At the start of the season, we needed an upgraded 4 & a backup 5. However, Dmo has really improved with the injuries to Howard & TJ. I'll give you that now Millsap is a slightly better fit next to Howard; but if we traded Dmo(1.5m) for Millsap(9.5m), we'd still need a backup 5(5m?). And we can't trade Dmo for Millsap straight up because the salaries don't match. I wouldn't do anything until the deadline, so we can have time to let Howard, Dmo & hopefully TJ mesh together in the 4/5 rotation.
What Dmo is doing is great, but when Howard comes back we still need a pick & pop/strech 4 for playoff sets capilities, or we will rely on 3s and harden getting to rim in the 4th. DMO is great for a team that has PF or center that can give him space so he can work in the post.
Since the Dallas Mavericks game on the 22nd 16.8 ppg 9.3 rpg 5/10 from 3pt 51/86 FG/FGA for 59% Those are damn good numbers for a guy finally getting the PT AND confidence to do what he knew he could do in the league.
I've loved the production from DMo and hope he can sustain it. With that said, the major test will be to see if he can continue to produce next to Howard. We know that TJ can produce with Dwight and haven't even had the opportunity to see the growth in his game because of his injuries. I don't think that the improvement of DMo necessarily means that we need to trade one or the other, especially since DMo can play some quality minutes at the 5. The prolonged injury to TJ should give some valuable insight to how well DMo plays with Dwight upon his imminent return.
We've saw this before, it's all about FITS. Harden Sits LIN starts plays great. Bev Sits Lin plays with harden he's ok or bad Howard sits Dmo plays great Jones sits Dmo plays with Howard he's ok or bad.
This is it in a nutshell. What would DMo's value be to us and the league if his pairs up poorly with Dwight? Would that be enough to consider moving him?
They also NEED big man depth. You sometimes have to rob Peter to pay Paul to address the "greater good" I get that, but in a perfect world scenario, I don't see why Jones just HAS TO GO like some of you guys are insisting on time and time again. In the NBA its perfectly fine to have two Power Forwards, and a center who are good. There is no rule that says you can only have 1 Great center, and only 1 other good PF/C.
Of course. D-Mo's past 10 games might seem like a season to CF, but to GM's around the league, they do their homework to weigh recent success with overall career numbers, and projections at different milestones of his career. Trust me... D-Mo is far from being in that category of "A Young player we can build around" that GM's seek out. In trade terms right now, I see him more of a "Sticking point to close a deal" rather than the reason to make a deal for the other GM. Back when the Knicks were trying to trade for Melo, and Denver had little leverage in the deal, Gallinari was a "Sticking point" in the deal, but he was hardly someone that GM's around the league were saying "there is a guy we can build around" like the Rocket were doing a summer later with Harden, or the T-Wolves were thinking this past Summer when trying to trade for Klay Thompson.
He is also giving us consistent defense which can't be measured, and also passing the ball well on top of that.
The thing about DMo coexisting with Dwight is that he was doing just fine replacing TJ. In fact, this was the first time you could say he was consistently making a positive impact on the game. He doesn't necessarily need to be a ball dominant post up center to be worthy of being a starter. McHale specifically mentioned that players either emerge by their 3rd year or essentially remain what they are. I'm optimistic that this change demonstrated by DMo is here to stay. As for his trade value, he isn't untouchable. The best comparison for his ceiling that i see is Vucevic with worse offense and better defense. That kind of a player is enough to be your 4th best player on a contender, nothing more. In other words, I don't belive we should have any hangups about flipping him for a legit 3rd star.
