WHEW.
Kyrie Irving is now a Dallas Maverick (not a Los Angeles Laker, sorry LeBron James).
The Brooklyn Nets got a pretty good haul back with Spencer Dinwiddie — who broke out BK a few years back — taking over at point guard and Dorian Finney-Smith helping as a 3-and-D specialist, perhaps off the bench (I wonder if he’ll be in the mix with Ben Simmons at center in some lineups, but I digress).
So what does a post-trade lineup look like for Luka Doncic and the Mavericks? That’s what we’re here to discuss. Let’s run through the starting five and what it’ll look like now:
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Kyrie Irving
On the court, he’s going to take serious pressure off Doncic. There will be nights where he and Doncic go off together, maybe there are times when he’ll be the star and Doncic is the facilitator and vice versa.
Point here is: This is a legit second superstar who could work well in tandem with the MVP candidate.
Luka Doncic
Maybe losing Finney-Smith will hurt, but ultimately, this is good for the do-it-all megastar. Does it make them Western Conference favorites? No. But it’s a big upgrade.
Tim Hardaway Jr.
Sooo, here’s where I start to worry. Hardaway Jr. can be talented on the offensive end, but losing Finney-Smith hurts the Mavs’ defense.
I have no idea how the Mavericks field any sort of functional defensive lineup at all after this trade.
— Anthony Doyle (@Anthonysmdoyle) February 5, 2023
Dwight Powell
Not exactly having the best of years. The defensive concerns continue.
Christian Wood
Hey, he’s averaging 18.4 ppg and has swatted 1.3 shots per game. That’s good! But it’s clear that while there will be nights with this team where they’ll fill up the score sheet, they still could use some help in the middle and at the wing on the defensive end if they want to be a true contender.
The trade deadline, coincidentally, is Thursday.
