How do you build around Dirk and Nash with hindsight?

[MartinToVaught]

I wanted to say get D'Antoni as the coach to maximize Nash as much as possible, but then I realized this would have just marginalized Dirk even more. Plus it wouldn't solve their playoff woes.

I'm not really sure there was a clear-cut way to build around Dirk and Nash together.

They were a +8 SRS and tied 1-1 in the WCF with Dirk-Nash. They weren't a bad fit.

Dirk erupted into the MVP-caliber player we remember him as after Nash left. The media even noticed and pointed this out at the time:

https://slate.com/culture/2006/06/why-the-mavs-are-better-without-steve-nash.html

I can't look at that and not think SRS isn't telling the whole story. Last year's Jazz had a +9 SRS and they weren't anywhere near that good in reality.

[Blazers-1977]

I wanted to say get D'Antoni as the coach to maximize Nash as much as possible, but then I realized this would have just marginalized Dirk even more. Plus it wouldn't solve their playoff woes.

I'm not really sure there was a clear-cut way to build around Dirk and Nash together.

They were a +8 SRS and tied 1-1 in the WCF with Dirk-Nash. They weren't a bad fit.

Dirk erupted into the MVP-caliber player we remember him as after Nash left. The media even noticed and pointed this out at the time:

https://slate.com/culture/2006/06/why-the-mavs-are-better-without-steve-nash.html

I can't look at that and not think SRS isn't telling the whole story. Last year's Jazz had a +9 SRS and they weren't anywhere near that good in reality.

While the Mavs had clearly improved from 04 to 06, the question is whether or not they were really better than the 03 version. Also this might be another example of correlation isnt the same as causation as players usually peak around the time they are 27/28 so it does make sense that Dirk was better in 06 than 03 as well.

[Texas Chuck]

[ And I just don't buy the only way to get out of Raef's contract was hunting for offense. Management goofed up and it cost big time.

So again for me, all time bad off-season from an opportunity cost perspective this century:
2012 OKC
2003 DAL

We haven't had a real bad one this century. The Russ trade closed the door on LA but I was weigh less high on LA to begin with

I can't go back and time and tell you which other team would have taken Rafe but understand his knees were shot and Boston knew his knees were shot but wanted off Walker badly enough to hope for the best. Not sure there were a lot of options.

And Dallas averaged 60 wins a season, came within 5 quarters of a championnship and won 67 games. For the 03 off-season to somehow be the worst in 20 years you'd have to believe that an aging NVE and an injured Rafe were somehow going to have incredible seasons in Dallas they didn't have in their actual career.

I mean is the 03 off-season actually even worse than the 04 off-season in which they let the guy who wins the next 2 MVP's leave when he wanted to stay?

Dallas had one down year in 03-04 as that roster was a bad mix. But they knew it was a bad mix and it was simply to get off a bad contract. Not sure why I have to keep pointing out Dallas didn't keep Walker, but flipped him the next year back during a time when you could trade expiring contracts for unwanted players.

It's bizarre to me that everyone keeps painting that off-season as Dallas intentionally going out and targeting Walker. This deal wasn't made at the start of the off-season as part of a cohesive plan. It was made literally days before the start of the season and Dallas was stunned anyone would touch Lafrentz.

And let's look at Lafrentz. He managed all of 18 games that year and 1 start. He then managed two full seasons in Boston, but as a marginal player and then the wheels fell completely off. Getting off that contract is a positive even if it cost Dallas one year with a bad roster. They managed to turn Raef into Jason Terry for suffering through one year of Walker.

Wild this narrative. The 03-04 Mavs were a mess. And as a basketball team worse than the 02-03 Mavs without question. But we should at least understand how and why they got there.

[trex_8063]

My initial thought [haven't read any replies yet; EDIT: or the OP, just read the title]:

A lot of good [defensively versatile] 3&D role players, and one good limited minute rim-runner as sub for Dirk (someone like Dwight Powell).
And give Nash the reins.