In fact envisioning the idea of the front office taking for granted or overlooking the chip we have in T. Mann via shipping him off in order to ‘improve’ other areas of this roster gives me similar guttural nausea / pause as when the supreme Doc River initiated his own assumption into
LAC’s thrown with an immediate trade that sent away a then young, dynamic, two-way playing, and upon verge of breakout season (as it so came to pass) Eric Bledsoe for the less dynamic but
at least ultimately important JJ Redick & essentially rubber balloon full of hot air Jared Dudley…

I mean no prediction in my recall of Doc’s early-tenure Bledsoe trade for Mann currently treading along the cusp of a full NBA breakout in the upcoming year (though would be welcome and nice to see if it does…) though just to illustrate how utilizing the value of Bledsoe’s two-way talent in addressing other ‘core needs’ still ultimately left the roster with some glaring holes & weakness relative to the league’s then top teams.

For better or worse, it is pretty much just a core of Mann, Kennard, and Ivica whom constitute any youth LAC core (though i suppose arguments could be made for including Boston jr & Coffey in this group)as we now enter a possible final season with both Leonard and Paul under contract (& letting go of a whole lot of the other presumed young talent which most likely would have been instrumentally part of this ‘young core’ group by now… which infamously includes one Shae Gilgeous- Alexander )

So after his third NBA season, and despite certain peoples’ elevated expectations for the type of statistical leap he’d make, Terrance Mann has yet to become an allstar level player. Yes, some of those areas noted in his game do in fact need work and he certainly has aspects of his game which can benefit from improvement, but i think we ought to make no mistake about how valuable a player this is [specifically to THIS team above all else].

Put him in the same category as 99% of the players in this league, most of whom have needed 3 + full seasons to truly settle into this league and reach their statistical ceilings. Terrance is still just a 25 year old (which makes him one of the younger talents on a full team, which invested away a majority of it’s present and future valuable younger chips) that has A) demonstrated reliability and statistical improvement now in 3 consecutive seasons, B) become fully integrated and very well-liked by both the fanbase and his teammates, and C) trailing behind the duo of oft-injured / inactive team co-captains, is easily one of the roster’s key & best two-way/ all-around players, for a club that likes to publicly think of itself as one of the league’s ‘tougher’ / ‘scrappy’ units.
Look at the 4 teams (well, now three*) remaining in this years playoffs. Those units were able to thrive this season due to their defensive orientated rosters which all feature a presence of these prized two-way-playing athletes. The fact that we can leave T Mann in for 36 min a game and know that not only will he not hurt us on other side of the basket, but with some of the improvements to his game you noted, could eventually breakout into a player within the upper echelons as far as individual-player value. Even if he is never able to reach his lofty ceiling (which he def still has time to do with continued work developing), he’s still pretty much thar ideal glue-guy type of role player this team or any other should love having around.

Furthermore, in terms of actual game, T Mann is currently one of our best driver/slashers at finishing in traffic (exc. George, Leonard), one of our best fast-break threats, one of our better supporting wing rebounders on the offensive side of the glass, and also still a reliable corner 3 spot up shooters (despite actually currently having others on the roster with that particular skill covered also).

Yes Luke Kennard may have improved this season beyond what expectations for him were coming into this year, but Luke cannot and will not become the defender that Mann already is, which seems to be the ultimate yardstick/measurement employed by the top tier modern-day teams.