RS 16/17 - G50 - Mavericks @ Blazers (Feb. 3 - 10:30PM EST/ESPN)

[JamesConway]

(...) You can literally find good PG's in the D-League (...)

To some degree you can, but it's also clear (at least Imo) that you will never even sniff contender-status when half your rotation consists of guys like that. At a certain point you do need the elite level of talent (among other important factors such as coaching, chemistry on/off the court, organizational culture, etc.) to truly be able to compete with the LeBrons, Kobes, Currys, Westbrooks, etc. of the league. I know we didn't draft pretty much anyone except Dirk from the '11-team ourself, but even that squad had many guys on it that were picked incredibly early bc of their obvious athletic/physical/basketball abilities from the get go:

- Dirk #7
- Kidd #2
- Tyson #2
- Matrix #9
- Caron #10
- Jet #10
- even DeShawn was a 1st round pick #23

Right now it's pretty much like we're focusing on finding the next Jet (Seth) or Barea (Yogi), yet the main cogs of the 'ship were actually other guys (first and foremost Dirk of course, Tyson/Kidd/Matrix). Unfortunately the heirs to those aren't even remotely in sight right now. Barnes/Wes apparently are probably the closest we have to that, yet I think we can all agree that neither of them will ever be the HOF-type of player Dirk is.

The way Dirk was brought to DAL was through exactly that route. The draft. And in the top 10 of it. I fully agree that nothing is a given there either, but the chances to find someone in there that can help being a building block are significantly higher than e.g. via calling up guys off the DLeague, hoping that somebody will gift us one in a trade or via FA (the new CBA-rules will make that even less likely than it already was anyway).

To put it short: we need another Superstar. Right now I don't see how we're truly working on that front even if it's fun to see them develop a bunch of guys they picked up off the very bottom of the barrel. And that's a bad thing if we're assuming this franchise is still interested in ever winning a NBA title again.

[Chuck Everett]

(...) You can literally find good PG's in the D-League (...)

To some degree you can, but it's also clear (at least Imo) that you will never even sniff contender-status when half your rotation consists of guys like that. At a certain point you do need the elite level of talent (among other important factors such as coaching, chemistry on/off the court, organizational culture, etc.) to truly be able to compete with the LeBrons, Kobes, Currys, Westbrooks, etc. of the league. I know we didn't draft pretty much anyone except Dirk from the '11-team ourself, but even that squad had many guys on it that were picked incredibly early bc of their obvious athletic/physical/basketball abilities from the get go:

- Dirk #7
- Kidd #2
- Tyson #2
- Matrix #9
- Caron #10
- Jet #10
- even DeShawn was a 1st round pick #23

Right now it's pretty much like we're focusing on finding the next Jet (Seth) or Barea (Yogi), yet the main cogs of the 'ship were actually other guys (first and foremost Dirk of course, Tyson/Kidd/Matrix). Unfortunately the heirs to those aren't even remotely in sight right now. Barnes/Wes apparently are probably the closest we have to that, yet I think we can all agree that neither of them will ever be the HOF-type of player Dirk is.

The way Dirk was brought to DAL was through exactly that route. The draft. And in the top 10 of it. I fully agree that nothing is a given there either, but the chances to find someone in there that can help being a building block are significantly higher than e.g. via calling up guys off the DLeague, hoping that somebody will gift us one in a trade or via FA (the new CBA-rules will make that even less likely than it already was anyway).

To put it short: we need another Superstar. Right now I don't see how we're truly working on that front even if it's fun to see them develop a bunch of guys they picked up off the very bottom of the barrel. And that's a bad thing if we're assuming this franchise is still interested in ever winning a NBA title again.

You put ellipses around my quote, but I never said they shouldn't want top end talent. Obviously they should, but their drafting would be better served finding other positions than PG, because it seems like they can find quality guards elsewhere.

[N8N]

What if we have Ntilikina anyway? If Yogi plays consistently, and Ntilikina develops 2-3 years into playing Rick's system, that still works. Ntilikina plays both sides of the court and is long. We could probably even hide Yogi behind Ntilikina if they play together and then you suddenly have 2 shooters and playmakers. Whoever is along further can become the starter even and the other plays the sparkplug off the bench.

That said, we can opt to get someone other than a PG, I'm all for that. Just saying, drafting another PG even if Yogi plays consistently well, isn't going to be a nightmare. Suddenly, we'd have defenders and shooters at 1-4, who wouldn't want that?

[The Sparest]

What if we have Ntilikina anyway? If Yogi plays consistently, and Ntilikina develops 2-3 years into playing Rick's system, that still works. Ntilikina plays both sides of the court and is long. We could probably even hide Yogi behind Ntilikina if they play together and then you suddenly have 2 shooters and playmakers. Whoever is along further can become the starter even and the other plays the sparkplug off the bench.

That said, we can opt to get someone other than a PG, I'm all for that. Just saying, drafting another PG even if Yogi plays consistently well, isn't going to be a nightmare. Suddenly, we'd have defenders and shooters at 1-4, who wouldn't want that?

Ntilinka is big enough to play the 2 spot. That is why I like drafting him, because even if he doesn't workout as a PG, he could still be a solid 3D guy with some playmaking ability.

Given our current win streak though, we may have to trade up to get him.

[N8N]

What if we have Ntilikina anyway? If Yogi plays consistently, and Ntilikina develops 2-3 years into playing Rick's system, that still works. Ntilikina plays both sides of the court and is long. We could probably even hide Yogi behind Ntilikina if they play together and then you suddenly have 2 shooters and playmakers. Whoever is along further can become the starter even and the other plays the sparkplug off the bench.

That said, we can opt to get someone other than a PG, I'm all for that. Just saying, drafting another PG even if Yogi plays consistently well, isn't going to be a nightmare. Suddenly, we'd have defenders and shooters at 1-4, who wouldn't want that?

Ntilinka is big enough to play the 2 spot. That is why I like drafting him, because even if he doesn't workout as a PG, he could still be a solid 3D guy with some playmaking ability.

Given our current win streak though, we may have to trade up to get him.

Yes precisely, he could potentially play 1-3 on defense, if he at the very least only becomes a 3 and D type with some playmaking.

And probably will have to trade up. I hope we still have some options. Jackson and Ntilinika might be grabbed before our turn.