, we were a few plays away from being in position to win every game in the WCF.

Denver took some hits losing Bruce Brown and Jeff Green for nothing. It is extremely difficult to win back to back titles. We made some marginal improvements around the edge, and will have an additional year for our core to get familiar with each other and develop. I really think our roster as currently assembled could have a solid shot against Denver

 

So when does Dallas sign PJ Washington?

 

My concern about the backup 5 is strictly for when AD is out. When he plays we are covered (as stated above with Hayes, LeBron, Rui).
If we can get someone that also helps to defend Jokic should we need, the better

TT can give us those additional 20 minutes when AD is out (rest is Hayes and LeBron), help develop Hayes and be a body to throw to the Joker

I think we are probably trying to scoop Wood/Bamba or some other FA for TT not having signed yet

 

Yeah that is my primary concern as well. I think AD playing the bulk of the minutes at the 5, Hayes plays some against bigger opponents, small ball 5 against smaller opponents, that’s all going to mostly be adequate in the regular season.

But if anyone gets hurt or has to load manage? Yeah we’ll need more help, and we can’t simply hope that those situations won’t arise. They will.

Jaxson Hayes only played in 47 games last year. Not sure if that was due to the injuries or DNP-CD’s, but if hypothetically both him and AD had to sit out, we’re probably losing every one of those games. We saw that last year, even against a terrible team like Houston you simply can’t win in the NBA if you have ZERO legitimate big men to play. Even if just AD is out, I don’t trust that Hayes could hold down the fort on his own.

That’s why I’ve been semi-jokingly pushing so much for Christian Wood. At least on offense, you wouldn’t really miss a beat if AD had to sit. I would even be more comfortable incorporating planned rest days for AD. You could play Wood 40 minutes and at least ensure you have a 7 footer still putting pressure on the defense’s interior. Defense would take a hit, but he has the tools to be an okay defender, so you just hope that under Ham he could maintain focus on that end knowing it may be one of his last chances to stick around in the league

 

yeah, i said i didn't want wood at the minimum, but i wouldn't be angry about it. he'd be a good offensive fill-in for when AD misses his customary 20 games.

 

LOLOL …. oh please Lord. Sorry Stephen don’t feel your pain because can’t stand you and your schtick.



Jeff Van Gundy is a different story, liked him more than most all of them.

 

The rest of his quote was insufferable. With all the shine and money he's gotten now he's playing victim?

 

Disney should burn in hell. I hate that my family loves that s*** hole and I have to force myself to go to Disneyland every few years.

I wish I had Elon musk money. I would buy ESPN and turn it back to the juggernaut it was in the 90s before politics and pedo supporters started coming out of their shells.

 

i look forward to that day

 

You know, I have been pointing out that the biased media that occurs over politics has been going on in sports media for years, maybe decades at this point, but for the most part I have found that most people think I am over the top with it. All this BS is going to bite everybody in the butt eventually. While they currently may be pointing at someone who is NOT YOU, once they win that one, YOU'RE NEXT!! Across the spectrum folks. The media wants to control the narrative and they are dividing on conquering us one by one. They are winning and the idiots who side with the media on this are next. I am talking about sports media, if it applies to other media, gee willikers what a coincidence.

 

The media is no longer worth watching

you find more truth in other platforms unfortunately

journalism is no longer an honorable profession

 

It hasn’t been for many, many years.

 

I’m sorry, but I’m not seeing the greatness in this crop of “huge additions.” Gordon can still shoot, but that’s all he can do. Another pretty narrative from the media- just like the ones they put out every single season about how dominant the Clippers are going to be.