I guess we are close enough to June 30 that I can start my cater walling about how bad the Mavs are going to screw this up again.

Year after year they keep talking big fish and they keep sinking the boat.

So let's take a brief stroll down wonderful memory lane to start the talk about what the Mavs should do to build a championship team. And of course we start with their last one. And yes that sounds trite, but give me a moment here.

The Mavs had just spent the last couple of years picking up pieces, really good pieces leading up to 2011. They had two players in Shawn Marion and Jason Kidd who were all stars, but some considered on the back side of their careers. They picked up Tyson Chandler that summer.

Did we have two supermax players? No. Did we have a strong collection of All Stars and players on the edge of being All Stars, in fact we had a few in Dirk, Jett, Kidd, Marion, and Chandler. None of these players adding to Dirk were big fish free agency catches. We had a great bench.

We blew it the next year and thereafter chasing big fish. And yet Cuban and Nelson are fishing again. Folks it is time they put up the over priced fishing boat and concentrate on collecting prized fishes that feed the MFFL masses.

Will this happen overnight, probably not, but Luka and KP are young so we have a couple of years to build the right way.

So with all the Plan-K dreams and the Kemba Walker dreams being bantered about, let’s talk about the slow transition in the right direction.

Imagine this team and this is just a framework or roadmap to the next championship. We cannot get there without changing course from our recent past.

For the 4&5 position, how about KP, Julius Randle, Powell, Kleber, and ?  Gives us solid rotation and a mix of talent to match up different teams. And lets play KP at the 4 mainly and not get him so beat up.

And some development of Kostas. Dream big and much development of Kostas.

For the 3&4 position how about Dorian, Jackson, some Maxi, and Luka at times. Again some rotational ability with the above group, but if DFS or Jackson take a step further this year, then we are developing our own border line all star players or at least players that productively compliment all star players.

For the 2&3.. Currently you have Hardaway Jr, Luka, Ryan Broekhoff and ?, Jackson? Not sure here, this rotation will need some work. Luka is assured of course since no matter what position or number you call him, he is the primary ball handler, it is the defensive assignment that matters most at what position you play him. And even though Hardaway’s contract is a bit heavy it can be tolerated if he ends up being consistent on both ends of the court and averages in the 16-5-5 range. I know 5 assists seems high, but if he is a starter and playing the two and the team is moving the ball like they should then averaging 5 assists should be expected.

Realistically with good ball movement we should have five players overall who put up 5+ assists a game. We will need strong ball movement and team defense to do well with this group which leads to the last grouping.

For the 1&2  Patrick Beverly, Luka, Jalen Brunson, Trey Burke and JJ? or ?

15 players on the team:

Luka

KP

Dwight Powell

Dorian Finney Smith

Maxi Kleber

Justin Jackson

Jalen Brunson

Ryan Broekhoff

Tim Hardaway Jr.

Trey Burke

Add

Julius Randle

Patrick Beverly

Make a hard decision on JJ Barrera  Can he come back?

And make a decision on Salah Mejri or finding a younger athletic wing

And decide what is your next most important need and maybe get a third free agent.

Or make a couple of trades to either get draft picks back for the next couple of years or keep some money open for those all star to almost all star players to consistently play with Luka until you find the right combination and sign a few for a few years.

Will we win a championship with this group? Of course we will, but at least we are headed in the right direction.

We all doubt the Mavs will get Durant, Leonard, Kyrie, Walker(maybe?), Klay, Butler (not a fit) Khris Middleton (?) so why waste time.

Do we lose Mejri and try for a Lopez brother in addition to Randle to give us a solid 5 player rotation for the 4 and 5?

Do we just get Randle and try for Patrick and another up and coming 3 and D player to bolster Jackson and DFS’s rotation?

In my humble opinion these are the questions the Mavs front office should be thinking about.

There are a couple of other options that could develop and all of them much more realistic than Plan K. And in the long run I think we win. All your Plan K guys are 30 + or close or a head case. There are many border line great players who do not get the attention and occasionally one or two at the end of their prime who will be worth much more as players and at less $ cost going forward over the next few years to worry about the “big fish” now.

Time to cast the net out wide, not throw the pole in the water.

Thoughts? Ideas?

Some thoughts for other teams. I am not sure why Boston doesn’t cut bait with Kyrie and go for Kemba Walker. Same for Philly, lose Butler and go for Walker. Thoughts?

The Bucks should find a way to stay intact.

The Raptors are the favorites or scrambling depending on Leonard’s decision. They are still happy for the moment though.

The Warriors will be middling till Klay comes back. If they wait long enough for him to be 100%, they might do some damage in the playoffs. Durant isn’t playing next year at all if he is smart so even if he stays with the Warriors you can count him out.

The Wild card is the Lakers with AD now. Can they get a Plan-K player or will injuries decimate this two superstar team potential? I am not sold yet. Someone may come, but what depth will they have? It will matter against Denver and Portland in 6 & 7 game series.

Clippers?

Nets?

OKC?

And Houston??????, yes many questions. Before the AD trade I joked that if LA didn’t get a Plan-K player (and is that phrase only a Mavs phrase, I read too much local news), they might look at CP3 on July 2nd. Maybe the Lakers don’t have to now and wow, where does a Rocket go from here? Paul’s contract is an albatross on him and the Rockets. I did say if he really wants a championship he is going to have to give up a bunch of money and become a player on a team with other superstars. He will never be the top dog on a championship team at this point in his career.

Spurs?  The West is changing, what are they going to do?

Cheers