2024-25 Season Discussion and Speculation Part IV

[bullsaficianado]

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So we gave up a 1st to dump Nurkic when it now looks like the Mavs could've really used a center like Nurkic. And then we might have been able to get back a solid player/ players at a different position. If we had only waited a bit longer.

Jeez..Remember guys, if you feel misearable about the Suns, there are the Mavs fans - miss the playoffs, make the finals, get your idol traded out of nowhere in a super shady deal, watch your new old star dominate for a half before getting injured, one point loss in OT...Brutal.

Yeah...spot on. I actually feel truly sorry for Mavs fans the trade was that bad and super shady.

[Saberestar]

Mike Budenholzer on Bradley Beal (left great toe soreness): “He did not practice today. I think it’s going to take him a little bit more time.”

Beal has missed Phoenix's last two games.

Every part of his body is at risk on a basketball court. Physically broken and unable to play professional basketball on a daily basis. Hard to believe it but it's what it is.

Then again, KD looked like that a few years ago.

Kevin Durant has never been like Beal, he has had some specific injuries (usually on his legs) and he made a full recovery and that's it.

Torn Achilles, left MCL sprain, Jones fracture...all were specific injuries that deserved a good amount of time out and sometimes surgery and rehab to be back on the court.

Beal is missing multiple games in multiple times with weird small things. And it's not bad luck because it happens to him all the **** time.

It's sad because he is on the Suns and we need him on the court, but it's not surprising anyone at this point.

[bullsaficianado]

Every part of his body is at risk on a basketball court. Physically broken and unable to play professional basketball on a daily basis. Hard to believe it but it's what it is.

Then again, KD looked like that a few years ago.

Kevin Durant has never been like Beal, he has had some specific injuries (usually on his legs) and he made a full recovery and that's it.

Torn Achilles, left MCL sprain, Jones fracture...all were specific injuries that deserved a good amount of time out and sometimes surgery and rehab to be back on the court.

Beal is missing multiple games in multiple times with weird small things. And it's not bad luck because it happens to him all the **** time.

It's sad because he is on the Suns and we need him on the court, but it's not surprising to anyone at this point.

I think at this point they should have a custom bench chair made for Beal called "The inevitable Bradley Beal Injury Chair".

[bwgood77]

Every part of his body is at risk on a basketball court. Physically broken and unable to play professional basketball on a daily basis. Hard to believe it but it's what it is.

Then again, KD looked like that a few years ago.

Kevin Durant has never been like Beal, he has had some specific injuries (usually on his legs) and he made a full recovery and that's it.

Torn Achilles, left MCL sprain, Jones fracture...all were specific injuries that deserved a good amount of time out and sometimes surgery and rehab to be back on the court.

Beal is missing multiple games in multiple times with weird small things. And it's not bad luck because it happens to him all the **** time.

It's sad because he is on the Suns and we need him on the court, but it's not surprising to anyone at this point.

A lof of them have been freak injuries and bad luck. That's not debatable. And something like a toe injury isn't "your body can't hold up". That's ridiculous. But he does seem to have a lot of injuries.

Beal has played in 297 game since 19-20. KD has played in 249. He's been fairly healthy last year and this year like Paul was with us, but time is ticking, like it was with Paul.

Good to take advantage of his recent good health fortune while we still can.

[Saberestar]

Then again, KD looked like that a few years ago.

Kevin Durant has never been like Beal, he has had some specific injuries (usually on his legs) and he made a full recovery and that's it.

Torn Achilles, left MCL sprain, Jones fracture...all were specific injuries that deserved a good amount of time out and sometimes surgery and rehab to be back on the court.

Beal is missing multiple games in multiple times with weird small things. And it's not bad luck because it happens to him all the **** time.

It's sad because he is on the Suns and we need him on the court, but it's not surprising to anyone at this point.

A lof of them have been freak injuries and bad luck. That's not debatable. And something like a toe injury isn't "your body can't hold up". That's ridiculous. But he does seem to have a lot of injuries.

Beal has played in 297 game since 19-20. KD has played in 249. He's been fairly healthy last year and this year like Paul was with us, but time is ticking, like it was with Paul.

Good to take advantage of his recent good health fortune while we still can.

Those injuries aren't bad luck, come on. You can have bad luck here and there but not on a crazy number of times.

[bwgood77]

Kevin Durant has never been like Beal, he has had some specific injuries (usually on his legs) and he made a full recovery and that's it.

Torn Achilles, left MCL sprain, Jones fracture...all were specific injuries that deserved a good amount of time out and sometimes surgery and rehab to be back on the court.

Beal is missing multiple games in multiple times with weird small things. And it's not bad luck because it happens to him all the **** time.

It's sad because he is on the Suns and we need him on the court, but it's not surprising to anyone at this point.

A lof of them have been freak injuries and bad luck. That's not debatable. And something like a toe injury isn't "your body can't hold up". That's ridiculous. But he does seem to have a lot of injuries.

Beal has played in 297 game since 19-20. KD has played in 249. He's been fairly healthy last year and this year like Paul was with us, but time is ticking, like it was with Paul.

Good to take advantage of his recent good health fortune while we still can.

Those injuries aren't bad luck, come on. You can have bad luck here and there but not on a crazy number of times.

Well, if you watched the Chargers you'd believe otherwise. Anyway, a player on them, Keenan Allen had all these weird little injuries for a few years and it looked like he would never be healthy, and then he was, for years.

Chris Paul was the same. It looked like he could never stay healthy. Then he was healthy for almost 3 years straight, but then started to get injured again.

Beal was never that injury prone and he had a major injury, but you can't tell me getting elbowed in the face, and landing awkwardly on people's feet twisting your ankle several times couldn't happen to anyone at any time. But some of them are a little more weird. The back spasms he had for a few weeks like Nash had for years, then this year the elbow and now the toe, but these are minor little things. It's not like Embiid, Zion, Ingram, and some of these guys that were out most of the season every year...I guess it's been a bit similar to Towns, who has played in like 289 games since 19-20.

Anyway, KD has played in 2 more games than him. That's hardly a difference. I'm not saying he's not injury prone, and I know few people like him, but it's not like he missed much more than KD. Last year he had the beginning of the season, but the broken nose and ankle after landing on a foot, that stuff was all fluky outside of the back spasms, which haven't come back.

[King4Day]

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So we gave up a 1st to dump Nurkic when it now looks like the Mavs could've really used a center like Nurkic. And then we might have been able to get back a solid player/ players at a different position. If we had only waited a bit longer.

Remember, Charlotte was technically bent over backwards with no centers (Richards and Williams both traded). Their only one was a 2-way player.
And we still had to compensate them to take Nurk.

We were never getting value for Nurk. It was always going to take us giving assets, even if it was Dallas.

[King4Day]

I would be so irate if I'm a Mavs fan.

If the Suns did something this egregious, I'd still be a fan and follow them, but probably would be relatively disconnected. It would hurt too much.

It's not even that they traded him. It's that they got so little for him and NOTHING that helps them in the future.
And that Nico himsefl was manhandled in that trade. Had he demanded the '31 pick, '30 swap, and Knetch, then OK. MAYBE I can say it's more on the fair side.
But the fact he was convinced by the Lakers that he's not worth it is such a joke.

And the whole idea that they don't want Luka or his agent saying "i'll only go here or there"... You'd STILL get better offers. I promise you.
LAL would probably still have been on his list and they could have poached more assets by threatening to send him elsewhere.

I can't see a worse trade in NBA, and maybe sports, history. There might be, but this was just so awful.

[MrMiyagi]

I would be so irate if I'm a Mavs fan.

If the Suns did something this egregious, I'd still be a fan and follow them, but probably would be relatively disconnected. It would hurt too much.

It's not even that they traded him. It's that they got so little for him and NOTHING that helps them in the future.
And that Nico himsefl was manhandled in that trade. Had he demanded the '31 pick, '30 swap, and Knetch, then OK. MAYBE I can say it's more on the fair side.
But the fact he was convinced by the Lakers that he's not worth it is such a joke.

And the whole idea that they don't want Luka or his agent saying "i'll only go here or there"... You'd STILL get better offers. I promise you.
LAL would probably still have been on his list and they could have poached more assets by threatening to send him elsewhere.

I can't see a worse trade in NBA, and maybe sports, history. There might be, but this was just so awful.

Don't worry, our day will come.

[bwgood77]

I would be so irate if I'm a Mavs fan.

If the Suns did something this egregious, I'd still be a fan and follow them, but probably would be relatively disconnected. It would hurt too much.

It's not even that they traded him. It's that they got so little for him and NOTHING that helps them in the future.
And that Nico himsefl was manhandled in that trade. Had he demanded the '31 pick, '30 swap, and Knetch, then OK. MAYBE I can say it's more on the fair side.
But the fact he was convinced by the Lakers that he's not worth it is such a joke.

And the whole idea that they don't want Luka or his agent saying "i'll only go here or there"... You'd STILL get better offers. I promise you.
LAL would probably still have been on his list and they could have poached more assets by threatening to send him elsewhere.

I can't see a worse trade in NBA, and maybe sports, history. There might be, but this was just so awful.

I don't think the KD or Towns trades were that much worse. But Minny trading Towns and Suns trading for KD.

But there have been super lopsided trades. But it was more back when players were not traded for much. We didn't trade much for Barkley, and people thought it was too much at the time, or some did.

I don't know what was traded for Magic, but he was obviously going to be a mega star and the Lakers were the best team in the NBA and somehow end up with the top pick.

Also at the time, in the NFL, the Deandre Hopkins trade looked extremely lopsided.

But given Luka's generational talent and age, it was shocking and crazy. And rumor has it AD is out for the season and will have season ending surgery but they are too scared to announce it yet (though this is from a Mavs fan who is reading a lot of forums, but he showed me several different independent people saying it).

[BobbieL]

So is Ishbia basically going to be the Owner and GM like Jerry Jones?

You know I am just about done with the embarrassment Ishbia has brought to this once great franchise.

I don't think he's capable of learning from his mistakes and like another very famous billionaire he is all too happy to run this thing into the ground because he's too damn proud of taking advice from anyone else so I hope he sells this team to someone else more deserving that is a little more smarter and less full of themselves.

You need to get back into the Chargers. Hopefully Harbaugh's surgeries go well this offseason.

Had hip surgery about two weeks ago - maybe three. Still waiting for the heart thing to get done

Big offseason -- chance to really upgrade the roster

[wheezy]

I was thinking about it last night. Do you think if Booker retired right now, he would make the Hall of Fame?

I'd give him slightly better odds than KJ, but definitely won't make it.

[King4Day]

I would be so irate if I'm a Mavs fan.

If the Suns did something this egregious, I'd still be a fan and follow them, but probably would be relatively disconnected. It would hurt too much.

It's not even that they traded him. It's that they got so little for him and NOTHING that helps them in the future.
And that Nico himsefl was manhandled in that trade. Had he demanded the '31 pick, '30 swap, and Knetch, then OK. MAYBE I can say it's more on the fair side.
But the fact he was convinced by the Lakers that he's not worth it is such a joke.

And the whole idea that they don't want Luka or his agent saying "i'll only go here or there"... You'd STILL get better offers. I promise you.
LAL would probably still have been on his list and they could have poached more assets by threatening to send him elsewhere.

I can't see a worse trade in NBA, and maybe sports, history. There might be, but this was just so awful.

I don't think the KD or Towns trades were that much worse. But Minny trading Towns and Suns trading for KD.

But there have been super lopsided trades. But it was more back when players were not traded for much. We didn't trade much for Barkley, and people thought it was too much at the time, or some did.

I don't know what was traded for Magic, but he was obviously going to be a mega star and the Lakers were the best team in the NBA and somehow end up with the top pick.

Also at the time, in the NFL, the Deandre Hopkins trade looked extremely lopsided.

But given Luka's generational talent and age, it was shocking and crazy. And rumor has it AD is out for the season and will have season ending surgery but they are too scared to announce it yet (though this is from a Mavs fan who is reading a lot of forums, but he showed me several different independent people saying it).

Yea I'm sure there were many ugly ones. But this, as you noted, was a young generational talent.
It doesn't matter that you're trading him. It's that the Lakers gave up so little, to the point that there are conspiracy theories this was a "hit job" by the league to get LA a top star again. Makes the league less worth watching.

Even if Luka flames out from now until his career ends and even if LA gives him the max and he doesn't live up to his contract, it still doesn't make up for the fact that Dallas didn't call all 29 other teams to get their best offer. Or give the supermax and then deal him next summer. Nico will probably never get another job once he's fired (which he probably won't be for at least 2 more seasons or else Mavs fans will revolt even more)

I mean, you can't tell me Charlotte wouldn't have taken a chance on him by dealing Ball, Williams, and picks? There's your youth/talent to stay competitive, and picks to later rebuild in the event Charlotte couldn't keep him and the picks now have value.
I can't believe how much this is bothering me

[King4Day]

I was thinking about it last night. Do you think if Booker retired right now, he would make the Hall of Fame?

I'd give him slightly better odds than KJ, but definitely won't make it.

Agreed. Right now it's a bit unlikely.

I think if he can reach 20-25k career points (which seems likely barring major injury), he can get in.

He's got some deep playoff runs on his name.
We know he's def going in the Suns Ring of Honor at least. No matter what he does from today on.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Trading of a generational star in general is extremely rare. But I gave you reasons why Nico might've wanted to keep it quiet. For example if we wanted to move KD for the best package available but it happens to be like the Wizards or something, do you think it's better to let him know so he can "veto" it or just get it done?

I already said the Mavs got back less than what they traded away but....NBA GM's make dumb trades, this happens to be a really really dumb trade. Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. It seem Nico or better yet, Dumont were stupid for wanting AD this much for their 3 years window that they would trade away Luka for it. But they did it, you don't need collusion to happen if you're dumb enough to only involve one team because you want one specific player.

I also said most trades take place without the GM announcing that player is on the block. Generally what happens is that GM calls a few opposing GM's with trade packages and quite often, it leaks out that player might be on the move. It doesn't need to be announced. And I would also wager A LOT more conversations, potential trades get discussed that never goes anywhere nor leaks. But the more calls you make, the more likely is that to leak and as I pointed out before, the Mavs specifically wanted AD or Giannis, nobody else in their mind fit the bill of who'd they trade AD for. Maybe they don't want a Bam Adebayo and picks, maybe they didn't want Booker and other assets. Maybe they only wanted AD or Giannis. And for a secret to be kept, it only needs 2 people motivated enough to keep the secret. Nico wanted a deal to get done without Luka blowing it up and clearly Rob wants to get it done without getting into a bidding war. Both parties had a desire to keep it a secret.

If that's the case, it's not so crazy to keep negotiations with your main trade partner a secret from the rest of the league and maybe specifically Luka who could do a bunch of things as a superstar to nuke their preferred trade (rightfully or wrongly.)

Ultimately, it only takes one stupid owner, stupidly only wanting one specific player, at whatever stupid cost, for this to happen without collusion. A bunch of fans on here (possibly you as well) think the KD trade was a ridiculous overpay and again, it only takes one owner, wanting one specific player, at whatever cost, to throw in that final MIkal Bridges in the trade to get it done. Sure, it's
it's not on the level of the Luka/AD trade but it just shows, owners, especially new ones, aren't prone to making savvy value deals

Your claim as to why Harrison kept it quiet was in order to keep Luka from finding out and somehow vetoing or sabotaging the trade. But, Doncic was still under contract for two more years (this season and the next) with his players' option coming in 26-27. So it's not really likely that he'd be able to do much to stop or influence not getting traded if the Mavs were intent on trading him somewhere. On top of that, He couldn't get his huge payday from any other team that didn't draft him, BUT the team he'd be traded to would then become the team that could still pay him more than anything he'd receive if opting for free agency from having his bird rights! So he'd lose significant money by opting for free agency, and clearly the Lakers big market would give him the very best chance to make up any lost money through countless endorsements, and promotions they could offer. So the veto argument just doesn't hold water honestly. Furthermore, The idea of them keeping things secret in order to try and secure the best package is clearly absurd considering the lack of ANY OTHER COMPETITIVE OFFERS BEING TABLED AT ALL TO DRIVE UP THEIR RETURN. They literally settled on such a horrifically low return that it's become a consensus discussion for possibly being the worst trade in NBA history by a wide margin!

You've said that this is a really dumb trade and that NBA GMs do sometimes make very dumb trades, but clearly, this one was far beyond that premise and completely indefensible by any logical or even common sense premises. But I do believe that there's actually much more to this than just a really stupid sport trade and that there's a much bigger intent behind this than just a very poor basketball-related decision, and I'll share those reasons/explanations shortly. But it appears much bigger than what most everyone even realizes on the surface, and not that much to do with basketball after all. And even though on the surface it just appears as an extremely ignorant/ shortsighted decision, it's motives are actually far more nefarious and business/ profit driven outside of basketball-centric related. Ultimately it turns out that we were both right to an extent on thee motivations of this horrifically lopsided trade, But collusion, secrecy and tampering was absolutely involved, AND Dumont ABSOLUTELY DID WANT AD AND THE VEERY LOW END LAKERS OFFER TOO, but not for the reasons he mentioned at all and not for the reasons that Harrison mentioned either. Ultimately this was about Dumont and the Adlsons' gaining leverage to build a casino-attached stadium in DFW, but after years of lobbying enormous amounts of money, they've been unsuccessful in getting the Texas legislature to pass the bill to allow legalized gambling in Texas due to the Texas constitution prohibiting this.

The Dumont/ Adelson family buying the Mavs had almost nothing to do with lgit interest in basketball, but actually their (frequently stated interest in building their NBA casino in the lucrative untapped gambling market in Texas if they can only leverage the Mavs franchise to get the Texas legislature to amend the Texas constitution to allow legalized gambling in DFW for the Adeelsons to create a destination casino/ NBA arena "VENTIAN DALLAS" market plan. In order to leverage this would be to threaten to move th Mavs to Las Vegas if they don't approve the gambling amendment. But obviously, the NBA wouldn't agree to this type of move or would even be able to justify it with Luka there creating a successful franchise that just recently went to the finals and featured a young 25 yr old multi-time MVP-level generational franchise player driving fan interest/ devotion and a profitable franchise in the 4th largest market. BUT IF the Mavs gave Luka away and only took a pretty terrible offer and then pissed off their fanbase, and had a poor future and struggled, it immediately becomes a lot more justifiable for the NBA (Adam Silver) to now move the Mavs to Vegas (IF the Texas legislature doesn't allow the legalized gambling in Texas) so thee Adelsons can now successfully pursue tapping into the previously untapped Texas market for their NBA/Casino attached "Venetian Dallas" marketing plan that they've openly mentioned numerous times.


Now you might ask why Adam Silver and the NBA would collude in this to allow Dumont and the Adelsons to sabotage the Mavs franchise? Simply because:

1- Doing this gives their flagship franchise Doncic, which sets them up post-Lebron for a further 10 years in terms of viability, huge marketing, and promotional revenue in the NBAs' largest basketball market as well as give them a premier frontman/spokesman towards their overseas expansion plans considering how well known/famous Luka is overseas, etc.

2- It also greenlights' (upon approval) Silvers' interests in tapping into even bigger revenue possibilities if they can now leverage the casino/gambling NBAs' arena attached sports premise outside of just Vegas creating more revenue streams from this premise, and gaining traction to then expand this idea further to other cities too possibly! Silver has been seeking this type of expansion premise for a while.

3- For Lebron (who absolutely was aware of this) It allows him (through Silver/ NBA league office/ Adelson Sands Vegas connection to also pursue his dream of owning a Vegas expansion team lobbied by the Adelsons themselves) once he retires. As well as helping him to yet another finals appearance and a chance at another championship for his legacy promoted by the NBA and betting lines/ etc.

4- For Lukas' interests, It gives him a HUGE promotional market base for his bike deals as well as multiple other promotional/ commercial movie-based considerations to promote his legacy post-Lebron in the NBAs' biggest market as well as what will become his legacy as the spokesman/poster boy for the NBAs' biggest market towards overseas expansion. These options will not only replenish any money lost from the contract he would have signed with the Mavs but exponentially feed his ego-driven fame/notoriety. Only further establishing his legacy.

5- For Harrisons' interests, Even though Harrison comes off as the moron and fall guy in this trade, and likely forever tarnished his reputation as a GM. It really won't matter because the Lakers and NBA front office will have very cushy positions/ salary offers setting him up long-term for his role in this very lucrative orchestration. He'll collect a very, very nice retirement nest egg well beyond what he'd collect as an NBA GM alone for when he retires to Oregon. His 19-year friendship with Pelinka back when he was an executive at Nike and also a handler for Kobe in meeting Pelinka! made this plan possible and has been quietly planned for a couple of years now as their post-Lebron superstar pursuit knowing the League office would happily approve.

So yes, you were right that the owner Dumont wanted AD, but his interest wasn't at all competitive. And the only reason he/ Harrison kept this secret was to suppress value and not get any reasonably good return that might keep the Mavs sustainably competitive because that would make the Adelsons' plans to leverage moving the team to Vegas to get their "Venetian Dallas casino plans approved much harder to justify if competitive and profitable with heavy fan interest protesting against it. But they knew trading for a very injury-prone AD and getting a pathetically craptastic package return would sabotage the Mav's competitive future and also alienate the fanbase (they've already lost over 700.000 fans on Instagram alone from this move) which would make the threat of moving the Mavs to Vegas much more justifiable for Silver/ Dumont in a veiled threat to the Texas legislature if they don't amend the Texas constitution to allow legalized gambling in Dallas Fort Worth so the Adelsons' themselves can tap into this lucrative "untapped" market for their plans to build their NBA based "Venetian Dallas" casino. Dumont and the Adelsons' don't care about the Mavs franchise from a competitive-driven sports sense, they only care about the location value for their casino plans they've tried to promote for a couple of years in Texas. And Silver only cares about his biggest market landing Luka for ratings/viewership/marketability/ expansion possibilities both in Europe's market and the possibility of building casino-attached arenas plans to tap the gambling market for expansion there as well.

Look for a couple of things to happen in the next two years when the Texas legislature reconvenes again (for further validation of all of this).
1- Texas legislature amends their constitution to legalize gambling in Texas to now Greenlight the Adelsons' stated plans for their "Venetian Dallas Casino.
2- Dallas will really struggle and become a relatively mediocre team with a bleak future because their trade return for Doncic was so puzzling and terrible that they'll lack the assets to make viable trades, and AD will unsurprisingly only continue to become more injury-prone.
3- Mark Cuban will miraculously emerge as the "hero" returning to buy back the franchise from Dumont in 26-27 as Dumont and the Adelsons accept blame as "the bad guys" (because they don't care anyway as long as their casino plans get passed) and then restores the Mavs franchise back to competitive viability. Look for the NBA (Silver) to miraculously help the Mavs land a high lottery pick in a trade or a star player via trade in 26-27 once the approval goes through for the Adelsons' and Cuban reacquires ownership in the Mavs, while Cuban also low key collects profits from any DFW Mavs arena/ casino attached rebuild. Increasing his profits from the gambling revenue now being allowed at the casino/ NBA arena locations in Texas.
4- Adam Silver successfully promotes overseas expansions through Doncics' connections and marketability, while also successfully punishing for revamped arenas with casino connections in more locations tapping into greater gambling revenue sources.

So sadly, we were both correct in our premises to a limited extent man. But it shouldn't be that surprising to anyone when you consider the NBA after all is a market/ratings-driven business entity.

[Ghost of Kleine]

Read on Twitter

So we gave up a 1st to dump Nurkic when it now looks like the Mavs could've really used a center like Nurkic. And then we might have been able to get back a solid player/ players at a different position. If we had only waited a bit longer.

Remember, Charlotte was technically bent over backwards with no centers (Richards and Williams both traded). Their only one was a 2-way player.
And we still had to compensate them to take Nurk.

We were never getting value for Nurk. It was always going to take us giving assets, even if it was Dallas.

Honestly debatable man! especially considering this current extremely restrictive CBA climate that every team is trying to dodge left and right. It would have cost us nothing to simply send Nurkic home until the summer and then revisit trading him as a 19 million expiring to any number of teams with high payroll that are looking to get off of long-term salary and get under the 2nd apron in a salary dump. Obviously, teams are greatly fearing the 2nd apron penalties as evidenced by this past trade deadline alone and moves made by teams to offload long-term salaries. Many teams looking to cut payroll too for 26' free agency.

At worst he could've returned value in this context, just look at what Crowder returned and his value was pretty suspect too.

[Ghost of Kleine]

I would be so irate if I'm a Mavs fan.

If the Suns did something this egregious, I'd still be a fan and follow them, but probably would be relatively disconnected. It would hurt too much.

It's not even that they traded him. It's that they got so little for him and NOTHING that helps them in the future.
And that Nico himsefl was manhandled in that trade. Had he demanded the '31 pick, '30 swap, and Knetch, then OK. MAYBE I can say it's more on the fair side.
But the fact he was convinced by the Lakers that he's not worth it is such a joke.

And the whole idea that they don't want Luka or his agent saying "i'll only go here or there"... You'd STILL get better offers. I promise you.
LAL would probably still have been on his list and they could have poached more assets by threatening to send him elsewhere.

I can't see a worse trade in NBA, and maybe sports, history. There might be, but this was just so awful.

What if there was more to this than just a very terrible sports decision?

Watch on YouTube

Watch on YouTube

When you get a chance, watch this, and look into the Adelsons' lobbying donations and Venetian Dallas plans. As crazy as it might sound on the surface, keeping in mind the business aspects of all this for the NBA and the Mavs ownership interests too?

[bwgood77]

I would be so irate if I'm a Mavs fan.

If the Suns did something this egregious, I'd still be a fan and follow them, but probably would be relatively disconnected. It would hurt too much.

It's not even that they traded him. It's that they got so little for him and NOTHING that helps them in the future.
And that Nico himsefl was manhandled in that trade. Had he demanded the '31 pick, '30 swap, and Knetch, then OK. MAYBE I can say it's more on the fair side.
But the fact he was convinced by the Lakers that he's not worth it is such a joke.

And the whole idea that they don't want Luka or his agent saying "i'll only go here or there"... You'd STILL get better offers. I promise you.
LAL would probably still have been on his list and they could have poached more assets by threatening to send him elsewhere.

I can't see a worse trade in NBA, and maybe sports, history. There might be, but this was just so awful.

I don't think the KD or Towns trades were that much worse. But Minny trading Towns and Suns trading for KD.

But there have been super lopsided trades. But it was more back when players were not traded for much. We didn't trade much for Barkley, and people thought it was too much at the time, or some did.

I don't know what was traded for Magic, but he was obviously going to be a mega star and the Lakers were the best team in the NBA and somehow end up with the top pick.

Also at the time, in the NFL, the Deandre Hopkins trade looked extremely lopsided.

But given Luka's generational talent and age, it was shocking and crazy. And rumor has it AD is out for the season and will have season ending surgery but they are too scared to announce it yet (though this is from a Mavs fan who is reading a lot of forums, but he showed me several different independent people saying it).

Yea I'm sure there were many ugly ones. But this, as you noted, was a young generational talent.
It doesn't matter that you're trading him. It's that the Lakers gave up so little, to the point that there are conspiracy theories this was a "hit job" by the league to get LA a top star again. Makes the league less worth watching.

Even if Luka flames out from now until his career ends and even if LA gives him the max and he doesn't live up to his contract, it still doesn't make up for the fact that Dallas didn't call all 29 other teams to get their best offer. Or give the supermax and then deal him next summer. Nico will probably never get another job once he's fired (which he probably won't be for at least 2 more seasons or else Mavs fans will revolt even more)

I mean, you can't tell me Charlotte wouldn't have taken a chance on him by dealing Ball, Williams, and picks? There's your youth/talent to stay competitive, and picks to later rebuild in the event Charlotte couldn't keep him and the picks now have value.
I can't believe how much this is bothering me

They could have gotten what we consider better offers, but I think he wanted AD and to compete with who they have now. Ball can't stay healthy. The last 2 years he played in 36 and 22 games.

Maybe someone like Mobley and picks which would have been interesting to see if the Cavs even wanted to with where they are at. Or some other player kind of in the AD mold.

However, had it been made public, the trade would have never happened because of the backlash...and then it would have gotten awkward and Luka may have wanted to leave. I'm sure he wanted to avoid all that.

[BringinDaRuckus]

I was thinking about it last night. Do you think if Booker retired right now, he would make the Hall of Fame?

If he had one Championship to his name, then yes, I think he would have a strong case.

I look at it along the lines of DeMar DeRozen. Great player and great shooter. If DeMar DeRozen retired right now, would he be considered for the Hall of Fame? If it's a no, then Booker has no shot at HoF.

And speaking of the HoF, I think it is criminal that Amar'e Stoudemire is nominated over Shawn Marion for the HoF. Marion having a far superior career compared to STAT.

[Ghost of Kleine]

I would be so irate if I'm a Mavs fan.

If the Suns did something this egregious, I'd still be a fan and follow them, but probably would be relatively disconnected. It would hurt too much.

It's not even that they traded him. It's that they got so little for him and NOTHING that helps them in the future.
And that Nico himsefl was manhandled in that trade. Had he demanded the '31 pick, '30 swap, and Knetch, then OK. MAYBE I can say it's more on the fair side.
But the fact he was convinced by the Lakers that he's not worth it is such a joke.

And the whole idea that they don't want Luka or his agent saying "i'll only go here or there"... You'd STILL get better offers. I promise you.
LAL would probably still have been on his list and they could have poached more assets by threatening to send him elsewhere.

I can't see a worse trade in NBA, and maybe sports, history. There might be, but this was just so awful.

I don't think the KD or Towns trades were that much worse. But Minny trading Towns and Suns trading for KD.

But there have been super lopsided trades. But it was more back when players were not traded for much. We didn't trade much for Barkley, and people thought it was too much at the time, or some did.

I don't know what was traded for Magic, but he was obviously going to be a mega star and the Lakers were the best team in the NBA and somehow end up with the top pick.

Also at the time, in the NFL, the Deandre Hopkins trade looked extremely lopsided.

But given Luka's generational talent and age, it was shocking and crazy. And rumor has it AD is out for the season and will have season ending surgery but they are too scared to announce it yet (though this is from a Mavs fan who is reading a lot of forums, but he showed me several different independent people saying it).

Would ironically kind of set up the Mavs to miraculously land a top lottery talent (cough.....cough... payoff) by Silver/league office in the lottery to offset the pain of losing Luka for the fans? Or give them a high-value asset toward a trade to put towards a trade to partner someone with AD possibly if it were to somehow happen if Dallas collapsed competitively from AD being out for the season?