DALLAS — Considering what little they had to work with, the Mavs’ offseason is off to a bang-up start. They turned a draft pick into three players; dumped Davis Bertans’ contract; signed one of the best shooters in league history on the cheap; and retained Kyrie Irving’s services at a discount. Heck, Nico Harrison did such a good job on the last item, Kyrie might not even have time to get antsy before the deal is up.
Now if Nico could undo some of the damage done last summer, we could almost call it even.
To that end, the Mavs reportedly acquired Boston’s Grant Williams, an honest-to-goodness 3-and-D forward, in a three-way trade Wednesday, though they missed out on Matisse Thybulle, a 6-5, 26-year-old wing, after Portland matched their offer sheet.
The appeal of Williams is that he doesn’t need the ball in his hands to make an impact. A good thing, too, because Luka Doncic likes the ball. Likes it a little too much, if you ask me.
Between Luka and Kyrie, the Mavs own one of the most ball-dominant backcourts in the league. They’re resigned to it. As Nico said in exit interviews, the problem last season wasn’t Luka or Kyrie, it was all those guys standing around with nothing to do. Except try to play defense, that is.
And that’s the new plan, right? Surrounding Luka and Kyrie with better defense? Remember the old plan? Surrounding Luka with shooters? It’s a new world every October at AAC.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m all for the Mavs renovating their defense, which was about as tight last year as your grandmother’s security system. Besides drafting Dereck Lively II and Olivier Maxence-Prosper and trading for Richaun Holmes, they’ve also reportedly agreed to a deal with Dante Exum, who spent the last couple seasons in Europe after his game went south.
Exum is a rangy 6-5 type who gets in the way. He’s also another sign of the influence of Dennis Lindsey, hired by Mark Cuban in the offseason to fast-track the learning curve of his GM.
Lindsey drafted Exum back in 2014 when he was the GM in Utah. The Mavs also recently hired Alex Jensen, an assistant who worked the last decade for the Jazz and is credited with the development of Rudy Gobert.
Just how much influence Lindsey wields is hard to say, but if he had anything to do with Seth Curry’s return, he’s already earned his keep. Curry can still shoot it, and he’ll make just under $10 million over the next two seasons. As opposed to Tim Hardaway Jr., who’ll make $34 million over the same span for the same kind of work.
Let me ask: If you needed someone to hit a 3-pointer to save your life, who would you pick, Curry or THJ?
Me, too.
The problem with Curry is he’s not guarding anybody, a position already taken by Kyrie and, to a lesser extent, Luka. Don’t expect to see all three on the floor at the same time. It’ll be interesting enough to see how much time Jason Kidd plays Luka and Kyrie together. Might seem natural enough to let Luka get his points early and make Kyrie the closer, but only if Kidd’s determined to chase Luka out of town. Superstars don’t take back seats in go time.
Speaking of superstars, the kind ranked among the best ever usually are two-way types who don’t necessarily need others to do their dirty work. Maybe Luka’s new streamlined look will afford him the energy to work harder on defense. He’s got the size and instincts for it. If he backs off his usage rate a little, as he should, he should have enough gas for at least a few critical stops a game.
Otherwise, adding Williams, who might double down at tight end in the Cowboys’ 12 personnel package, helps immensely. He can guard any position in the frontcourt. Had the Mavs succeeded in acquiring Thybulle, too, it would have dramatically altered the mindset of the roster.
The good news is, because they traded for Williams, they still have their midlevel exception. They need to use it on someone like Thybulle, though it’d be nice if the new guy could also generate his own shot. Unless Luka changes his pound-the-ball style, the Mavs are still too reliant on catch-and-shoot players.
Of course, Kyrie creates his own shot as well as anyone in the history of the game. A magician with the ball. Which should tell you something when a player of his caliber, one still in his prime, can’t get even a whiff of a max contract.
Or at least it ought to tell Kyrie something, except I don’t think he listens much.
The Mavs rolled the dice on him at the deadline, and they couldn’t let him go for nothing. Couldn’t go all in, either. They bet on the short term with a different look, an unfinished one. Let’s hope they get it done while Kyrie’s still here to enjoy it.
