Lively has been great, but rim protection and rebounding are still our largest problems. We have the HIGHEST opponent FG% within 6 ft of the rim in the league. 71.4%!!! We are also the lowest team in the league in contested defensive rebounds, even though our defensive rebounding chances are only slightly below average. Grant is too small to be PF imo and Lively cannot play 48 minutes a night.
The thing is they have a pretty stacked frontcourt with the Wagners, Banchero, Bitadze, Isaac and WCJ and they are doing great without WCJ right now, beating contenders every night. I know he is important to them, but the fact that the Magic’s best stretch of basketball in maybe a decade coincides with his absence may mean they start considering listening to offers?
If I am being perfectly honest, and I said it even this summer, but my ideal scenario is a trade of Kyrie to Orlando for a package of Orlando’s young guys. Get guys on Luka’s timeline who are less redundant with Luka’s strengths and weaknesses. Orlando does it because Kyrie gets them a true floor general and they have a lot of depth they can consolidate into one All-Star. But now that Orlando is arguably the hottest team in the league they probably don’t want to rock the boat.
This is what happens when you die by the three and also don’t play defense. What a pathetic game from everyone but Luka and Kyrie. Get well soon Lively!
Shop Kleber, Hardy, Holmes and even THJ for defensive upgrades. I would try to work for a package like Caruso and Drummond from Chicago. Green should also be on the table for someone more consistent.
The hard fact is no matter how good our offense is, we are not a contender as long as our defense is below average. And it is not merely below average, it is as bad as last year’s. Lively, DJJ, Exum and Grant should have all been upgrades over last year’s rotation but we aren’t seeing it in effect because it has been offset by falloffs from Green, Tim and Powell (our three best defenders last year.) We can’t afford to not have three elite defenders next to Luka and Kyrie if we want to be a top 10 defense.
Yeah, my unwavering opinion is we are not contenders because we have a far below average defense. No team less than 11th in DRating has won in a hell of a long time. Ever?
But we are the 2nd best offense in NBA history, so we are fun to watch and could give some playoff teams trouble, maybe even win a round or so. Our defensive personnel should be doing better than they are. I kinda blame the coaching tbh.
NY and LA sports media not caring about flyover country is not surprising.
Maxi is not healthy and hasn’t been for like a year and a half. That’s the fundamental problem - Maxi’s role (a 3&D big) is exactly what we need given our struggles against larger teams like Minny and Denver. If we can get someone with more reliable health than Maxi, ideally without giving up any of our rotation, that’s a win.
I love the arms race between Luka, Jokic and Embiid. What a great global era of basketball we live in! Luka has to rise above and be the best of the three to be in the GOAT conversation. I think Luka has a good chance to win MVP just because he hasn’t won yet if there is a three-way tie. But after that if you want to put “narrative” to bed, you have to dominate even Jokic and Embiid.
I think Luka’s best chance to do that is really to be an elite shooter on high volume. Imagine if Luka was basically Steph Curry from 3, in addition to all the things he is now. So far so good this season.
Get Marion in here to show him the tricks of the trade.
LockedOn Mavs posts every day and does pretty in depth discussions.
I definitely agree. I am kind of interested in the Pablo Laso idea Luka supported but I wonder how he would do in an NBA situation where players don’t want to be screamed at.
Kidd is a perfect coach for a team that just wants to keep stars happy with his chill personality and a let em play attitude, and a bad coach for winning a ring. I still think we should have kept Carlisle or hired Kokoshov as head coach.