Here’s the link to the latest episode of The Trailing 3 podcast! It’s been a while!
We’re talking with Jeff Siegel of earlybirdrights.com about trade scenarios and the Kristaps Porzingis trade!
https://www.buzzsprout.com/253913/944229-the-trailing-3-trade-talk-with-jeff-siegel
Another week down, another week closer to the May 15 NBA Draft Lottery!
It’s been a relatively quiet week on the Mavs front save for a few juicy tidbits.
Potential future Dallas Maverick Mo Bamba was featured in a Ringer piece detailing his extensive work with Pure Sweat trainer Drew Hanlen.
You might’ve seen these videos a few weeks back showing off Bamba’s re-tooled shooting form and also his progress working in the low post. Yes, we know Hanlen is only 5’11 (something he alludes to in the Ringer article), but this progress is encouraging and, as per the article, only the tip of the iceberg in terms of Bamba’s pre-draft workout.
I realize not everyone is going to be as high on Bamba as, say, me or Jeff “Skin” Wade and that’s OK. But I’m putting him in my top 3 of the big board and not moving away from it.
There’s a couple of interesting pieces from dallasbasketball.com and our good friends David Lord and Dalton Trigg.
First, we know Dirk Nowitzki is coming back next year. But the nuts and bolts of that arrangement? It’s a little tricky.
Dirk “technically” has a team option for the 2018-19 season which will likely be declined by the Mavs as they look to be as prudent as possible with their cap space.
But, WHY, would the Mavs decline the option on the face of their franchise? As Lord mentions in the article, Dirk has always been, at least for the last few years as he’s aged, a “take it and see” kind of guy.
Having the option declined means Dallas could potentially sign him using an exception and keep the door open for a possible 2019-20 season … “if Dirk feels like it.”
Check out the link for more information on that as Lord does a much better job going into the details than I can.
The other piece from dallasbasketball.com is one for the Mavs pipe-dreamers out there … and it talks about probably the most natural heir-apparent to Dirk’s throne, Kristaps Porzingis.
While the chances of this something like Trigg mentions happening are next to zero (a point he concedes early on), it’s still worthwhile to understand the how of how something like this might happen.
Porzingis has a torn ACL. The Knicks need out of Joakim Noah’s contract in a bad way.
What’s that you say Dallas? A top-3 pick, Wes Matthews’ expiring deal and some other stuff? Why not make the call?
On a final note, Rick Carlisle isn’t going anywhere. We already covered that on The Trailing 3 earlier in the week if you missed it. Read up if you haven’t!
Oh, only four more days until the lottery!
By – Zack Cunningham
We’re another week closer to the NBA Draft Lottery (now 11 days out from May 15) and another day closer to finding out who the Mavericks are going to hopefully bring in as the third and final piece to their new “Big 3”, a term coined by general manager Donnie Nelson during exit interviews last month.
There hasn’t been a whole lot of change in terms of who is predicted to go first overall or second except for maybe the order. Deandre Ayton has been the consensus No. 1 mock draft pick for months with Luka Doncic close behind.
However, with the Phoenix Suns bringing in Igor Kokoskov as the first-ever NBA head coach born outside North America (he also coached Doncic on the 2016-17 Slovenian national team), there’s a chance Phoenix, if the Suns pick first, could take Doncic there, thus pushing Ayton to No. 2.
At this point, every bit of speculation that can be conjectured at this point has already been said. It’s probably better to just kick back and watch the Warriors and LeBron steamroll towards a fourth-consecutive Finals meeting and weep for the Raptors (and Dwayne Casey … who stopped LeBron in 2011, but is failing to do so this year).
However, all this being said, if you’re still eager to read about head coach Rick Carlisle’s mindset heading into next season, Dwain Price with mavs.com has a revealing piece here for your consumption. Price has been a solid addition to the Mavericks official beat-writing unit.
Also, Price has a piece on Doug McDermott. The 6’8 sharpshooter was a revelation for Dallas post-All Star Break last year and wants to return to the Mavericks. Here’s to hoping they work it out.
Bobby Karalla has always been an astute Mavs’ observer and he brought up some wonderful memories from Dallas’ 2003 WCF series against the Spurs (we’ll just ignore Dirk’s injury in that series for the moment … because, you know, nice things).
It really is crazy to think that things that are common in the NBA now were things the Mavericks were running 15 years ago under Don Nelson. I still don’t think the NBA could handle a full-speed Dirk barrelling in from the 3-point line today.
Oh how’s Nelson doing these days, you ask? Well, he’s playing poker and smoking pot.
One final thing before we head into the weekend. Look, I’m not really one for pipe-dream speculation, however, in the case of Mike Fisher’s two-part Paul-George-to-Dallas-can-happen-like-this piece, I’m all ears.
It should be noted that Fisher isn’t saying this is likely or even probable. It’s just giving the details of what would need to happen for it to be conceivable. If that’s still not your cup of tea, well, there are other links to be clicked, but it’s worth your time.
Have a great weekend, #MFFL!
THE TRAILING 3 