realEAST wrote:Hi guys, I've been scrolling through this thread trying to see how do you feel about Derrick White and it seems he has quite a few fans here, and I can completely understand why - that's what brought me here.
So, I am probably going to ask an unpopular question, but for what kind of deal would you consider trading him?
I think he would be terrific fit on Dallas (even more unpopular, I know, sorry). Would you be interested in a deal centered around #18 and Brunson?
I'll throw out two potential deals and you don't be too hard:
1. Brunson, D. Wright, J. Jackson, #18 for D. White, R. Gay
2. Brunson, Powell, #18, #31 for D. White, R. Gay (maybe #41?)
Thanks for the responses.
Hello realEAST, thanks for you interest. Looks like we can't keep Derrick under the radar any longer. Like Phreak said, the short answer is no to both offers.
The explanation basically centers around the fact that I think we're giving two of the best players in the deal, even with Rudy being in his 30s and coming off a disappointing season. He still averaged more PPG than anyone potentially coming back, is a responsible defender, and a great locker room vet.
Doing some reading up on the players you suggest, Brunson is a small backup PG who doesn't do any one thing particularly well, and he would need something that stands out positively for us to take on someone into our crowded guard situation.
Jackson had chances to shine especially with Mavs' injuries but instead his play got him buried deeper on the bench. While we're good at reclamation projects (ie/ Lyles, Rudy), we've taken them on as FAs and at times in tight situations, but not in giving the better players in a trade.
Jackson is a 6’9” player who avoids contact at all costs and has very little power to his game. For example, he dunked just twice all season and there were many occasions where he put the ball up soft when he had a chance to simply slam the ball through the rim. If he cant defend well, can’t shoot well, and does’t do any dirty work then he doesn’t seem to have a long term future in the NBA, let alone Dallas.
https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2020/9/5/21422297/justin-jackson-dallas-mavericks-2019-2020-nba-season-reviewOof. This is not a player that would get minutes for us either. No hustle in your role, no minutes.
Rudy is a bucket, and has that sense of knowing when to step up with a physical drive, a dunk, or a clutch 3. He may not do it as often or as athletically, but he contributes, doubling Jackson's output in points, rebounds, assists and efficiency.
Continuing with reclamation, we signed Rudy coming off an Achilles injury, and I don't think we'd take on Powell with his hamstring and Achilles histories when we have Trey, Luka, Rudy, LMA if he returns (who's been mostly a C for us the last couple of years) and maybe (but I don't think we keep him) Metu. Powell has a great work ethic and is wonderful with community work. And as much as he has improved on O with rolling to and finishing at the rim, his poor rim protection, rebounding, and lack of physicality down low are not good fits for us as we're focusing on D-out two-way players at every position. If he played PF he'd be behind a couple of players, if C and we keep LMA then same thing (Jakob is our back-up C); if we trade LMA, then depending on who we got back, Powell would split minutes with Jakob. But as a starter at nearly five more minutes per game than Rudy, Gay still outscores him albeit slightly, and gets about the same assists and rebounds while hitting the 3 well (on more attempts) and defending decently.
Wright I feel is similar to Brunson in that I think he's a smart player, but what does he do better that would make us give up Derrick? And whose minutes would he take? We're moving to a DJ-Derrick starting back court, Lonnie needs minutes to develop, I think we retain back-up PG Weatherspoon, and Patty is the team's spirit leader so he's not going anywhere this season at least.
The argument can be made that we get the extra picks - so that would make four picks in this year's draft which would have more value if there are players we're secretly in love with in the latter third of the draft (or maybe use to flip for a better player as Dallas is trying to do). There may be, but would we give up on Derrick who we've developed, who is arguably our best defender, who averaged 18.8/4/5 in 31 minutes per game as a starter? I doubt it.
He's a total package on both ends for us, completely coachable, does community work, is a great teammate, and has room to grow.
To whatever extent there's homerism in my assessments, I think it's fair to say that if Dallas had Derrick they would not trade him for these proposals. It sounds as if
variations of these packages are being proposed for other players to improve Dallas's roster. The interstate rivalry may contribute to hesitancy in making a trade, but it's really about best assets and redundancy/priorities (ie/D-out players) that I think would make these a no for us.
Budweiser... oof!
