Rondo's defense.

[longhornfan1234]

"When Rondo is on the court, the Mavs have a better defensive rating than the league-leading Warriors. When Rondo is off the court, the Mavs have a worse defensive rating than the league-worst Lakers.

Per NBA.com:
Mavs w/ Rondo DRTG = 93.7
Warriors' first-ranked DRTG = 96.2
Mavs w/o Rondo DRTG = 114.7
Lakers' last-ranked D


Rondo is back.

[Hittin_Shots]

Been watching the mavs most games since the Rondo trade and he's been playing much harder on D.

[DMAVS41]

Still early, but he's been a way bigger upgrade than I imagined so far.

But some of this has to do with Greg Smith as well. He's been better than Wright on defense in my opinion. Which isn't surprising...Wright's defense has always been pretty bad.

[LoneyROY7]

Looking like a fantastic trade for the Mavs thus far.

Cuban's killing it.

[Cone]

cuban inadvertently destroying morey again

stealing parsons
stealing rondo
while morey signs josh smith mainly because the mavs had interest

cuban stay winning

[DMAVS41]

Looking like a fantastic trade for the Mavs thus far.

Cuban's killing it.

No matter what happened it was a great trade. The circumstances alone make this pretty much a fact.

Mavs before trade had no chance to win. Wright is a free agent we can't afford to bring back. Crowder isn't relevant. Jameer was getting his ass handed to him by any good guard.

Even if Rondo didn't work out...the trade would still be worth it because doing nothing for sure wasn't good enough to win.

Other than the Parsons signing...Cuban/Nellie Jr. have made some really innovative decisions...

Love it.

Just wish we didn't have so much tied up in Parsons...hopefully these cap increases coming will cause Mark to just say "**** it"...and spend like a mad man the remainder of Dirk's career.

[Teanett]

it's great to watch.

the mavs now have a communicator on the perimeter in Rondo and one at the rim in Tyson.

Rondo D has been about smarts and spacing. many times he funnels his man towards his bigs while covering the kickout.

he's awesome.

[buddha]

I wonder if this has anything to do with Tyson Chandler also coming off the court. lmao

[ballup]

Still early, but he's been a way bigger upgrade than I imagined so far.

But some of this has to do with Greg Smith as well. He's been better than Wright on defense in my opinion. Which isn't surprising...Wright's defense has always been pretty bad.

Rondo even makes guys Richard Jefferson relevant on offensive.

[Teanett]

Rondo even makes guys Richard Jefferson relevant on offensive.

and Charlie V!

[DMAVS41]

Rondo even makes guys Richard Jefferson relevant on offensive.

Well yea...that is what I was trying to tell people. I don't even love Rondo that much, but it was clear it was going to be a large upgrade at the pg position even with Rondo's lack of shooting.

He's just a far better player than Jameer ever was and is now.

And I tried to explain to people that Crowder and Wright just aren't that integral to the Mavs in terms of winning games against good teams...especially in the playoffs.

Crowder is a borderline NBA player on a good team...and Wright absolutely can't play defense.

Greg Smith has clearly been a better defender than Wright was for us. Yes, we definitely lose offense with Smith, but offense isn't our problem.

We upgraded our weakest position and maybe got marginally worse in terms of depth...maybe...and that is before we add another big which we all know is coming at some point.

[DMAVS41]

I just wish we could get Aminu to play a bit. His defense/rebounding would be a nice asset for us, but he's just so bad offensively that I bet Rick just got sick of watching him get lost and brick open shot after open shot.

A shame though, because a Rondo/Ellis/Aminu/Dirk/Tyson lineup would be actually great defensively and on the glass....and if Aminu could make corner 3's...would be great offensively as well.

Again why I preferred Ariza to Parsons (not just about the cost)...a Rondo/Ellis/Ariza/Dirk/Tyson lineup would be elite on both ends. Maybe we can still be that with Parsons, but there is no doubt that Ariza is a significantly better defender than Parsons and far more versatile on defense as well.

[Teanett]

Again why I preferred Ariza to Parsons (not just about the cost)...a Rondo/Ellis/Ariza/Dirk/Tyson lineup would be elite on both ends. Maybe we can still be that with Parsons, but there is no doubt that Ariza is a significantly better defender than Parsons and far more versatile on defense as well.

i dont think you'll think prefer him a season or two from now.
Parson's progress is great. he's shooting lights out and was tearin it up before the Rondo deal.
once they get more in tune offensively, i wont be surprised if he'll have 20+ ppg seasons with the mavs and Rondo.

[chocolatethunder]

I was really hoping they could add Tarik Black. If they can get a serviceable defensive minded back up big, they'll have a pretty good shot in the playoffs. The only thing they miss from Nelson is a little bit of spacing with his 3pt shooting but I think that he wasn't shooting it that well this year (can't remember right now). I feel like their offense is pretty solid and they can be good in the playoffs. I would feel better w Smith and JO or someone else.

Edit: I wasn't too stoked about Parsons but I'm coming around. It's not really his play so much as the price that he costs. I'm not wild about Ariza but at times I would rather Arizas D over Parsons offense. Although at other times I think that it's good that there's someone else to spread the floor and take heat off of Dirk. I never liked Monta Ellis but I couldn't be happier with how he's played. He's a different player on this team. Kind of reminds me of when Randolph got his shit together finally.

[DMAVS41]

i dont think you'll think prefer him a season or two from now.
Parson's progress is great. he's shooting lights out and was tearin it up before the Rondo deal.
once they get more in tune offensively, i wont be surprised if he'll have 20+ ppg seasons with the mavs and Rondo.

I think that is more of a product of the Mavs system though. Parsons isn't asked to do anything but catch the ball at the 3 point line wide open honestly.

Really the toughest thing he does is run a pick and roll with Tyson....which I grant he can do better than Ariza, but I think Ariza's defense is more valuable for this Mavs team.

2 plus years from now? Honestly...we might not even have Parsons at that point. Not like we have him locked up forever. He signed a 3 year contract.