Mavericks Pre-season 2017 [Finale: Oct 13 @ Hornets]

[arkuo]

Maxi, Motley, Withey and Clavell look like keepers. Dallas may need to look at shopping Mejri, Barea, and/or Harris to make some roster spots.

I have a feeling Cuban just lets Mejiri, Barea, Harris and Powell to expire and walk. Then we keep filling the bench spots with a new batch of undrafted rookies we can get on the cheap every year.

[Darren]

Withey is actually ahead of Mejri in the depth chart. He's pretty consistent on what is expected from him. So is Clavell. I really like his mentality. He can pretty much do anything on court. Even if he struggles to shoot well, he attacks the rim and gets to the line. He plays hard nose defense. He's such an athletic freak. I think we get a really good player on limited role. I am not surprised if he gets actual playing time more than expected. Kleber is also consistent on both ends. He can shoot pretty well. But he play defense with slow feet. His defense is not quite satisfactory yet. But he's already beaten McRoberts for pure shooter role. I wonder if we waive McRoberts for an undrafted rookie.

Again, Smith plays well in pick-n-roll situation. I think he's found himself when the coach runs pick-n-roll through him. That's a good sign. He truefully leads some one-dimensioned players to a win. And surprisingly, Powell's improved his shooting stroke. But still, it is far from consistent.

[Pinkyring]

the amount of guards on this team disgust me, harris, yogi, barea, curry, and dsj is an overkill, none of them play defense or provide any position versatility, just move harris and barea aleady goodness or yogi and barea, hell even just barea, we don't need a fifth of our roster with 6'3 and under huys

[Chocolate Daddy]

I wish our roster looked like this:

PG: Smith Jr. - Ferrell - Barea (hardly plays but he's more of a mentor)

SG: Matthews - Curry

SF: ??? - DFS

PF: Barnes - Powell - Kleber

C: Dirk - Noel - Motley

[Heezzi]

I wish our roster looked like this:

PG: Smith Jr. - Ferrell - Barea (hardly plays but he's more of a mentor)

SG: Matthews - Curry

SF: ??? - DFS

PF: Barnes - Powell - Kleber

C: Dirk - Noel - Motley

I


I don't. Matthews is terrible at the two now.
The only way it would work like this if we had Kawai Leonard.

[Pinkyring]

Barnes has really improved he just needs to tighten up his rebounding

[SOUNDCHASER]

Last year we added Yogi DFS Hammons who is now gone all rookies plus Barnes and Seth through FA and Noel via trade. 6 guys 1 no longer with the team.

This year we added DSJ Kleber Motley and Clavell all rookies Withey as a FA and McRoberts via trade. 6 guys but one is an expiring trade chip that we got with a trade of Hammons.

If any of these undrafted guys develop into keepers we are stacked for depth going into the future. Looks to me like its possible we hit on all 3.

So far starters look to be DSJ Dirk Barnes Yogi and Wes with the bench looking strong since 2 starting quality guys in Seth and Noel lead get to lead that group. If anyone of Max Motley or Powell pan out at the PF or center position to give us anything on defense or offense or rebound well then we are solid at 3 positions on the second team.

JJB and Harris can contribute and not choke that is what vets do and they should given their past accomplishments but we all know they are not as fresh as they use to be and won't be around much longer but they can and will hold the fort while we develop others like Clavell and DFS who if he continues to develop his 3 pointer I think he will solidify his spot on the team as a rotation ready SF. Clavell looks rotation ready and could be a huge addition to hold the fort for us as Seth recovers and give us some insurance in case he is hurt more often.

We needed a bigger SG to play defense anyway and Wes plays defense on SG's a lot even when he is in at the 3. I am hoping that maybe Motley is athletic enough to be a SF guarding big who eventually develops a nice 3 pointer. At 6'9" he has the size to play big on top scoring SF's and maybe slow them down from tearing us a new one. Bron is in the east but Marion use to shut him down and Motley reminds me of Marion with more size.

That should leave us with this kind of depth chart to finnish the season.
Obviously starting Yogi and DSJ means 2 PG's start to start the season till Seth gets back.
DSJ Yogi JJB
Seth Clavell Harris
Wes DFS Motley
Barnes Kleber Powell McRoberts
Dirk Noel Withey Mejri

Notes on above prediction as to what the rotation / depth chart will look like by seasons end. Injuries can change this so this is pending all the players staying healthy (knock on wood)

PG: JJB is a nice mentor to the 2 kids who both can handle starting duties giving us tremendous depth and a strong bench.

SG: Harris will take a back seat to Clavell by seasons end. Seth has the SG position locked up due to his shooting ability.

SF: Motley is a project that can play PF C and if he shows he is athletic enough as I predict he will he will give us another option as a SF. If Motley can do that then Wes is able to be moved with no worry of leaving a hole to fill.

PF: Not going to see Dirk here much more he is too slow to play defense on the faster PF's but at center where the bigs are usually less able to be fast of foot he has the ability to play some decent defense and stretch the defense to make the other teams centers work harder and clear a path to the basket for our faster players that want to attack the rim. This season is about finding out if Powell is taking the next step or if Max or Motley show enough to invest time in developing them because we need to find a bigger
PF to play there than Barnes who might need to be moved back over to SF at some point. So far Kleber is impressing the heck out of me with his shooting ability and how he uses his size but he is still a rookie and learning. IMHO he looks like the real deal and a keeper I predict by seasons end he is the main backup to Barnes at PF. Motley is also looking dangerous especially on the boards and with his athleticism he can probably play 3 positions the fact PF looks crowded means he may want to develop his game from the SF position.

C: Dirk starts because he is Dirk and as I mentioned above his game is going this way, Noel is the future C getting the close look this sseason to see if he has what it takes to justify giving him a big contract but the way he played last season means he needs to do a lot more and improve to warrant any big pay day. So far he has been more talk than production and I expect him to start showing more on the floor than just potential. Withey is a decent free agent pick up and Mejri is now an excellent trade chip and another 5 fouls to use on defense since he is 2nd string capable as well as Withey. Dirk will not play a lot of minutes so I expect these 2 to have ample opportunity when Noel is resting. If Noel stinks it up this season then we will see the MBT trying to sign another center in free agency and Noel will be left thinking about how he screwed up not taking that contract for $17.5 MM. Next season I expect the C position to get more crowded with talent due to top prospects in the draft entering the league so Noel needs to be the real deal or he is getting shoved down the pecking order and nobody is going to offer him $17.5 MM ever again let alone a max. Those kinds of contracts get offered to top 10 centers and there are a lot of centers that are better than Noel at this point of the game.

Guys on the pecking order above him including old guys who wont get paid much more but are putting up great stats still.
Embid
Cousins
Love
Vucevic
Gortat
Jokic
Valenciunis
DAJ
Whiteside
M Gasol
Gobert
Drummond
Howard
P Gasol
M Turner
KAT
Capela
M Plumlee
Adams
Horford
Nurkic
Kanter
Len
Monroe
Lopez Brothers Rob and Brook


How many rookies will there be that step it up this year from last years draft and or considered cant miss talents in next years draft who could be adding to this list? 3 or 4 more? I would think that is possible. Doesn't the fact that GSW and CLE winning without a real deal at center make it more of a less important position to concentrate on?

[Teffer10]

Guys on the pecking order above him including old guys who wont get paid much more but are putting up great stats still.
Embid
Cousins
Love
Vucevic
Gortat
Jokic
Valenciunis
DAJ
Whiteside
M Gasol
Gobert
Drummond
Howard
P Gasol
M Turner
KAT
Capela
M Plumlee
Adams
Horford
Nurkic
Kanter
Len
Monroe
Lopez Brothers Rob and Brook


How many rookies will there be that step it up this year from last years draft and or considered cant miss talents in next years draft who could be adding to this list? 3 or 4 more? I would think that is possible. Doesn't the fact that GSW and CLE winning without a real deal at center make it more of a less important position to concentrate on?

Yeah.....I don't see anyone from 3 of the top 4 teams (Cavs, Warriors, Celts, Spurs) last year on that list. And I've never considered P. Gasol a true Center anyway.
I think you make a good point.