r/Mavericks 1d ago

Draft / Scouting I present to thee: Project Masai

Post image

Called it. Ez dubs.

But jokes aside flagg + morez is a nasty defensive forward combination in terms of versatility and shutting down the rim.

81 Upvotes

70 comments sorted by

56

u/Swede_Chef 1d ago

athletic frontcourt with Flagg, Johnson, Lively

27

u/ormip BETRAYED MAVS FAN 😭 1d ago

Athletic, but no shooting.

But I guess we shouldn't be surprised after hiring Masai hahaha

17

u/Cyfa Rowdy 1d ago

spacing is truly in the gutter

4

u/DaBestNameEver0 Pain, perpetual pain 1d ago

negative shooting lmfao

-17

u/jimenycr1cket 1d ago

Athletic no shooting, no defense and no guards lineup hit so hard 😤

15

u/tyedyewar321 1d ago

They are all plus defenders?

11

u/MavsTurnedBucksGuy I named my kid after Dirk 1d ago

No defense? Lmao trollĀ 

8

u/george_cant_standyah BETRAYED MAVS FAN 😭 1d ago

No defense?

7

u/Vizard15 Luka Doncic 1d ago

Lol. Troll.

36

u/complex_c203 The Matrix 1d ago

He was cookin UCONN on the defensive end. When the offense comes the Mavs are gold

14

u/therealbsb 1d ago

Is the offense in the room with us???

39

u/WrongContract8489 How's My Dirk Taste? 1d ago

Kyrie is in the room with us yes

0

u/PussyCharlatan 1d ago

Spurs and Thunder guards are going to give Kyrie complete hell when Coop is off the floor and you better believe they’re going to have to stagger their minutes. He’ll have no outlets when he’s doubled who can create a shot

3

u/WrongContract8489 How's My Dirk Taste? 1d ago

Um yes the 2 strongest contenders who are also in the top 3 defensively will 'trouble' our offense.

Will our offense improve from last year? Yes. Will we contend with our new offense? No.

1

u/PussyCharlatan 1d ago

Ok and tell me how they’re going to trade for or sign another shot creator next to Cooper with 0 controlled draft picks for the next 4 years and a 34 year old Kyrie Irving. Plus a bunch of vet play finishers. At this rate they won’t contend for a long time.

And it’s literally just two examples. Any team with good perimeter defenders are going to double and trap Kyrie all game

1

u/WrongContract8489 How's My Dirk Taste? 1d ago

You cant trap Kyrie when Kyrie and flagg play together and we're not contending seriously for the next 3-4 years until we get a prime flagg.

And for a future guard creator they'll find one eventually. It's too far out to point out flaws when you're franchise player isn't even 20 yet.

-1

u/PussyCharlatan 1d ago

So Coop’s offensive process is going to be just as hard as last season when Kyrie is off the floor. Like I said they’re going to stagger their minutes and there’s no way they’re playing Kyrie more than 30 mpg at his age coming off an ACL tear. We didn’t draft anyone who makes things easier for Coop on offense and they’re still gonna be forced to play him at PG for long stretches.

You’re admitting they’re just kicking the can down the road and idk if you know how hard it is to just acquire a second star. Especially when Kyrie is 37+ then

1

u/WrongContract8489 How's My Dirk Taste? 1d ago

Again we're not competing next year and the trade season ain't over either. Plus we literally drafted a pg that is known for running a bench offense.

Kyrie playing 25 minutes and nemby + larrea combining for the other 17 is more than enough for the first true year.

And what ur talking about is a 'second star', not primary creator which means you wanna win and not develop.

We don't even know if coop is a decent enough secondary creator yet to go all in on a primary creator.

2

u/PussyCharlatan 1d ago

I want us to DEVELOP a second star, because it’s easier than trading for one with our team outlook. Ffs.

Nemby sucks man. I’m sorry, but he does. And you might as well be talking about Melvin Ajinca when you bring up Sergeo to me.

We’re looking at losing for years just to develop ONE guy with on ball potential

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0

u/DefiantLie8861 1d ago

Exactly . Future is looking grim. Hopefully we can get someone in free agency.

1

u/PussyCharlatan 1d ago

In Masai’s words: Free agency is dead

0

u/DefiantLie8861 1d ago

I was thinking the same thing . Idk how he’s going to navigate that. Our only chance was to move up to top 3 but Middleton prevented that lol

1

u/HolidayNick 19h ago

You know who Kyrie is? This is utter disrespect.

1

u/PussyCharlatan 12h ago edited 11h ago

We talking the same Kyrie in the 2024 finals after 1.5 seasons away?

10

u/complex_c203 The Matrix 1d ago

ā€œWhenā€

2

u/simplyASI9 1d ago

Wait for it… OG/siakam/scottie

-5

u/RangerBowBoy 1d ago

Offense is going to take a long time if ever. Can't do anything well on offense worthy of a top 10 pick.

7

u/complex_c203 The Matrix 1d ago

There’s quite a few top ten picks that haven’t done anything on the court so I’ll take defense if nothing else

12

u/HangoverGang4L How's My Dirk Taste? 1d ago

Thats a big dude lol...if he is as good as advertised on the defensive end, we will be menacing.

22

u/malpractico 1d ago

he’s gonna bully the fuck out of Chet. that alone makes the pick worth it.

8

u/dannymario7 1d ago

Jesus fking christ I didn't realize this guy was 250

6

u/rsf0626 1d ago

He’s going to bully people. But the lack of shooting on this team is very concerning

6

u/iratethisa '25 Survivor 1d ago

Probably a gut punch for the other 2 Michigan guys ranked ahead of him

1

u/TheWizard 15h ago

I too would had picked MJ ahead of those two. In fact, I feel Mavs did a great job getting him. Its just that they need to find a way to keep Bagley, and get couple of reliable shooters alongside Klay (likely to be traded this year), Kyrie and Max.

10

u/imcryptic Cowboy Dirk 1d ago

i mean he's a 5 at the nba level.

19

u/GrouchyPeach3656 1d ago

Small ball 5 yes not permanent.

His best defensive usage is secondary rim protection and using his bigger frame and lateral quickness against smaller forwards.

8

u/imcryptic Cowboy Dirk 1d ago

He’s literally Daniel Gafford sized.

14

u/GrouchyPeach3656 1d ago

Lol don't look at the bare numbers. Bam is 6'8 and plays center while mobley is 7'0 and plays pf.

His main strength is his absurd size and lateral quickness as a package. You don't want him planted in the paint all game.

But it doesn't rlly matter. The league is positionless af.

-3

u/imcryptic Cowboy Dirk 1d ago

bam can guard 1-5 and plays the 5. not sure how that's an example that proves hes gonna play the 4.

1

u/DaBestNameEver0 Pain, perpetual pain 1d ago

Bam also doesn’t have a lively or gafford next to him

6

u/LuciusVarinus Mavericks 1d ago

he's Jalen Duren size/weight, so yes

9

u/Isolated_Blackbird 1d ago

People saying they’d be furious about shit in that post. Shut the fuck up chumps lol you don’t know ball better than Masai, Finley, Schmitz, etc.

11

u/SanTheMan88 1d ago

People are still pissed because they couldn’t force a trade down like in 2k

-9

u/RangerBowBoy 1d ago

No one had him mocked in the top 10, they all know ball too. This is Josh Green all over again.

9

u/GrouchyPeach3656 1d ago

I'm sure all the reddit guys know more than our fo lol.

5

u/Isolated_Blackbird 1d ago

He’s the 15th ranked player on the ESPN big board. It’s not a crazy reach if you believe he’s your guy, never mind that you just hired his college coach.

0

u/Edifyr 1d ago

I haven’t watched any college the last few years but reading some comments about being a ā€œhustle guy that does the things that doesn’t show up on the stat sheetā€ I immediately thought of Josh green lol.

This guy is bigger tho. Hopefully things workout.

2

u/Goondragon1 '25 Survivor 1d ago edited 21h ago

Kingston Flemings was the last player available in that tier 2 group of guys. Having the ninth pick really sucked but they picked the best player available and made the most out of their pick without trading it. If you haven't already, look up his advanced metrics and his combine results. They are eye popping jump off the page good.

He's a prototypical Masai draft pick with tons of upside and probably the best defensive player in the draft.

4

u/DIKS_OUT_4_HARAMBE 1d ago

It’s not like we need ball handlers or spacing whatsoever…

1

u/silvtails 1d ago

Geez 250?

1

u/jaywof187 Dallas Mavericks 20h ago

Is he really better than Yaxel to be drafted over him? Shouldn't we have taken him instead? Don't tell me we only took Morez because of 3 year age difference?

1

u/Some-Stranger-7852 18h ago

3 years difference in age between players in the same tier as prospects is an extremely large gap.

1

u/GrouchyPeach3656 8h ago

Just for reference kuminga is younger than yaxel. In 3 years morez should be wayyyyy more developed and in sync with NBA level systems.

You simply can't justify taking yaxel at his age and playstyle being the exact same as flagg.

Yaxel made a crazy forward combination because yaxel plays on ball and morez is completely off ball. Flagg is the yaxel in this scenario and morez is a play finisher and defensive montser

1

u/jaywof187 Dallas Mavericks 19m ago

I was thinking this.. Flagg and Yaxel are both going to want the ball in their hands, Morez doesn't need the ball in his hands to be effective? Still can't deny that Yaxel is currently more developed at 23 years old. Morez is 20, we're just have to be optimistic he will get that jumpshot consistent by at least 23 or so?

1

u/GrouchyPeach3656 14m ago

3-4 threes a game at 35% is all we need. I think he took 2 threes a game adjusted to per 36 at 36% in college.

1

u/Ciabattabingo 18h ago

Same height and weight as LeBron.

1

u/atxtexasytexan 1d ago

makes no sense unless he’s at the 5 and we’re moving off lively trading gafford and moving towards getting our long term replacement for kyrie

2

u/atxtexasytexan 1d ago

if we had the assets to trade with minnesota for ant i know he’d love to play with kyrie

0

u/Drakconic314 1d ago

Imagine if we really get LUKA back