& integrate them with the system & teammates he'd have here.

He certainly has the tools to make our team special in a synergistic way as a scoring point, I think. But if he uses his innate ability to tax a defense — if he uses that more to force pts from his own hand, rather than to set up teammates for easier shots — the improvements he'd bring to our team wouldn't be all too great.

But I'd certainly want Mac here--knowing we could get either version of him. And that's mostly cuz I believe in Pope's ability to channel the right sort of Mac for us--from day 1. With Rose, I woulda been far less hopeful; he tended to play to his players' innate strengths — & simply game-managed or swallowed their weaknesses rather than push too hard at correcting them (& to Rose's credit, he was very good at game-management). For Rose, fixing such problems in the individual player was a season-to-season affair more than a game-to-game one.

From some of Mac's comments, I do believe he understands he needs some tough-love coaching & to improve as a facilitator — to reach his NBA dream. And that bodes well for us, I think.