Kyrie isn't going to be Kyrie for much longer. Yeah, you have to run it back, but I think that between Denver, OKC, and Minnesota, this was Dallas' best chance.
NBA
East - Atlantic |
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Boston Celtics |
Brooklyn Nets |
New York Knicks |
Philadelphia Sixers |
Toronto Raptors |
East - Central |
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Chicago Bulls |
Cleveland Cavaliers |
Detroit Pistons |
Indiana Pacers |
Milwaukee Bucks |
East - Southeast |
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Atlanta Hawks |
Charlotte Hornets |
Miami Heat |
Orlando Magic |
Washington Wizards |
West - Northwest |
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Denver Nuggets |
Minnesota Timberwolves |
Oklahoma City Thunder |
Portland Trailblazers |
Utah Jazz |
West - Pacific |
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Golden State Warriors |
Los Angeles Clippers |
Los Angeles Lakers |
Phoenix Suns |
Sacramento Kings |
West - Southwest |
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Dallas Mavericks |
Houston Rockets |
Memphis Grizzlies |
New Orleans Pelicans |
San Antonio Spurs |
Yeah this year was definitely their best chance. I think Denver would’ve beat them (Wolves are just a tough matchup for them) and OKC is on the upswing so it’ll be harder next year.
They still have a chance as long as Kyrie is Kyrie but like you said that’s not going to be much longer. Once he starts to decline they may have some more future picks available and can swing something but outside of that they’re hoping to luck into someone making a jump that’s not expected.
What do guys think they need, a good 2-way wing? They already have a pretty solid frontcourt in Gafford/Lively/PJ and obviously 2 star guards. But they need some help on defense with Luka and Kyrien both being liabilities on that end. I wonder who they can get.
The obvious answer is yes. That ship sailed when they traded for Kyrie. Kyrie and Luka's defense improved tremendously this year. So the answer is Luka has to improve his conditioning and defense. IF he can move his feet a bit quicker he can be that much better on defense.
I don't understand the cap space well. They will have to resign Derrick and he will be at least 10M? That's already over the cap?
There’s a lot more nuance about how much you can offer but in short you can go over the cap to resign your own players.
Ok so Derrick won't be a problem.
And Tim is likely getting traded. He's like 15M.
For Lively specifically since he’s a rookie they can retain him through the 2027-2028 season.
Yeah that's just godmode. Having such a player for so long on rookie salary.
Its amazing if he stays as good as he is now and there is absolutely no reason he won't become way better.
FADED
Not a sweep, they took the series 4-1.
A sweep generally means winning 4-0.
Game 5 - 106-88
Game 4 - 84-122
Game 3 - 106-99
Game 2 - 105-98
Game 1 - 107-89
I said “gentleman’s sweep” which means a team won in 5 games. Some say it’s specifically when a team goes up 3-0, is a “gentleman” and lets the other team win 1 at home to not get swept, and then finishes the series in game 5. Which would also be the case here.
This series was more like a "prolonging the suffering" sweep. Other than a few competitive quarters the Mavs never looked like they had a chance to win this series unfortunately. Game 4 was such an obvious fluke at that point. I'm saying this as a purple and gold blooded Boston hater: The Celtics were just too good for anything the West had to put up against them this year to have a good series (for anyone but Boston fans that is haha).
A gentleman's swep is a specific 4-1 win where the winners take games 1-3, loose 4 and win game 5