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According to Dallas News, Pops's coming back to Dallas this summer. I hope we can get back Diop and Faz also. Then, we get ready for the training camp.

C - Diop / Damp / Faz
PF - Dirk / Bass / Pops
SF - JoHo / DG / RAT
SG - AW / Stack / EJ or Seibutis
PG - Kidd / JET / JJB

I think it is better to start a more althetic lineup to fit Kidd's game. Still, JET would play majority of mintues at 2. Diop would split the time with Damp. We need a younger starting lineup for the sake of future. I like what I see in Faz, Pops, RAT, AW, and to certain extent JJB. I can't help to see how much they improved.

Link

I don't think Pops will ever be more than a dunk contest player, but I guess I would rather have him than Juwan as our 3rd string pf.

If that's all they do, I can't imagine carving out too much time to watch any games, and I'd guess most area fans would feel about the same. That C rotation blows and that SG group is maybe the worst in the league. A solid starting SG who can defend on the perimeter and at least be respectable on offense is an absolute must. None of those guys remotely fit that bill. Back-up C is key too, and I guess Diop is a possiblty, though not a terribly exciting one.

Not wild about that SF group either. Josh just may have turned back into the late first round pumpkin many thought he would be. If they can get young/ more athletic/ more cap flexibilty by moving him, I'd hope they do it in a second. Trade him for a serviceable player with a 1 year deal and a draft pick in the top half of the first round. This team desperately needs youth and not just the dregs of summer league kind.

if you don't upgrade then you are falling behind and someone will leapfrog you...
right now DAL is at best 3rd in its division behind SAN and NOH with HOU close behind

Pops alone doesn't make DAL any better

I dont expect much from Pops, but like somebody said earlier, I would rather have him in there than Malik Allen or Juwan Howard

I'd be okay with Pops making the team under a few conditions.

1. We are able to upgrade the SG position with a Bass trade.
2. We are able to pickup a backup center that can play the 4 if needed (not the other way around).

10-12 minutes a game as Dirk's backup is not out of reach although he would have to improve his game.

mrmreg wrote:If that's all they do, I can't imagine carving out too much time to watch any games, and I'd guess most area fans would feel about the same. That C rotation blows and that SG group is maybe the worst in the league. A solid starting SG who can defend on the perimeter and at least be respectable on offense is an absolute must. None of those guys remotely fit that bill. Back-up C is key too, and I guess Diop is a possiblty, though not a terribly exciting one.

Not wild about that SF group either. Josh just may have turned back into the late first round pumpkin many thought he would be. If they can get young/ more athletic/ more cap flexibilty by moving him, I'd hope they do it in a second. Trade him for a serviceable player with a 1 year deal and a draft pick in the top half of the first round. This team desperately needs youth and not just the dregs of summer league kind.

What about Howard for Des Mason and the Bucks pick?

Dallas needs to trade Kidd. Thats the problem. This team currently isnt going to win with Kidd as the PG. In the playoffs, Dirk is much better off with Jason Terry at point and a SG who could drive/shoot (a la the Harris/Terry backcourt) than having Kidd who passes up ope shots and teams dont respect his outside shot. Unfortunately, I dont think Dallas mgmt has the balls to admit their mistake with the Kidd/Harris trade and move Kidd this offseason. He has a hell of alot of value, not only being a huge expiring contract, but also still being a top 10 PG in this league despite everything.

Im fine with Pops as the 3rd string center, but the only way he should be the backup is if we are able to upgrade the starting SG and backup C positions considerable.

Bottomline: We need bodies.

If Eddie Jone opts out then we only have seven roster spots filled.

1. Dirk
2.Kidd
3. Terry
4. Stack
5. Bass
6. Dampier
7. J-Ho

That's eight roster spots.
8. A. Wright
9. R. Terry
10. 1/2 MLE
11. 1/2 MLE
12. 1st Round Pick Bought
13. 2nd Round Pick
14. ?
15. ?

I mirror what everyone says and think Pops should be here over Ju. Howard or Magilore.

If they could play successfully with a line up similar to:

Diop
Dirk
Bass
Howard
Kidd

I'd say that's a very athletic team that could run the way Kidd should. They'd also have at the very least solid defense, the biggest problem being what our strength was with Harris, fast PGs would kill us. I'd like to see Bass on the floor as much as possible though, because I think he's really going to be a good player.

Personally I think this team needs to completely rebuild, let Dirk go somewhere he can get a championship, dump Howard as he'll be too old by the time this team ever gets around to competing again. We could have a lot of cap space in the 2010 off season if the Mavs don't have delusions about winning a championship this year and the next. Finley's contract expiring, Bradley's contract expiring (this off season for both) and Kidd and Dirk both likely being out of their contracts at that point could be pretty big.

I would love to have Pops back! You can not teach athleticism, and Pops has athleticism. It will be Carlisle's job to teach Pops one go to move that can keep the defense honest. The Kidd to Pops assist will look alot like the Kidd to Kenyon Martin assist. At the very least we will have great highlights on Sports Center.

It's nothing but a PR ploy. Pops won't help us win. He'll just be a familiar face.

I'm sorry, but it's true.

Well, some may say Pops is too raw to contribute. But I think Pops is a save pick and he can offer something Brandon Bass can only dream of - Bass is a good shooter who can't get near the basket without a blocked shots. BTW, Bass is a poor rebounder at his position.

I like the upside in Pops. Even his shooting is not quite there, he held his own under the basket. See Leon Powe or Devin Harris several years ago, you find some clues. He's absolutely better than Juwan Howard and Malik Allen.

Yeppers, Quick Reply is back!

Anyway, Darren is so right. Bass is not a good rebounder. Bass has probably more value than he's actually worth at this point while Pops being raw with much more potential is undervalued. Bass could be traded, we could re-sign Diop, it could be interesting...

Teffer10 wrote:

mrmreg wrote:If that's all they do, I can't imagine carving out too much time to watch any games, and I'd guess most area fans would feel about the same. That C rotation blows and that SG group is maybe the worst in the league. A solid starting SG who can defend on the perimeter and at least be respectable on offense is an absolute must. None of those guys remotely fit that bill. Back-up C is key too, and I guess Diop is a possiblty, though not a terribly exciting one.

Not wild about that SF group either. Josh just may have turned back into the late first round pumpkin many thought he would be. If they can get young/ more athletic/ more cap flexibilty by moving him, I'd hope they do it in a second. Trade him for a serviceable player with a 1 year deal and a draft pick in the top half of the first round. This team desperately needs youth and not just the dregs of summer league kind.

What about Howard for Des Mason and the Bucks pick?

I'd do it in a second. I think Eric Gordon will soon be a better pro than Josh Howard ever was or will be. Love the defense of Westbrook if he were to happen to be there.

Or, if they were to get the #8 pick, what would it take to move to #3 and where they could get either Beasley or Mayo? Probably nothing the Mavs could and would offer to get that done.

I'd take that Milwaukee deal though.

Darren wrote:Well, some may say Pops is too raw to contribute. But I think Pops is a save pick and he can offer something Brandon Bass can only dream of

I doubt that Bass sits around dreaming of the NBDL all-star game all that much.

I remember when some on here (or maybe another Mavs board) used to argue that Pat Garrity was better than Dirk. Some debates just 100% answer themselves over time. Bass/Pops is one of those debates.

If Leon Powe can hold his own against the Lakers, Pops should be able to do it. Their game are quite identical - extreme altheticism without a jump shot. We'd be content for Pops being a X-factor for vet min. He improves steadily last year.

On Diop's issue, I don't see any free agents nor draft pick can defend like Diop. As far as I know, the only one who may be the althetic center / forward can be Ibaka. He's the undersized althetic center who is a block awaiting to happen. Provided we don't have a pick, let's stick with Diop.

Unlike rookie, he can contribute right away. That's very important for us at this point.

I don't think the argument or debate should be about who is better between Bass and Pops, that is pretty obvious. The argument should be who is the better fit for this particular team. Bass is a decent fit but is too good to play backup minutes for Dirk but not good enough to play center or SF for extended minutes. Plus, he will either cost us or we will lose him.
Pops may be a better fit with this team because it will allow us to trade Bass to improve in other areas of need and will come at a cheaper price. 10-12 minutes a game is possible for Pops and his athleticism might just be a good fit with Kidd.

I say we should attempt to upgrade the SG and SF positions with a Bass, Howard, Stack, Jones, and/or George trade.
Take a good look at Pops this summer as a possible backup for Dirk.
Sign Brian Skinner to basically fill the role that Juwan Howard had last season.
Sign a good backup center with MLE (Okay with Diop but would rather have more athleticism with a pair of hands that can finish and protect the rim).