Whether this ultimately is a win or loss for them will hinge on two future moves, or lack of moves:ġ) Can the Nets make another trade or two before the deadline? Even with a healthy Durant and what is now a deep and versatile roster, the Nets lack the second high-end star they will need come the postseason (Ben Simmons is not going to be that guy). Still, Brooklyn got worse in the short term - any team that trades a superstar does not get equal talent back. Brooklyn GM Sean Marks did as well as he could with the situation. They got out of the Kyrie Irving business and don’t have to pay him long-term - if they had made this trade over the summer the conventional wisdom reaction would have been, “good job getting out from under all this.” And the Nets landed a couple of quality players who can help them now in Dinwiddie and Finney-Smith. There is a case to make the Nets did well in this trade - and maybe even got better by making the roster deeper, and more versatile. They have to roll those dice, and they will try again with the next superstar who becomes available. Trading for Irving would have been a huge gamble, but that is where the Lakers are now. ![]() There is no clear path to building a title contender around LeBron and Anthony Davis. Maybe It’s Me- LeBron James February 6, 2023 The Mavericks could offer more, better players right now plus the picks (there is also a report that Nets owner Joe Tsai didn’t want to send Irving to his preferred destination). The Lajers had tempting future picks, but the player at the heart of any offer was Russell Westbrook. Lakers GM Rob Pelinka tried, the problem is the Nets want to retool a contender around Durant immediately - Brooklyn wanted players who can help them win now. They are squandering an All-NBA level, record-breaking season of a 38-year-old LeBron James, sitting four games below. The only team that might have been more desperate? The Lakers. The Dallas Mavericks showed how desperate they were as a franchise with this potentially Faustian trade. But it’s a move the Mavericks had to make, and now Dončić knows they will do everything they can to land stars to put around him. There are a lot of questions about the fit of Dončić and Irving together - will Irving accept a role as the No.2 option on this team (as he did with Durant most of the time)? How well will Doncic play off the ball? This trade makes the Mavericks’ 23rd-ranked defense worse. Now, Dallas has that in the guy with maybe the best handles in the league, someone averaging 27.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game and shooting 37.4% from 3. Dallas desperately needed another shot creator and star next to Dončić to lighten his load. Luka Dončić was good with this trade - Dallas went to him and got his approval before proceeding with it, reports Marc Stein.ĭončić has been at a historic usage rate this season and was physically wearing down from the load. Irving now gets to play next to Dončić, another of the league’s top five players, and is on a team with the potential to contend in a wide-open conference, and he gets a relatively clean slate to prove he is worthy of that massive contract this summer. When the Nets weren’t going to give him that extension, Irving forced his way to a new team where he is more likely to get paid (not that it’s close to a lock, the Mavs are reportedly hesitant). His troubles with the Nets going back to the summer stem in part from him not getting the max contract extension he wants - four years, $198.5 million, with no strings. ![]() The 6-foot-7 forward appeared in 48 games (six starts) as a rookie, but he played in just 16 contests last year, averaging 1.8 points and 1.2 rebounds in 5.8 minutes per game.Irving made a brilliant business move demanding a trade before the deadline. The sharpshooter appeared in nine NBA contests for the Raptors last year, averaging just 1.0 points in 5.6 minutes per game.īrown was a second-round pick by Portland in 2021 and spent two seasons with the Trail Blazers. ![]() It's unclear how many minutes Jones will see right away with the Mavericks, but he brings a unique skill set to the crowded group.Ī 2021 second-round pick by the Spurs, Wieskamp has spent the majority of his first two professional seasons in the G League, shooting 38 percent from deep across stints with three different teams. He now joins Grant Williams, Olivier-Maxence Prosper and Richaun Holmes as new additions to a frontcourt that already featured Dwight Powell and Maxi Kleber. Jones garnered a modest reserve role in Chicago's frontcourt for two years but declined a $3.3 million player option to stick with the Bulls this summer.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |