I don’t think Powell plays even if one of them is out as long as Maxi is healthy.
Can PJ guard POA? Cause I would prefer Klay play PJs role on defense as that’s where he’s best suited right now. Keep him off quick guards
Where’s the reports? I straight up don’t believe it on Powell. The difference when Powell extends to attempt block a shot vs Gaff isn’t in the same universe and it’s not simply about Gaff having good timing or hops
Not a chance in hell he has a similar wingspan to Gafford. Dude has straight alligator arms.
This isn’t remotely a problem. Most teams don’t have one elite rim protector much less two. Having two elite rim protectors means one getting in foul trouble isn’t a problem. I don’t think there will be that many games where both get into serious foul trouble that it’s ever a problem because they are both smart defenders. If one gets in foul trouble the other will play more minutes and play smart enough the majority of the time to stay in the game long enough for the other to come back and help out. It’s not like they will be oblivious to the situation. If we only had one or the other it would be a problem but we have both. Complete non issue, in fact it’s a large strength that very few other NBA teams have. Now injuries are a different story, but that’s part of the game. No roster can really fully cover every single potential out to important players
It should be Klay and Luka guarding the forwards ideally. I think Klay can play perfectly solid defense against bigger wings. Making Klay defend any guards is simply shooting ourselves in the foot defensively. Find at way to have another POA defender defend the best guard with Kyrie taking the other one when Klay is on the floor. Even if it means moving PJ to the bench
PJ has to guard POA and shoot much better. I’m interested to see how that looks
A what now? Talk about over the top marketing tactics from Jazz fans lol
That’s fine but imo we have one of the best GMs in the league. I’d bet on him finding a way to get what we need. If you’d told me we would have got PJ and Gaff for what we gave up I’d have said no chance
PJ hasn’t done this since his second season in the league. Technically he can but his trending direction is completely the wrong way right now
Klay will be best for Dallas at the 4. Like that’s not even a question. I know he won’t start there, but Klay best fit defensively is 100% guarding bigger slower wings vs quicker guards. Exactly the defensive role PJ plays. Also JKidd rarely ever finishes a season with the same starting unit he starts with. PJ is by far the weakest link. You sound like a guy who’s content with status quo and not keen to look for reasons why we actually lost the finals and want to improve them. PJ is a solid player who was 100% a big factor in us losing the finals. It’s not even really debatable that his offensive weaknesses were a big factor. I don’t just want us to be in fantastic shape I want us to do everything possible to resolve the issues that lost us a title
A guy that can defend well (not necessarily elite just to a good level like PJ) and also shoot at a high enough clip to not be left alone by defenses can’t be acquired? They aren’t unicorns, they are highly valued but it’s not like we need a Mikal Bridges who’s also a really good scorer. The idea that can’t be had with our assets I don’t buy at all
Dallas was hot garbage right after the trade with PJ getting starter minutes. Things only turned around when Gafford was put into the starting lineup and got proper minutes and Green was taken out of the lineup for DJJ. The Lively and Gafford combo has WAY more to do with the improved defense than PJ Washington, a guy who was literally benched for the worst team in the league. lol at people legit thinking PJ is anything more than a good solid player. I like him but he’s eminently replaceable. And Naji Marshall could easily be the one to replace him though if Grimes gets back to his form his second season with the Knicks it’s prob gonna be him and Klay moves to the 4 which will be his best position defensively at this point in his career anyway. Klay was fine defending bigger wings for the Warriors he only really had issue defending quicker guards at POA.
I don’t think the point of this post is for you to trust a redditors decisions over Nicos. This type of thread is exactly what a fans sub is supposed to contain. I don’t get why people think shitting on thought exercises by fans is cool. It’s literally every fans right, and literally a big part of being a fan.
That’s great but you illustrated an obvious weakness that can be upgraded. Theres no point accomodating a clear weakness regardless of it having the potential to be minimised by a new addition if you can eradicate it. Thats exactly what we should look to be doing at the TDL. Hell if Marshall shows his shooting is real and can defend well id easily put him in the starting unit as he has even better ball handling capabilities. Also PJ already has been getting wide open looks. He still shoots 32%. If he shoots poorly on wide open shots the concept he gets a few more and it means he’s gonna now shoot well isn’t particularly logical. OKC series isn’t evidence of anything other than shooting variance means even a 32% shooter who’s wide open can occasionally shoot well. Thats statistically likely, what isn’t is it happening consistently enough across an actual important sample size
You have to actually win a championship for that. Acting like PJs shooting wasn’t a huge liability that contributed heavily to losing the finals is a bit head in the sand thinking. I’m ok with PJ but he can easily be upgraded (if Marshall can show his shooting is real and show he can defend POA if put him in the starting unit comfortably, same thing with Grimes)
He needs to do more than just work on his shooting. He gives every high level defense a player they can sag off to keep connected. He’d have to show a huge uptick in his shooting that there is currently no evidence of. I’d take a small drop in defense at the position for a much better shooter that keeps defenses completely stretched defending our offense. In fact if one of Marshall or Grimes show they can defend POA really well and shoot I’d easily drop PJ to the bench for one of them. I’d be perfectly comfortable with Klay at the 4 also
Didn’t realise Lauri was a high level perimeter defender
We still have the 3/4 to upgrade. People can be satisfied with PJ but he has clear weaknesses that can be exploited by high levels defenses. The last piece is a quality starting wing defender who can shoot at a high level and has some creation abilities. Thats what I’m expecting us to look for at the TDL mid season
Except Naji literally did that last season with SGA. Find it strange people talking about what guys from other teams can or can’t do when they clearly haven’t seen much of them. Also DJJ was not even close to an amazing defender when he came to Dallas. He was above avg to solid at absolute best and every Bulls fan will tell you so hence him barely getting minutes for a bad team. He was by no metrics an amazing defender even for Dallas, just a pretty good one who got punished by size. PJ was NOT considered a good defender by Hornets fans because he actually wasn’t very good. My god ppl like to rewrite history to support a narrative.
Mavs didn’t give DJJ a chance to showcase anything, both he and PJ who are solid but not elite defenders got elevated by Lively and Gafford (hence DJJ being part of a terrible Mavs defense the first half of the season with no Gafford and Lively still figuring out the NBA, he wasn’t elevating anything he was barely playing then because he wasn’t particularly good). The same way Luka elevates guys offensively who get made to look better than they actually are (see THJ for many years). Like how much did you actually watch DJJ while he was on the Bulls and Naji on the Pelicans to have such definitive statements about their capabilities pre Dallas? Or are you just going off a few games watched, some highlights and other internet comments like most people?
DJJ is being super overrated because he had incredible talent elevators both on offense (Luka) and defense (Lively/Gaff combo). I guarantee on the Clippers he becomes a very avg role player for them, not because I wish him anything but the best but because he’s an incredibly limited player who won’t have the same elevators lifting him up like he did here
Uhhh, yes. Wanna guess what the number 1 ranked Timberwolves defensive rating was on the season? Since you seem to actually think a 107 defensive rating isn’t good lol
Metrics are metrics. You can point to whatever eye test issues you want, a 107 defensive rating and a 102 offensive rating makes it statistically 100% clear cut what the issue was
Much older slower team? The only old guys are maxi, Kyrie and Klay. And Kyrie is not remotely slow. Where are all the old slow guys exactly?
If he could shoot a lick I’d be ok with it. For a player playing a light number of minutes with what we already have on the bench (Grimes is already the POA guy along with Exum) I’d rather someone that can shoot tbh even if they aren’t fantastic defensively.
Defense?
Mavericks