Mavs new year's report card, let it all out.

[Mavrelous]

2023 is behind us, 2024 is ahead of us, Mavs had massive roster turnover this off season, let's grade them.
In general:
The team mostly took care of business, handled the injured sufficiently well, had 2-3 unexpected wins, but had some embarrassing efforts that shouldn't happen in professional sports, the only winnable non-Luka game was also embarrassing (Grizzlies).
Record is fine, but leaving meat on the bone after last year disgrace is unacceptable, no excuses, team should at least be 2 games better in the standings.

On the sideline:
Nico B-:
Hit a home run in the draft with Lively (details in players report card), and Prosper with 1 pick only -- A+
Hit a home run on the vet min signings and BAE, Exum and DJJ are starter level player, Curry is also great talent to have on BAE -- A+
Overpaid in terms of trade value to get Grant Williams, the move wasn't planned well, and the signing is disappointing, Thybulee wasn't worth the trade to have the MLE to offer him -- F
Failed to trade McGee and waived him instead --F
The good skews the bad, B-

Kidd C-:
Utilized DJJ to his fullest extent, best perimeter defender on the team, great slasher and rim pressure player -- A+
Utilized Exum, even though took him time, much later than even fans on this board would've liked -- A
Defense w/o Lively is an embarrassment still -- F
More transition offense, at effecient -- A
Lackluster performances, failed to hold himself and his star player accountable -- F
Half court offense is still Luka creativity dependent, Kyrie/Luka duo isn't utilized well, this is his major task and he's failing at it right now -- D
Late game is still same play -- F--
I have no clue what Holmes is doing in practice, but he's been better than Powell every time he got a chance to play, he basically killed his value and confidence, he's dead money now -- F-.

Players:
Luka A-:
The good:
Adopted to higher pace effectively.
Monster December despite massive injuries.
Incredible defense down the stretch in many games.
Improved 3pt shot, which makes him unstoppable.
Withstood impossible load in December.

The bad:
Still barks at the refs too much.
Defense during the games lacks effort many times.
Don't remember many great performances with Kyrie, he does he damage mainly next to Exum.

The ugly:
Some unprofessional showings (Pelicans, 1st Nuggets game, Utah game), inexcusable for a role player, let alone team leader, some horrendus stretches (Cavs last 6 minutes).
Snaps at his teammates too much.


Kyrie C-:
The good:
Great teammate, while rumored to be a cancer, he's actually the brightest spot in teams' locker room, and provides the bonfd and support needed for new comers.
The bad
Performance with Luka still lacking
Too many injuries

Lively A+:
Way better than expected.
The good:
Great roll man, able to catch at very high spots which makes P&R plays impossible to stop.
Great short roll decision maker, can pass really well or attack the basket, makes blitzing Luka really bad choice, this was something that killed the team last year.
Great personality.

The bad:
Too many rebounding mistakes
Still weak physically
Right now, no 3pt shot whatsoever
Fouls too much many times, but too few compared to than I expected him to.

The fact we're discussing his flaws as we sould full fledged starter is a testament of his amazing start.

Exum A+:
Perfect 2nd guard next to Luka and backup PG guard, better in every area than we expected, a min signing playing like better than MLE level player, this season would've been VERY ugly is he wasn't signed.
Spot up shooting, defense, control of the game, rim pressure.

DJJ A+:
Great defender, Attacks the weak side, leaks on the fastbreak, 3pt shot is bad, but if he can hit 35%, that's enough for him to stay on the floor, given everything else he provides, frankly, better player than Thybulle.

THJ B:
On/Off shooting like every year.
When he's on, team is unstoppable.
Always the guy to step in and diffuse the late clock bombs at the expense of his own FG%, the most underappreciated aspect of his contribution.
Added passing off penetration to his game.
Horrible transition player, can't finish layups.
Bad defender except at drawing charges.

Green C-:
Lacks confidence in his shot, dies on every screen, many times didn't look like the high energy player from last year, elbow still bothering him.

Hardy F:
Came to the SL unprepared, with aweful shooting, blamed it on injury, his RS wasn't any better, he's not on tanking team and has vets ahead of him, he should've been fully prepared to seize every opportuniny, instead he basically failed every opportunity he had, maybe 2-3 good games all season, when he was called up a lot due to injuries.
The exact opposite attitude of what he should have.

Grant Williams D:
Amazing start to the season, unplayable in all of December, 40% amazing 60% putrid, must bounce back...

Prosper C-:
Perfect modern PF defensively, covers multiple positions, rebounds, runs the floor, horrible offensively, doesn't use his length and athleticism to finish around the basket, can't shoot.
Needs development.

Curry B-: had a bad start but picked it up later, doing what's expected of him...
Powell D-: had 1 amazing game (Wolves, loss), unplayable due to horrible defense (not his fault, but with the team having bad defense, non rim protecting, non defensive rebounding center becomes horrible combination).
Maxi F: played horrible to start the season, out with injury.
Holmes F: Much worse than I expected offensively, but defensively he's been good, hustle and rebounding is also good, Kidd doesn't play him for some reason.

[daoneandonly]

Great thread and analysis Khalil.

FO
Nico Harrison: C+
The signings of Exum and DJJ were great finds, the Lively pick and getting off Bertans at the same time was exceptional. But McGee was disastrous, stretch waiving him just to get Markieff, just plain foolish. Trading an unprotected swap for Grant WIlliams, just a poor use of assets. Extending Green at that # was inexcusable.

Kidd: D-
Seems to use the new guys Dante and DJJ well, but pretty much terrible at everything else

Players
Luka: A-
Still Luka in many senses, the good & the bad. Can single handedly carry the team to a win, but man this guy needs to grow up also and be a leader

Kyrie: D
Always out, forever out. Not to mention several games where he started off shooting terribly, when shooting is really the only thing he brings to the table other than his insane dribbling skills

Lively: A+
Exceeded all expectations as a rookie, seems to have a feel for teh game and wants to learn

DJJ: A
Hard nosed defense, surprisingly shoots well many nights. Maybe takes too amny shots at times though

Exum: A
Solid role player, does a little bit of everything, maybe just needs more confidence in his shot

Grant WIlliams: C-
Oh he started off liek the steal of FA, but has regressed so badly. Not sure what happened to him, but hope he can fix it

THJ: B-
Has saved us many games, but still tries to do too much and chucks

Green and Hardy: F
Can share the F, as in hopefully they F off. Zero basketball IQ and just looks plain stupid out there.

Powell: D
The guy tries thats for sure, he's just way too limited

[Maverick41]

I work at a University so my standards for grades are probably higher then most but here's mine:

Nico: C
Drafted Lively who's been very good as a rookie. Got 2 excellent minimum signings in Exum & DJJ. Everything else is bad. Trading a 2030 FRP swap for G-Will was dumb. The Omax draft deal is still up in the air if it was good. Didn't even utilize the full MLE as free agency was fumbled so hard. Still didn't add a backup big nor a backup big wing.

Kidd: F
Gave a chance to DJJ and Exum (when there was no choice) and it's worked out well. Other then that, he's been an absolute atrocity. He has literally no offensive plays. They insist on the same defensive scheme as a couple years ago. OOT plays are always to just give the ball the Luka and clear out. He's not an NBA coach.

Luka: B+
Again, my standards are high, especially for our superstar. He's had a good year and has carried the team especially when Kyrie was out. He's improved his 3 point shot, free throw shooting and his conditioning. His defense has also been good at times but it's very inconsistent. He still complains too much and goes on stretches where he doesn't seem to care. This would have been an A or A+ if he just complained a little less and didn't have some of the absolute stinkers of games like he did vs Utah or NO.

Kyrie: D
Seems to be so complacent. He's not aggressive enough. He's not assertive enough. He's sat out way too many games. The only reason why this isn't an F is that he seems to be a good teammate and he's had some memorable 4th quarters this season.

Lively: A
Exceeded expectations. He can finish, he can block shots, and even has a solid hook shot. He's our C for the future. Only reason this isn't an A+ is because he's had a lot of games where he's gotten wrecked or just gotten in foul trouble the whole game. Still great for a rookie but A+ for me is for guys that are excellent in all aspects.

Grant Williams: D-
Shot the ball extraordinarily well the first handful of games. That's literally the only reason why he's not an F. In the last 20 games, he's averaging sub 30% from 3. He is undoubtedly the worst finisher at the rim after Bullock that I've ever seen. Someone please tell him to never pump fake and dribble the ball. There are times where he doesn't even look like an NBA player. I think he can still turn it around and be a solid 7th or 8th man bench contributor like he was in BOS but he needs his confidence back and he needs a hard lesson to stick to his role. No dribble drives. No post ups. Shoot, pass, defend. That is all.

Exum: A+
He's my lone A+ and he deserves it. He's done nothing wrong to me. He's shot the ball well, he drives well, he pushes the ball, he defends well. The "he needs to be more confident" ship has sailed after the Lakers game. Since then, there's been few times where I've questioned his decisions. Oh and he's a vet min player. This rating probably goes down when he comes down more to Earth and percentages drop, but as of this moment, he's been excellent.

DJJ: A-
Has outplayed his contract. He's been without a doubt our best wing defender and has contributed offensively way more then expected. Problem is that his 3 point shot is still very inconsistent and I still don't trust it. He's a terrible rebounder. If he shot a couple % more from 3 and averaged 2 more rebounds, he's an A or possibly an A+ but those are weaknesses that exist still. He's still relatively young and can improve though.

THJ: C
He's been the usual THJ, just on more volume. He's hit or miss. Very inconsistent. 35% from 3 on high volume is not good. He shot better last year, just on less shots. I know that his quick trigger is useful at times but there are many times where his quick trigger also messes up the offense or just shoots us out of games. Sorry C is average to me and I'm not giving him anything higher when he's basically the same player but on worse efficiency.

Green & Hardy: F
Neither have taken the step forward needed. Both have taken steps back. Green looks good sometimes, and then an idiot the next possession. He tries on D but often gets lost on screens. Hardy is similar to THJ in where he is hit or miss. When he hits, he's awesome but when he misses (more often), he's completely useless out there. Can't defend a lick and his ball handling is very suspect. Both these guys had positive value at the start of the season and have done everything wrong to bring that down.

Powell: F-
He's not an NBA player anymore. He tries hard and that's his only positive trait. I liked Powell as a backup before and preached this but he's not the same. His athleticism has fallen to the point where he's not a threat as a rim roller like he was before. Imo, he needs to start looking at being a stretch big at this point of his career. He shoots VERY well in practice but literally never does it in games. If not, there's really no reason to play him at this point. He's been beyond terrible.

[ozwizard8]

Kudos for the nice concept and interesting posts.

Nico Harrison: B+
Lively pick was excellent. Exum, DJJ signing are great. Although I did not like the unprotected 2030 pick swap, the greatness of Lively pick just overpowers it. Even if Mavs give up lets say a late lottery pick to Spurs, the average mid 1st round pick does not worth as much as Lively.
Kyrie extension is not great but I appreciate not giving him the extra year. Still with trade kickers etc, it seems to be challenging to trade Kyrie away. I deduct a grade due to not balanced team build. ($100m/year for PG-SG rotation)

Kidd: B
J. Kidd brought this team to WCF and then they did not sign Brunson and trading almost all of the team away in a year. It is hard to create cohesion and play team offense and defense with so many new players. I think he is doing a good job based on what roster he has in his hands.
Williams, Lively, Exum, DJJ are all new. He is getting great contributions from them. I mean those four players only paid like $20m/year. What do we expect from Kidd? Neither Holmes or Powell are great big men but Kidd needs to play them. I mean there are 20+ other teams that would probably not give any minutes to those bigs...
Kidd's influence on Exum and DJJ is evident. Its like back in his playing days. Tons of people here blamed Carlisle for shortcoming of the team, now they blame Kidd. Its really not the coaches but lack of quality frontcourt players.

Players
Luka: A
Luka Magic is real! He is a legit franchise player, closer, a team by himself, and an MVP candidate.
Luka's defense is great when Kyrie is not playing. When Kyrie plays, Kyrie gets the easiest defensive matchup. If he is not there, Luka gets the easiest defensive matchup which helps him to rest on defense, and contribute more steals, blocks etc.
His frustration is sometimes head towards to refs, players. Its not looking great but I can understand. All HOFers had those stretches when their team sucked. Lebron-Kobe were not too nice to the GM, coach, players while their team sucked.

Kyrie: D
He seemed to lost his edge on offense, especially for clutch moments. Against tough defenses, he becomes a shooter. Kyrie used to create in the toughest moments when he was at Cavs. Since then it went downhill for him with injuries. Kyrie's playoff performances in last years were not good at all.
He can still score, but not that efficiently. If team offense is stagnant, then he is just playing 1on1 game without creating much difference. Brunson was doing a better job of keeping the team in the game. Kyrie against Memphis was also the epitome of this. Without Luka, Kyrie cannot lift the team. The same stuff happened in Nets. For a max player, his performance is F.

Kyrie is quickly becoming late career Allen Iverson, Kemba Walker. Occasional 30-point games against easy matchups as a secondary option and a lot of injuries.

Lively: A+++
Exceeded all expectations for sure! I always wished for a regen versions of Marion and Chandler and Lively is that perfect Tyson Chandler clone. And I think he is ahead of rookie Tyson.
He is great at attacking to the rim and also making the reads and passing. Great composure, nice blocking instincts. I think he is a good rebounder too. Just dont expect him to rebound by himself if you play 3 guard lineups with a 6'6 SF.

DJJ: A
For vet min, he is A+. As a starter, he is probably B-.
When he shoots bad, our offense become stagnant. Him attacking to rim and being active with cuts is pretty nice to have. Defensively, he is putting effort but he has limitations in terms of height and size. I am not saying he is great SF-PF for a contender, but he is great for vet min.

Exum: A+++
Solid find! Exum came back to league as composed PG. Compared to Kyrie he is much better at controlling the game, and creating for others. Defensively he makes difference as well.
He is doing all of this for a very cheap deal. Amazing! Like him better than Kyrie. Fits better with Luka.

Grant WIlliams: C
Grant started like a max player. He was shooting like prime Korver or sth while providing solid D. It went downhill since then but maybe its because the load. Its not easy to bang with all other big wing players, and big men. Celtics had more bodies to help him out on D.
For $12m, I think he is playing decent overall.

THJ: C-
I like Tim but he is still lacking defense, he can't finish at the rim. Streaky shooter so there are pros and cons with that.
For $18m, I think he plays below expectations.

Green : D
Playing worse than last year. He is young so I give him a pass for this year. Hope he gets better.

Hardy: C
Hardy is a 2nd round pick, plays for min contract. His playing style probably taxing on his body and knees. He seems to like to be around Kyrie. Altough he is playing a little worse than last year, I cant blame him too much considering he is 21 years old and playing on a min contract.

Maxi: C-
I dont want to blame him for being injured but since he got the extension I'll give him C-.

Powell: D
I dont blame him for all the shortcomings but he seems to be worse this year. All in all, its salary cap situation. If you want to have Kyrie+THJ at $55-60m per year, then you end up with Powell...

Curry: C
He is worse than his Carlisle years but its understandable as he is 33 now. Acceptable performance for what he is paid for. Kinda expected better from him.

Holmes: C-
Some posters here accusing Kidd for lack of Holmes minutes like they did for C.Wood last year. I mean there is a reason Holmes lost his playing minutes at Kings. He needs to do better if he wants to play 20mpg, otherwise he'll be out of the league after his deal runs out. (I just checked and noticed he is 30 years old...)

[41Dirk41]

Kudos for the nice concept and interesting posts.

Nico Harrison: B+
Lively pick was excellent. Exum, DJJ signing are great. Although I did not like the unprotected 2030 pick swap, the greatness of Lively pick just overpowers it. Even if Mavs give up lets say a late lottery pick to Spurs, the average mid 1st round pick does not worth as much as Lively.
Kyrie extension is not great but I appreciate not giving him the extra year. Still with trade kickers etc, it seems to be challenging to trade Kyrie away. I deduct a grade due to not balanced team build. ($100m/year for PG-SG rotation)

Kidd: B
J. Kidd brought this team to WCF and then they did not sign Brunson and trading almost all of the team away in a year. It is hard to create cohesion and play team offense and defense with so many new players. I think he is doing a good job based on what roster he has in his hands.
Williams, Lively, Exum, DJJ are all new. He is getting great contributions from them. I mean those four players only paid like $20m/year. What do we expect from Kidd? Neither Holmes or Powell are great big men but Kidd needs to play them. I mean there are 20+ other teams that would probably not give any minutes to those bigs...
Kidd's influence on Exum and DJJ is evident. Its like back in his playing days. Tons of people here blamed Carlisle for shortcoming of the team, now they blame Kidd. Its really not the coaches but lack of quality frontcourt players.

Players
Luka: A
Luka Magic is real! He is a legit franchise player, closer, a team by himself, and an MVP candidate.
Luka's defense is great when Kyrie is not playing. When Kyrie plays, Kyrie gets the easiest defensive matchup. If he is not there, Luka gets the easiest defensive matchup which helps him to rest on defense, and contribute more steals, blocks etc.
His frustration is sometimes head towards to refs, players. Its not looking great but I can understand. All HOFers had those stretches when their team sucked. Lebron-Kobe were not too nice to the GM, coach, players while their team sucked.

Kyrie: D
He seemed to lost his edge on offense, especially for clutch moments. Against tough defenses, he becomes a shooter. Kyrie used to create in the toughest moments when he was at Cavs. Since then it went downhill for him with injuries. Kyrie's playoff performances in last years were not good at all.
He can still score, but not that efficiently. If team offense is stagnant, then he is just playing 1on1 game without creating much difference. Brunson was doing a better job of keeping the team in the game. Kyrie against Memphis was also the epitome of this. Without Luka, Kyrie cannot lift the team. The same stuff happened in Nets. For a max player, his performance is F.

Kyrie is quickly becoming late career Allen Iverson, Kemba Walker. Occasional 30-point games against easy matchups as a secondary option and a lot of injuries.

Lively: A+++
Exceeded all expectations for sure! I always wished for a regen versions of Marion and Chandler and Lively is that perfect Tyson Chandler clone. And I think he is ahead of rookie Tyson.
He is great at attacking to the rim and also making the reads and passing. Great composure, nice blocking instincts. I think he is a good rebounder too. Just dont expect him to rebound by himself if you play 3 guard lineups with a 6'6 SF.

DJJ: A
For vet min, he is A+. As a starter, he is probably B-.
When he shoots bad, our offense become stagnant. Him attacking to rim and being active with cuts is pretty nice to have. Defensively, he is putting effort but he has limitations in terms of height and size. I am not saying he is great SF-PF for a contender, but he is great for vet min.

Exum: A+++
Solid find! Exum came back to league as composed PG. Compared to Kyrie he is much better at controlling the game, and creating for others. Defensively he makes difference as well.
He is doing all of this for a very cheap deal. Amazing! Like him better than Kyrie. Fits better with Luka.

Grant WIlliams: C
Grant started like a max player. He was shooting like prime Korver or sth while providing solid D. It went downhill since then but maybe its because the load. Its not easy to bang with all other big wing players, and big men. Celtics had more bodies to help him out on D.
For $12m, I think he is playing decent overall.

THJ: C-
I like Tim but he is still lacking defense, he can't finish at the rim. Streaky shooter so there are pros and cons with that.
For $18m, I think he plays below expectations.

Green : D
Playing worse than last year. He is young so I give him a pass for this year. Hope he gets better.

Hardy: C
Hardy is a 2nd round pick, plays for min contract. His playing style probably taxing on his body and knees. He seems to like to be around Kyrie. Altough he is playing a little worse than last year, I cant blame him too much considering he is 21 years old and playing on a min contract.

Maxi: C-
I dont want to blame him for being injured but since he got the extension I'll give him C-.

Powell: D
I dont blame him for all the shortcomings but he seems to be worse this year. All in all, its salary cap situation. If you want to have Kyrie+THJ at $55-60m per year, then you end up with Powell...

Curry: C
He is worse than his Carlisle years but its understandable as he is 33 now. Acceptable performance for what he is paid for. Kinda expected better from him.

Holmes: C-
Some posters here accusing Kidd for lack of Holmes minutes like they did for C.Wood last year. I mean there is a reason Holmes lost his playing minutes at Kings. He needs to do better if he wants to play 20mpg, otherwise he'll be out of the league after his deal runs out. (I just checked and noticed he is 30 years old...)

Irving D
Kidd B
Powell D

[Archx]

Irving D
Kidd B
Powell D

Yeah i don't get it, why would Kidd deserve a B and Kyrie D. Makes absolutely no sense. Kidd is not doing anything. We saw how he does without Doncic. He's lost in space.

[41Dirk41]

Irving D
Kidd B
Powell D

Yeah i don't get it, why would Kidd deserve a B and Kyrie D. Makes absolutely no sense. Kidd is not doing anything. We saw how he does without Doncic. He's lost in space.

Minny has the best NBA defense right now, Kyrie destroyed them.

[Mavrelous]

Irving D
Kidd B
Powell D

Yeah i don't get it, why would Kidd deserve a B and Kyrie D. Makes absolutely no sense. Kidd is not doing anything. We saw how he does without Doncic. He's lost in space.

Minny has the best NBA defense right now, Kyrie destroyed them.

Kidd is a lost cause offensively, but there is some ramping up on the defensive end, if he manages to pull the Mavs to top 10 defensively, I'll give him his props.

[Archx]

Yeah i don't get it, why would Kidd deserve a B and Kyrie D. Makes absolutely no sense. Kidd is not doing anything. We saw how he does without Doncic. He's lost in space.

Minny has the best NBA defense right now, Kyrie destroyed them.

Kidd is a lost cause offensively, but there is some ramping up on the defensive end, if he manages to pull the Mavs to top 10 defensively, I'll give him his props.

Ok i'll give you that. Hobbled Luka played great defense aswell, that's not easy to achieve.

[dirkforpres]

Nico A: Getting Exum and DJJ for nothing was brilliant. Curry for cheap and Powell for cheap are underrated moves, even if theyre both flawed players. The Bullock for Grant swap has been solid so far, although overall ive been disappointed in the Williams experiment. Hes still young though so I think there are better days ahead. Last but not least, the dump of Bertans and the Lively pick has worked out even better than anyone couldve expected. Great summer for Nico.


Kidd C+: Still hate how many minutes he gives to Powell and how few minutes he gives to Hardy and Curry, but overall hes done well with giving Exum and DJJ their well deserved minutes. He still sucks with ATO plays and letting the Mavs shoot themselves in the foot at times, but its an improvement over last year, at least.

Players:
Luka A+: He should be the MVP. Improved so much defensively to the point where hes not a massive liability anymore and the offense has gone up another level as far as shot creation and the ability to at least bring his FT numbers up to a decent percentage.

Kyrie B+: Great teammate, seems to really have bought in to the system and his role on the team. Its not fair to fault him for his missed games, since it was more of a product of wrong place, wrong time. Love the reports about him attempting to recruit LBJ to Dallas, and I have to imagine that's going to come in handy again this summer.

Lively A+: The perfect big man to pair with Luka and Kyrie. Completely transformed how teams would play us in years past, where it was an open lane every time and then an attack on the weak bigs that we have had since Tyson. I wish he didnt foul as much as he tends to, but thats just part of being a rookie.


Exum/DJJ A+: 2 best contracts in the league, and I dont even think thats a homer take. Great athleticism and hustle, reliable shots, and pests on defense. I really hope we find a way to keep them long term.

THJ B: Still inconsistent, but at least hes not crying or having Tim sr. whine about his opportunities anymore. The word "pass" is not in his vocabulary, but hes at least embraced the role they laid out for him before the season to go after the 6MOY award. Love how hes played on defense this year as well and how willing he has been to take the charges he has. Very underrated aspect of his game

Hardy D: This one really disappoints me. Hes been really bad to the point where hes almost unplayable on some nights. I was really hoping for a Year 2 jump, but I hated how they used him in Summer League and I think it was really detrimental to his development.

Green B-: Hes picked it up a little in the past week, but the first 2 months of the season were so bad.

Grant Williams D+: Jumpshot is pretty broken and hes not confident enough to do anything on offense except catch and shoot. Solid defender and love how he accepts the responsibility of guarding taller guys every night, but if he could just get to a 40% clip from the perimeter, this grade would probably be a B.

Prosper D: He probably needs to spend the entire year in the G league, where he can really develop and adjust to the style of play at an NBA level. Hard to score because he doesnt get a lot of opportunities, but from what we have seen, he needs at least a year

Curry B-: His minutes (or lack thereof) are a problem that hopefully gets addressed at the deadline, if Hardy gets moved. Hes a defensive liability because of his size, but hes one of the most reliable shooters I can remember watching. When he shoots it, I just always assume its going in.

Powell/Kleber F: Good at nothing except being a cheerleader and getting cardio. One of the worst rotation players in the entire league. Defensive liabilities and only playing because the big man rotation is so weak, even at full strength. I really hope Nico can find a way to move off one or both of these guys.

Holmes F: I was really excited for his comeback season, but as it turns out, theres a reason he couldnt get off the bench in SAC last year. Maybe some of it is on me for buying into the hype that Cuban tried selling us all on ("Richaun is the most underrated summer acquisition"), but that contract is just gross and going to be hard to rid themselves of until the offseason

[ozwizard8]

Minny has the best NBA defense right now, Kyrie destroyed them.

Kidd is a lost cause offensively, but there is some ramping up on the defensive end, if he manages to pull the Mavs to top 10 defensively, I'll give him his props.

Ok i'll give you that. Hobbled Luka played great defense aswell, that's not easy to achieve.

Kidd turned the ship in the right direction.
I like the additions of Grant Williams, Lively, DJJ, Exum but they were not necessarily proven veterans for starter minutes. Putting them together and playing cohesive basketball is not that easy.

According to posters here, Carlisle was also a bad coach... It's so easy for teenagers and people who don't know about basketball to put all the blame on the coach. The roster have limitations, matchup issues against many opponents. Kyrie-Luka together are defensive liabilities. D.Powell and Holmes are not good frontcourt players but Kidd needs to play them.
Considering all personnel change and lack of legit frontcourt starter players, Kidd is doing fine.

Mavs have the number of Gobert. Each time we play against him since the Jazz playoff series, we show Gobert like Mcgee
Kidd has decent defensive rotations against Gobert teams, and make sure to take him out under the basket with the sets we run, or simply playing small with Maxi-Grant to play C.

Minny has the best NBA defense right now, Kyrie destroyed them.

Kyrie should be doing that to more teams for what he is being paid. Where was Kyrie at Jazz game? He should at least show up half of the games when it matters. He hasn't done that so far. We all saw how he looked against Grizzlies without Luka-Morant playing that game.

[41Dirk41]

Minny has the best NBA defense right now, Kyrie destroyed them.

Kyrie should be doing that to more teams for what he is being paid. Where was Kyrie at Jazz game? He should at least show up half of the games when it matters. He hasn't done that so far. We all saw how he looked against Grizzlies without Luka-Morant playing that game.

So do you change opinion? Kyrie has problem against weak or tough teams? Or maybe it depends on how you feel about it?

Try again. Hater.

[41Dirk41]

Oh yeah Carlisle, Indiana allows 127 ppg. Wow.

[ozwizard8]

Minny has the best NBA defense right now, Kyrie destroyed them.

Kyrie should be doing that to more teams for what he is being paid. Where was Kyrie at Jazz game? He should at least show up half of the games when it matters. He hasn't done that so far. We all saw how he looked against Grizzlies without Luka-Morant playing that game.

So do you change opinion? Kyrie has problem against weak or tough teams? Or maybe it depends on how you feel about it?

Try again. Hater.

You are not able to read and comprehend. You have an IQ number in two-digits and very poor basketball knowledge. So I am sorry for you.

My arguments are still valid if you read all and comprehend. Trying to answer snippets after one good Kyrie game is a pathetic effort. Max players that you give up tons of assets, picks are supposed to play good to great on a consistent basis.

[41Dirk41]

Kyrie should be doing that to more teams for what he is being paid. Where was Kyrie at Jazz game? He should at least show up half of the games when it matters. He hasn't done that so far. We all saw how he looked against Grizzlies without Luka-Morant playing that game.

So do you change opinion? Kyrie has problem against weak or tough teams? Or maybe it depends on how you feel about it?

Try again. Hater.

You are not able to read and comprehend. You have an IQ number in two-digits and very poor basketball knowledge. So I am sorry for you.

My arguments are still valid if you read all and comprehend. Trying to answer snippets after one good Kyrie game is a pathetic effort. Max players that you give up tons of assets, picks are supposed to play good to great on a consistent basis.

Don't get too excited champ, you'll seem to me more Cowardly Lion than the wizard of Oz

Your argument doesn't exist.
Kyrie is playing great for the Mavs.
Stop acting like menstruating girl. Please.

[Mavrelous]

You have an IQ number in two-digits and very poor basketball knowledge. So I am sorry for you.

Stop acting like menstruating girl. Please.

Please don't insult each other and make your points without speculating on each others intelligence/behaviour, and no misogyny please

[41Dirk41]

You have an IQ number in two-digits and very poor basketball knowledge. So I am sorry for you.

Stop acting like menstruating girl. Please.

Please don't insult each other and make your points without speculating on each others intelligence/behaviour, and no misogyny please

You're comparing an insult to a joke... that's not very correct.

[Pelly24]

The good news is I think Kyrie is back to normal. That beginning of the season — before mid-november — was rough. He said he took a month off before the season for the first time, and he did it so he could peak at the right time, so that really might have been a factor. It was some of the only times I've ever seen him be so lethargic and indecisive on the court. It was like the Boston playoff series with KD, another season where he wasn't able to get his legs back.

But he's getting to the rim and finishing very well, hitting his midrange jumpers and long-twos again, and he's really been everywhere on defense. If you don't watch Kyrie or haven't dating back the last 6 years or so, you probably weren't aware of his underrated all-around game. He rebounds well, is probably one of the best stock guards in the league, can really make some clutch defensive plays and be a slight positive on that end compared to most guards. When he's aggressive great things happen, he's been more like the typical top 15-20 player he normally is the last several games, and I expect that to continue, and he'll even improve and be like the last half of last year. Great sign for mavs. But damn, do they need lively back.

[41Dirk41]

Kyrie should be doing that to more teams for what he is being paid. Where was Kyrie at Jazz game? He should at least show up half of the games when it matters. He hasn't done that so far. We all saw how he looked against Grizzlies without Luka-Morant playing that game.

So do you change opinion? Kyrie has problem against weak or tough teams? Or maybe it depends on how you feel about it?

Try again. Hater.

You are not able to read and comprehend. You have an IQ number in two-digits and very poor basketball knowledge. So I am sorry for you.

My arguments are still valid if you read all and comprehend. Trying to answer snippets after one good Kyrie game is a pathetic effort. Max players that you give up tons of assets, picks are supposed to play good to great on a consistent basis.

How do you feel after being outsmarted by a single digit IQ guy with low basketball knowledge?



Your argument is valid like my ass after eating a burrito. Shut up and go away hater.

This Kyrie game worths a ban. I know

[41Dirk41]

Ehy Ozwizard8? I know you are reading... Are you ok? We miss you.