Looks like the draft is going to become a 2-night event. I'm sure this is just for money and remaining in the headlines during the offseason, but they also say they expect there to be more trades given the long wait between round 1 and round 2.

Kyrie with a season high 44. Mavs beat the Knicks who were coming off 5 straight wins.

Mavericks, Raptors have had trade talks over Pascal Siakam; per @JakeLFischer

“I know there are absolutely people in Dallas who really think Pascal is a missing piece that could potentially pair with Luka [Doncic] and Kyrie Irving and all of a sudden you look up and the… pic.twitter.com/KjjfUpX56D

— BASKETBALL ON 𝕏 (@BasketballOnX) January 12, 2024

What would the Mavs have to send? THJ+Josh+Maxi and a far future 1st? And is that too much for a guy who may not even sign a long term contract?

My understanding is the market for Pascal is really trash now because Pascal wont' sign an extension.

Sending out bits and pieces may be all they can get at this point. Toronto waited too long on OG and Pascal if they wanted to rebuild around Scottie.

Terrible coaching by Kidd late in the game. Goes small and lets Valenciunas bully ball us and then decides to double off of Hawkins who has been NOs best shooter all game.

Can't quite seem to erase this lead that has bounced from 4-8 for most of the game, it seems like.

Should have been a schedule win with NO on the second night of a back to back and resting all their best players…

shack009 said:

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Should have been a schedule win with NO on the second night of a back to back and resting all their best players…

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We either have a coach that needs to be fired or a GM that can't assemble talent good enough to beat the Pelicans bench.

I blame Kidd more

Kidd's "that's the nba" and "win some lose some" is weak. These bad losses happen too often.

We just aren't that good and it pisses me off.

It was also a weird game for us with no Luka, no Lively, no Exum (who would have thought this would be important 2 months ago?), and Maxi's first game back.

But still should have been enough to win tonight. Grant Williams continues to be completely miserable after a really nice start to the season. Seth Curry has been a lot worse than expected too. People were talking about Seth like a mini X-factor before the season and now it's a miracle if he looks decent in a game.

No Luka again. Is this 3 games missed in a row?

Well today's performance should buy hardaway some slack for a few off games going forward.

Probably as good a deal as they can get. Wild that Indians would send off Bruce Brown right after way overpaying for him in free agency.

Bruce Brown makes no sense for Toronto though. He is a win-now guy and they would be decidedly not in win now mode with this deal. He might help them win more games than they would want. Wonder if Mavs could get in as a 3rd team somehow.

Three first rounders to rent Siakam?!?! Would love him on the Mavs but not at that price. Hard pass.

They basically have to include Brown for salary matching purposes. Him, Hield and Turner are the only guys on the team making more than $10m. And Carlisle loves Turner.

So the trade with either be 3 FRP plus:
Brown+Hield (doubtful - Pacers need Hields spacing)
Brown+McConnel (doubtful - Carlisle loves him)
Brown+Nwora+Jalen Smith (my bet - Nwora is fodder but Jalen Smith is a guy the Raptors would value and is kinda redundant with Jarace Walker on the Pacers roster waiting)

Just heard on Take Dat Wit You with Followill and Dameris that the Mavs are 18-6 when THJ makes three or more 3s. So we are 6-11 when THJ doesn't make three 3s. Wild.

Siakam trade is official. Seems like a huge overpay, but I guess Indiana is hoping that he brings enough defense to make them contenders. They are so fun to watch, so it'll be interesting to see how much he improves them.

Indiana's 2024, Worst of the Clippers/OKC pick this year and a top 4 protected Indiana pick in 26.

The 2024 picks seem pretty worthless honestly lol.

Agreed, and assuming they still have Haliburton, 2026 won't be great either. Still seems like they could get more considering there are dumb GMs that think "3 first round picks."

All they did was upgrade from Bruce Brown to Siakam. They may be top 4 in the east now, but it's probably decidedly 4th.

M.C. Swag said:

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The 2024 picks seem pretty worthless honestly lol.

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Right now, the picks would be the 18th and 27th picks this year in a bad draft.

Toronto's pick (top 6 protected) belongs to San Antonio this year.

And Indiana is only 1 game out of their pick being more like 24th instead of 17th.

shack009 said:

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And Indiana is only 1 game out of their pick being more like 24th instead of 17th.

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2 games separates 4th and 8th and Indiana is in the middle. But then 9th is 4 games below that and Chicago, Atlanta, Brooklyn and Toronto are in a huddle for 9th-12. I don't see Indiana dropping unless Halliburton gets hurt.

Pascal expected to extend with Indiana.

Mavs focused on PJ from Charlotte.

Raptors trying to flip Bruce Brown.

Lakers trying to get Collin Sexton and/or Tyus Jones

Would love to be able to get Bruce Brown. Another wing defender and he's a good rebounder, which we need. He can play small ball 4 and 5. But man the contract he signed this offseason was wild.

I like PJ, but I worry he has an inflated value. Not sure I'd want to give up a 1st round pick for him when we could have 3 available for trades this offseason.

shack009 said:

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Would love to be able to get Bruce Brown. Another wing defender and he's a good rebounder, which we need. He can play small ball 4 and 5. But man the contract he signed this offseason was wild.

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I don't get the fit for Bruce Brown. He's another undersized, non shooter (we have a million of those). We need a true 4 and backup big. Bruce is a good player, but he doesn't address any of the Mavs deficiencies.

Plus the Mavs will either have to opt in to his last year and pay him $20m (he's nice, but not THAT nice) or decline it and essentially rent him for half a season. Neither is a really attractive option.

I think he'd be one of the best defenders on the team almost immediately. I wouldn't say he's a non-shooter. He shot it well in Brooklyn when they were playing small ball and he was passable in Denver. Guys like him will shoot better when Luka is running the point. He also offers some ball handling and secondary playmaking. I would much rather have him than THJ, who would have to be part of the deal, I would think.

shack009 said:

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I think he'd be one of the best defenders on the team almost immediately. I wouldn't say he's a non-shooter. He shot it well in Brooklyn when they were playing small ball and he was passable in Denver. Guys like him will shoot better when Luka is running the point. He also offers some ball handling and secondary playmaking. I would much rather have him than THJ, who would have to be part of the deal, I would think.

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I guess I don't see the impetus for swapping a 6th man for a 6th man given the fact that there's no obvious 'need' being filled. Plus the cost it would take to acquire him (Toronto isn't just gonna accept THJ)...I dont see it.

Like, yes I agree he would be a better rebounded and defender but it's another body that would need his offense spoon-fed to him by Luka. Additionally, the type of defense he would provide would be good but wouldn't address the current deficiency we have against teams with size.

And while THJ is a horrendous defender, he's 1 of the only players on our roster who can reliably generate his own offense. That's valuable for this roster. So at best i feel like a bruce brown trade is just re-arranging deck chairs on the titanic.

Now, there is a Pacer I would be interested in who is buried on their depth chart; Obi Toppin. He enters RFA this summer (so that would bring some complications), but he would fill a need (added size and front court depth) and would allow DJJ to move to his natural position at the 3. At worst, he eliminates the need for Maxi or Powell to play (instead they become options).

Yeah I suppose I agree with that. Would love Obi. Especially with this team pushing tempo, he's a great guy to have. Is he available for a second round pick or two?

The fact he doesn't have an extension and the way their front court roster is built (Siakam, Walker, Smith, Turner), he seems entirely gettable. I assume it wouldn't take much to get him.

Do we make the playoffs this year?


It's still mind boggling to me that with a talent like Luka, we are on the bubble.

With Dirk, we were spoiled with 50 wins seasons every year. Is our team building just terrible? Or is Luka's style hurting us?

My guess is our coach is one of the worst coaches in the league who should not be a HC.

awinlonghorn said:

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Do we make the playoffs this year?


It's still mind boggling to me that with a talent like Luka, we are on the bubble.

With Dirk, we were spoiled with 50 wins seasons every year. Is our team building just terrible? Or is Luka's style hurting us?

My guess is our coach is one of the worst coaches in the league who should not be a HC.

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We will definitely at least be in the play-in (barring catastrophic injury) and it's a coin toss that we get a top 6 seed. The Mavs are the most injured team in the league (only CHA and MEM have had guys miss more games when you count suspensions), so hopefully we get healthy down the stretch and get some continuity both in availability and in performance.

There is the possibility of a trade still, though it probably won't be a big splash. Nobody would argue the roster is complete and ready to compete for championships, but having Luka and Kyrie pulls everybody up. Grant has been very disappointing this year, likely because he's playing though injury.

The Mavs heavily rely on the three ball, which leads to a roller coaster season where we can beat the best team in the west or a hot NYK team, but then we can lose to New Orleans' backups or a bad LAL.

Regarding Kidd, Tim Cato said something the other day that is probably true: There are about 5 coaches in the league who truly add a few wins per year to a team and there are about 5 that are so bad that they take away some wins from their team. Kidd is in neither category. It has to be difficult managing a locker room with Luka and Kyrie and, as far as we know, there isn't any internal strife. So you do have to give Kidd credit for that.

Still doesn't feel like this team is meshing close to where he could be. There's still an awkward dynamic in play and the roles aren't defined. We can't have Luka and Kyrie avoiding stepping on each other's toes and hope to succeed