Bob8 wrote:Kobe187 wrote:bb22 wrote:
Yes. Kyrie is a scoring PG and AD can’t create efficient shots on his own. He likes getting the ball on the perimeter, but has poor ball handling and passing. His midrange and 3pt shot have not been there recently. Now, this may all turn around on a different team, but if you’re relying on AD to carry/run the offense you’re in trouble. They should try to get a true PG. It won’t make you a championship team, but Chris Paul is available.
Yes they took a hit offensively, but got significantly better defensively. If Luka gave you 35 a night, AD will give you 25 a night, Kyrie will be the main scorer for the team and the role players (Thompson, Gafford etc.) will have to average a couple more points per game which they should be capable of, the whole system will have to change offensively but there should be better ball movement, let’s see how the new offensive system plays out, the improvement on defence shouldn’t be understated though, significantly better, getting beat to the bucket killed them against Boston.
Just watch some past Mavs games and you will see that ball movement is non existent, Klay doesn't even get shots for a full quarters. I don't understand how below average passer like AD can help there. Mavs were built for Luka, now Dinwiddie tries to do the same things, which he can't, Kyrie is playing Iso like before, but now he has better defender on him and worse spacing.
Mavs have lost the best half court player in the league and replaced him with a big, who's not particularly good shooter and people believe that can work?
I think this really gets understated... Kyrie has evolved into a great scorer who is tough to stop, but he's only averaging 4.8 APG with Luka out. He still doesn't know how to really run an offense. Dinwiddie has been the starting PG since Luka has been out, and he's not really a starter anymore. Kyrie plays more like a SG than a PG currently.
During the 2024/2025 season
Kyrie w/Luka per36 (469 minutes)
PPG - 22.5
APG - 4.8
TS - 64.2%
3PT % - 50.9%
USG - 22.9
Kyrie w/o Luka per36 (893 minutes)
PPG - 25.5
APG - 4.9
TS - 57.8%
3PT % - 38.5%
USG - 29.1
League average TS is 57.4%
Obviously Kyrie wasn't going to shoot 50% from three, but he was so much more efficient playing next to Luka who is a fantastic playmaker.
It's a similar trend with AD
AD w/Lebron per36 (881 minutes)
PPG - 25.3
BPG - 2.5
SPG - 1.7
TS - 63.1%
USG - 27.9
AD w/o Lebron per36 (525 minutes)
PPG - 30.9
BPG - 2.0
SPG - 0.8
TS - 57.8%
USG - 36.2
His defense does tend to fall off with more offensive work load, and he barely shooting above league average when Lebron isn't on the floor. I don't think this fit is the slam dunk many people are clamoring it to be. I don't doubt that AD is going to be the #1 option, huge concerns of mine are will Kyrie be able to get him easy buckets? Will AD be able to give the same defensive effort if he's the focal point offensively? Will Kyrie be able to run the offense? Kyrie and AD played with 2 of the best passers in the NBA in Doncic and Lebron... they made their lives so much easier... how will they fare when they're tasked to anchor the offense (and in AD's case the defense aswell)?
