Post by The Athletic on Jul 26, 2022 12:06:45 GMT -5
What’s up bro? Excited to hear what your vision is for the Dallas Mavericks bro. It’s been a long time coming!
Ayo! Hyped for the season. Can't wait for preseason let alone opening night.
I feel like your career in here has all really led up to this year. But before we tackle that- let’s start with last year. What are your overall thoughts on how last year went?
Going into the year I thought I could find myself in a position to try to cash in towards playoff time. Unfortunately the world had other plans. It was a disaster but not really in ways that, in my opinion, were in my hands. Onyeka hurt before it started. Jamal out for the year. MPJ goes down week two just before the 15 game cutoff. I explored trading some if not all of them to try to compete but ultimately the patient approach and a small retool for this season made the most sense by far. I'm glad I was able to consolidate (Bam) and sell pieces I didn't care for long term (Brooks) and get solid value on those moves. Definitely made a few smaller ones as well but nothing too notable.
I know we’ve seen bits and pieces in chat but this is your chance to expand and go into the nitty gritty. What’re the expectations for the squad next year? What would define as a “successful” year?
I know this is kinda a cop out but I really have almost an entire roster of guys with a ton of potential variance. Mann and Bam are really the only guys I know for sure what I'm going to get. With that in mind, success is all about a few things. First, I need to see at least a few of my guys take real steps forward. Second, I need to make smart moves to capitalize on a window if it does open. Obviously, at the bare minimum I need to make the playoffs and compete in those matchups. With some real developmental breaks maybe I can set loftier goals midseason but that is too in the air to really speak on right now.
Jamal/MPJ are back from really tough injuries. What are you hoping both of them bring to the table this coming year?
I just want to see them both hoop. I expect I get their best ball at the end of the year and I'm fine with that. I think I'm deep enough to overcome any minutes restrictions they face early on.
I still remember you telling me Jalen was your guy. First off congrats, secondly what made you so confident that he was your guy?
Man, I remember the first time I started watching his tape and being confused what I was missing. I think he was a mid-second round prospect at that point. I genuinely couldn't find flaws. Sure, he's a not a freshman, but the dude grew almost a foot in the past few years. Age matters less with that context and age is really his only "flaw". He shoots well from all over, can create, gets boards, and is efficient in all ways. Great basketball IQ. Winner. Insane plus wingspan (believe he is 6'6 with a 7'2 wingspan) so he can guard 1-4. Essentially he has traits that keep him on the floor and skills to make the most of the minutes in our scoring. Anyways, I locked in on him for 23. Then he starts creeping from mid second up to late first up to mid first until the Thunder pop him at 12 on draft night. Love it as a landing spot for our format, especially if they let him run the second unit. As a Thunder fan I was over the moon but I thought I was screwed in here. I was deep in everyone's DMs tryna fin out if he would slide to me. Let's see how good my eval was.
Outside of Spida, Jamal, Bam, MPJ, which younger piece are you most excited about this year?
Obviously I'm huge on Jalen but I'd have to go Day'ron here. I really think he is slept on. I know he fell in our draft but he was a first IRL and the Nets really believe in him. They still haven't signed a vet 5 and he dropped almost 40 pounds from draft day. The shot looks pretty smooth too. Maybe he's nothing but with how he racks up stlks and can pass and rebound if he does play I think he can be a difference maker in this format. Honorable mentions to Onyeka and Hunter who could really be huge for me too.
I’d be be pretty surprised if you don’t make the playoffs. Can you confidently say this is your coming out party? Playoffs minimum for atleast the next 5-6 years?
I would be pretty shocked if I didn't make the playoffs. The past few years I've had some B-tier top players (jamal, mpj, spida) but never much productive depth behind them because I was rostering so many developmental guys. I made a conscious decision to go get Hunter, Monk, and Duarte to really raise the floor rather than roster rookies from picks 14 and 18. Also, I targeted guys who are locked up for a while. If you look at the roster I can pretty much entirely keep the gang together for at minimum a few more years. I'll need a few guys to really develop how I think they can, but I'm happy to be at a point where I genuinely like every single guy on my roster 14 deep and if my evals are correct I can run this thing. Let's see what happens.
If you could eliminate one team in the playoffs this year who would it be and why?
MFK matchups. M a Drew matchup. F a Remy matchup, K a Lor matchup. Interpret that however you want.
there you go
Ayo! Hyped for the season. Can't wait for preseason let alone opening night.
I feel like your career in here has all really led up to this year. But before we tackle that- let’s start with last year. What are your overall thoughts on how last year went?
Going into the year I thought I could find myself in a position to try to cash in towards playoff time. Unfortunately the world had other plans. It was a disaster but not really in ways that, in my opinion, were in my hands. Onyeka hurt before it started. Jamal out for the year. MPJ goes down week two just before the 15 game cutoff. I explored trading some if not all of them to try to compete but ultimately the patient approach and a small retool for this season made the most sense by far. I'm glad I was able to consolidate (Bam) and sell pieces I didn't care for long term (Brooks) and get solid value on those moves. Definitely made a few smaller ones as well but nothing too notable.
I know we’ve seen bits and pieces in chat but this is your chance to expand and go into the nitty gritty. What’re the expectations for the squad next year? What would define as a “successful” year?
I know this is kinda a cop out but I really have almost an entire roster of guys with a ton of potential variance. Mann and Bam are really the only guys I know for sure what I'm going to get. With that in mind, success is all about a few things. First, I need to see at least a few of my guys take real steps forward. Second, I need to make smart moves to capitalize on a window if it does open. Obviously, at the bare minimum I need to make the playoffs and compete in those matchups. With some real developmental breaks maybe I can set loftier goals midseason but that is too in the air to really speak on right now.
Jamal/MPJ are back from really tough injuries. What are you hoping both of them bring to the table this coming year?
I just want to see them both hoop. I expect I get their best ball at the end of the year and I'm fine with that. I think I'm deep enough to overcome any minutes restrictions they face early on.
I still remember you telling me Jalen was your guy. First off congrats, secondly what made you so confident that he was your guy?
Man, I remember the first time I started watching his tape and being confused what I was missing. I think he was a mid-second round prospect at that point. I genuinely couldn't find flaws. Sure, he's a not a freshman, but the dude grew almost a foot in the past few years. Age matters less with that context and age is really his only "flaw". He shoots well from all over, can create, gets boards, and is efficient in all ways. Great basketball IQ. Winner. Insane plus wingspan (believe he is 6'6 with a 7'2 wingspan) so he can guard 1-4. Essentially he has traits that keep him on the floor and skills to make the most of the minutes in our scoring. Anyways, I locked in on him for 23. Then he starts creeping from mid second up to late first up to mid first until the Thunder pop him at 12 on draft night. Love it as a landing spot for our format, especially if they let him run the second unit. As a Thunder fan I was over the moon but I thought I was screwed in here. I was deep in everyone's DMs tryna fin out if he would slide to me. Let's see how good my eval was.
Outside of Spida, Jamal, Bam, MPJ, which younger piece are you most excited about this year?
Obviously I'm huge on Jalen but I'd have to go Day'ron here. I really think he is slept on. I know he fell in our draft but he was a first IRL and the Nets really believe in him. They still haven't signed a vet 5 and he dropped almost 40 pounds from draft day. The shot looks pretty smooth too. Maybe he's nothing but with how he racks up stlks and can pass and rebound if he does play I think he can be a difference maker in this format. Honorable mentions to Onyeka and Hunter who could really be huge for me too.
I’d be be pretty surprised if you don’t make the playoffs. Can you confidently say this is your coming out party? Playoffs minimum for atleast the next 5-6 years?
I would be pretty shocked if I didn't make the playoffs. The past few years I've had some B-tier top players (jamal, mpj, spida) but never much productive depth behind them because I was rostering so many developmental guys. I made a conscious decision to go get Hunter, Monk, and Duarte to really raise the floor rather than roster rookies from picks 14 and 18. Also, I targeted guys who are locked up for a while. If you look at the roster I can pretty much entirely keep the gang together for at minimum a few more years. I'll need a few guys to really develop how I think they can, but I'm happy to be at a point where I genuinely like every single guy on my roster 14 deep and if my evals are correct I can run this thing. Let's see what happens.
If you could eliminate one team in the playoffs this year who would it be and why?
MFK matchups. M a Drew matchup. F a Remy matchup, K a Lor matchup. Interpret that however you want.
there you go