What the Mavericks should do:
Here’s my totally unwarranted and unwanted opinion on what the Dallas Mavericks should do for the rest of the offseason to make this team competitive. No matter how much kool-aid you sip, this team will not be competitive unless these things happen.
Keep Shooting
If Klay Thompson doesn’t flee Texas on horse and buggy, you keep that man on your roster.
-We have only three proven floor spacers:Kyrie, Klay, and Max.
-We are arguably the worst shooting/offensive team in the NBA.
-It’s an emergency at this point, prioritize shooting/offense at all costs.
Crash Boards
You don’t become a shooting team overnight. We need a plan for what happens when the shots eventually miss.
-Gafford is not a rebounding big.
-PJ is not a rebounding big.
-Aldama is not a rebounding big.
Liquidate
This offseason our roster construction vision is throw lots of mediocrity at the wall and see what hits 3’s. This is actually a good idea when entering a new era of Mavericks basketball, but we already have some proved players. What do we do with them?
-PJ Washington is very good at basketball. He also is a bad SF next to Coop (he can’t shoot or rebound) and a bad PF next to Coop (read above).
-Gafford is a great NBA center. He doesn’t fit well with Coop though as he can’t shoot or rebound at an elite level.
Turn the Ship Around
We’ve extended Naji (a guy who doesn’t rebound or shoot). We’ve signed Morez (hopeful rebounder and non shooter). We’ve signed Rissacheir (mediocre rebounder and shooter). We are making commitments to rotation players that fundamentally don’t fit with Coop.
-Cam Johnson should be their highest priority as a big who can shoot and play alongside Coop. He’s a more elite version of Aldama.
-Malik Monk can immediately play alongside Coop.
-Bogdan Bogdanovic fits our criteria and can offer scoring bursts
This upcoming season will be rough. No doubt. We need to look toward to what team we should be, not at what has worked in the past. Amen.
EDIT: Wow you guys really think we’re going to be good this year. See you in a few months!