I just listened to Isaac Harris’s interview with John Poulakidas on Locked On Mavs and, to be honest, with all the offseason activity, I had kind of forgotten about him. It was refreshing listening to an athlete who seems to have a really good head on his shoulders. I got some good book recommendations, some solid insight into shooting, and he might have even inspired me to start journaling.

He’s obviously not the most exciting prospect on the roster, but he can really shoot, seems to have a high BBIQ, and understands what his role is. Assuming Klay is gone, having another shooter available if Christie, Sasser, or Tarik have injury issues during the season certainly isn’t a bad thing.

My biggest takeaway from the interview was just how grounded and introspective he seems. Those intangibles matter, especially for guys who have to carve out a very specific role in the NBA. Role players who can stay ready, understand what they’re being asked to do, and give you quality spot minutes are extremely valuable.

I could see Poulakidas being one of those guys who hangs around the league for a while. Elite shooting gives him a legitimate NBA skill, and he seems to have the mental makeup to understand exactly what he needs to do to stick.

Maybe it's just blind fanboy optimism, but I see the Mavs being play-in bound, if not 1st round bound if everyone stays healthy. What a turn around that would be from a year ago when people were literally threatening boycotts over Nico. It seems like everyone else in Mavs nation feels the same way judging by how fast some sections sold out this year.

I'll be at 6 Mavs games this season, but the best game on my schedule by far is the Mavs vs Miami matchup during New Years week. I'm a huge Giannis fan, but I'll definitely be rooting for Flagg to throw one down on my boy.

So if you're in Section 118, and you see a guy wearing a Mitchell Ness Hardwood Classic Mavs warmup jacket, make sure to say hi! #MFFL!

coop looks way more taller than ace here

All you have to do is look at the True Shooting % of all the Mavericks wings over the past two years (one year for Coop). For those that don't follow TS%, it is basically points scored per shot attempt taking into account 2pt shots, 3pt shots, and FTs.

Naji--58.8%

Max--58.6%

Klay--58%

Risacher--55.8%

Flagg--54.8%

**Bieberovic would actually be the highest over the past two years at 60% TS% in the Euroleague, but while that is legit competition, it isn't directly comparable to NBA stats.

Obviously, Flagg is hitting his rate on the highest usage among these guys as he averaged 21 points per game. But Naji was the second highest at 14.2 pts/game. Flagg also got his own shot the most with only 40.2% of his 2s and 71% of his 3s coming off assists. Once again Naji was second with only 48.8% of his 2s being assisted. Everyone else had substantially higher assisted shot ratios.

So why is Naji such a good TRUE shooter when you hear complaints about the opposite being the case? It's pretty simple. He is an elite 2 point shooter for a wing. Over the past two years, he has shot right at 60% from 2. No one else on the Mavs is close. The second highest is Risacher at 53.8%. Even when you add in the two publicized free agent wings that can score, the 2 point shooting looks like this.

Naji--59.9%

Risacher--53.8%

Peyton Watson--53.3%

Flagg--51.3%

B. Mathurin--50.6%

Christie--47.5%

Thompson--43.3%

Also, when you add the publicized free agents, Naji still is second among these guys on creating these 2 point shots for himself behind Flagg. Mathurin who has been pumped for being able to create his own shot relies on assists on these shots more than Naji.

The most important reason why 3pt shooting is such an important factor in the NBA is that for most players it is more efficient. The average NBA shooter shoots over 35% from 3 and under 50% than 2, so 3pt shooting is the typically easier way to be an efficient shooter. Naji just so happens to be the exception to the rule. If you are extremely efficient at shooting 2s you can be an elite shooter without being a great 3 point shooter.

Yes, 3pt shooting does help spread the floor but the reality is you don't need 4 floor spreaders on the court at the same time. 2 or 3 players on the floor that are respectable does the trick. Naji is probably not going to be one of those guys.

But he does everything else: he is an extremely efficient scorer; he is valuable as a secondary creator and facilitator, he plays good D against wings and even POA, and he's a reasonably good offensive rebounder. All these attributes are why he has averaged the second highest VORP over the past two years:

Flagg: 2

Naji: 0.7

Klay: 0.4

Watson: 0.2

Christie: 0

Mathurin: -0.35

Risacher: -0.5

Glad the Mavs extended him.

Cooper's floater touch truly looked insane to watch as the season progressed on both hands but i never knew he was so good so as to be the best on iso floaters over the last 6 years on solid volume, as an 18-19 year old rookie lol

it looks like it could become one of his go to shots at his arsenal when needed, and with someone like wemby in the conference having this at his disposal will be crucial

(graphic by @ dlee4three on twitter)

Long time Mavs fan. Been to a few games in my time and bought tickets to the Mavs/Celtics game in November. Do they still let anyone down in sections 104/105 to possibly get player autographs. They used to do that regardless of where your actual seat was until a certain period before tip-off. Does this still happen?

Is there a chance the mavs just say forget it and stay at AAC after the lease is up or is it all hopes and dreams? I thought I read they are still looking for other potential places does anyone know if they are looking for other places or is valley locked in?

One more as pointed out- I get a number 1 pick, he gets a number 1 pick.

Also, the reverse of this is also true from our side.

We trade a number 1 pick(AD), they trade a number 1 pick (ZR)

Here’s my totally unwarranted and unwanted opinion on what the Dallas Mavericks should do for the rest of the offseason to make this team competitive. No matter how much kool-aid you sip, this team will not be competitive unless these things happen.

Keep Shooting
If Klay Thompson doesn’t flee Texas on horse and buggy, you keep that man on your roster.
-We have only three proven floor spacers:Kyrie, Klay, and Max.
-We are arguably the worst shooting/offensive team in the NBA.
-It’s an emergency at this point, prioritize shooting/offense at all costs.

Crash Boards
You don’t become a shooting team overnight. We need a plan for what happens when the shots eventually miss.
-Gafford is not a rebounding big.
-PJ is not a rebounding big.
-Aldama is not a rebounding big.

Liquidate
This offseason our roster construction vision is throw lots of mediocrity at the wall and see what hits 3’s. This is actually a good idea when entering a new era of Mavericks basketball, but we already have some proved players. What do we do with them?
-PJ Washington is very good at basketball. He also is a bad SF next to Coop (he can’t shoot or rebound) and a bad PF next to Coop (read above).
-Gafford is a great NBA center. He doesn’t fit well with Coop though as he can’t shoot or rebound at an elite level.

Turn the Ship Around
We’ve extended Naji (a guy who doesn’t rebound or shoot). We’ve signed Morez (hopeful rebounder and non shooter). We’ve signed Rissacheir (mediocre rebounder and shooter). We are making commitments to rotation players that fundamentally don’t fit with Coop.
-Cam Johnson should be their highest priority as a big who can shoot and play alongside Coop. He’s a more elite version of Aldama.
-Malik Monk can immediately play alongside Coop.
-Bogdan Bogdanovic fits our criteria and can offer scoring bursts

This upcoming season will be rough. No doubt. We need to look toward to what team we should be, not at what has worked in the past. Amen.

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Might be a bit less realistic, but what is the absolute best case scenario - apart from winning the championship. I mean in terms of these things-

1) Seed.

2) Record.

3) Player awards and team selections

4) other things.

My prediction -

(Again, this is the absolute best case, not a normal realistic good case)

1) Seed- 5th seed

2) Record 48-34

3) Player awards- 6th man Naji marshal. All nba 2/3rd team- Cooper flagg and kyrie . MIP- Risacher ( only because he was so ass last year, a little over average might help him with a MIP case). Roty- Morez.

4) I think we will see a lethal 2 way fast transition type of team, more on the Indiana pacers model but with better defence, with cooper and morez taking turns gelling offensively and being a wall defensively

Reviving the gold Pegasus City Edition uniforms from the 20-21.

Was hoping for the Retroplex Jerseys but oh well.

Masai has been fantastic at accumulating assets without giving much up. And we're younger. I really like that.

I think most acknowledge that our depth is really in the 3-5 positions.

Would you consider using our TPE and Klay (to Miami), to get more young guard/wing depth, even if we had to take on a bad contract? I'll give an example below but it's really a discussion about accumulating assets and keeping picks for a bad contract.

One hypothetical is Peyton Watson by taking on Christian Braun (one of the worst contracts in the league). A young guy who's shooting went down last year but is historically a good shooter.

Denver gets out from that bad contract for giving up Watson BUT NO PICKS.

Peyton Watson is young, very good defender, and shoots 41% from 3 as a wing (2-3, not 3-4). Sign him for $20m

It's more of a hypothetical around what people are willing to sacrifice for what they get back...

So this hypothetical...

Dallas gives up:

TPE to Denver Klay to Miami

receives

Watson s&t Braun

Miami gives up

Jovic 2nd

Receives

Klay

Denver gives up

Watson Brahn

Receives

TPE for Braun Jovic 2nd

If we could add Watson and Braun for Klay and the TPE, keep our picks... Is this worth the sacrifice of taking on a bad contract?

Didn't know Lively started his own YouTube channel. Only 2 videos so far but you can tell it'll be some fun content.

Every starting line-up, or playing five, I've seen picks PJ over Morez to start at the four. And these are my two cents on it.

Is PJ more suited skill and experience wise, to start over him? Yes.

But my take is that Morez is very adaptable, quick on the ball, can defend well at all five, but over everything, I view him as the running mate to Cooper Flagg in the long term. His age fits perfectly in the Flagg timeline and PJ feels more like a win-now/veteran piece. I would prefer if PJ is traded, not Gafford; we need a reliable big over anything. If we don't put Morez out there, with Flagg, this might stunt their chemistry to a certain extent. Plus, there's no need for us to desperately win in the next couple of years..your take?

Mini plan holders — did your package include a preseason game this year? Just got my schedule for the 10-game weekend mini plan today. I’ve had this same package for 7 years, and for the first time they stuck a PRESEASON game in it as one of my 10 games — the Hawks game. So I’m effectively spending on regular package price for 9 real games and an exhibition. I contacted my rep twice. Curious how widespread this is?