Exec: Lakers Didn't Just For Luka Doncic, They Also Traded For More Engaged LeBron James

[Bob8]

But it is about AD, if you are going to critique the return in the trade. IF AD kept on the path he was on and was all-NBA this season, what would his trade value have been? OK, add another 1st and Max Christie to that... that was the Mavs return in this trade. DAL could have waited until the off-season and maybe gotten another pick, but they wanted to test the waters with AD and Kyrie before they gave Kyrie an extension.

I'm not saying that I would have pulled the trigger on this deal. But I do think people are either undervaluing AD or overvaluing Luka. DAL wanted to get rid of him for a reason. We won't know how this works out for a few years. It will be fun to watch it develop.

You're missing crucial difference between those 2 players. Luka is 6 years younger. Even, if you say, they're on the same level now, which you can't, knowing that Luka was 5x in a row in first All Nba team, won scoring title last year and have insane stats. 6 years is still a huge difference. We could have had conversation, if they were similar age, but even then you don't trade by fans beloved 25 years old international superstar, who you drafted.

You said they're both injury prone. That's not true at all. Luka had first long term injury this year. This will be a first time he won't play 60+ games in his career. AD had only 1 60+ games in last 5 years. Since Luka came in Nba, he has played 74 games more than AD, this season not counting.

Trade was a disaster from the start, even from a PR perspective. You just can't say that you're afraid of 25 years old player bad conditioning and then trade for 6 years older far more injury prone player. Everything about this trade is idiotic and Mavs are paying huge price now.

It's over for Dallas. They lost this season and next, you can't expect anything from Kyrie next season. His first and only concern will be rehabilitating his knee, he won't hurry back no matter what. Mavs missing playoffs 2x in a row is highly probable.

1) You think I don't know how old AD is? I am not convinced that DAL plans to keep AD long term. It was my feeling fro the beginning that they might want to flip him in the summer, after checking his fit with Kyrie. Last season AD was All-NBA 2nd and All-NBA Defensive 1st. If he did that again, which he was on pace for, they could have dictated their price. As it stands, his value is still pretty high.

2) Luka averages 67 games per season. That's not great. And DAL clearly believes conditioning was a major factor and expected it to get worse, not better. It's ticky-tack things more than the long term injuries AD has dealt with, but those little injuries stack up. AD has average 61 games per season. I in his first six seasons he played 10 more games than Luka did in his first six. Only hindsight will give us the answer to the durability question.

3) You are correct about the PR disaster. I actually understand the DAL side of the trade: The nightmare it could be to deal with a diva like Luka every day, the potential value they got back with AD. I also knew from the get go that DAL fans would want to burn the arena with Nico in it. I'm sure he saw it as well and decided to pull the trigger anyway. He decided it was worth it.

I don't think DAL won the trade, only time will tell on that. Where I differ with most people is the idea that AD, Christie and a pick is chopped liver. If they traded Luka to UTH for Collins, Sexton and five 1sts,... is that really a better deal? Not if winning this decade is something they care about. As I said before, this trade isn't over. We may have to wait a couple of seasons for the dust to clear. One thing we will never know is whether DAL (with Luka on a supermax) would ever have gotten a third star to join him in DAL.

What are you talking about? They traded 25 years old superstar for injury prone 31 years old AD, just to trade him away? Don't you think that Luka would brought you better value than AD, if they put him in the market?

You said they are both injury prone. We're talking about now, not about AD in the start of his career. AD is missing a lot of games in last 5 years, he had only 1 healthy season last 5 years. He played 1 game for Mavs. 1. When you're talking about Luka's average of games played, you have to understand that 2 seasons were shortened because of Covid. I would say that he's playing pretty normal number of games for today's standards. He played the most minutes, RS and playoffs combined, last year. Mavs were afraid about a player, who played the most minutes, with the highest usage, winning scoring title, and brought you in Finals?

What Diva like behavior? What he does? Europeans are having anti Diva behaviour, if anything.

You're talking like Mavs were lottery team with Luka. Mavs were in the Finals last year, they were in WCF in 22. They overachieved in both seasons. They had some success with Luka, they are lottery team now after stupid trade and will probably be next year, they don't have their picks from 27-30 and their stars will be pretty old very soon. Do you really believe they can win something with around 35 years old Kyrie and AD? I doubt very much they will come even close to Finals in next 10 years.

[Pickled Prunes]

You're missing crucial difference between those 2 players. Luka is 6 years younger. Even, if you say, they're on the same level now, which you can't, knowing that Luka was 5x in a row in first All Nba team, won scoring title last year and have insane stats. 6 years is still a huge difference. We could have had conversation, if they were similar age, but even then you don't trade by fans beloved 25 years old international superstar, who you drafted.

You said they're both injury prone. That's not true at all. Luka had first long term injury this year. This will be a first time he won't play 60+ games in his career. AD had only 1 60+ games in last 5 years. Since Luka came in Nba, he has played 74 games more than AD, this season not counting.

Trade was a disaster from the start, even from a PR perspective. You just can't say that you're afraid of 25 years old player bad conditioning and then trade for 6 years older far more injury prone player. Everything about this trade is idiotic and Mavs are paying huge price now.

It's over for Dallas. They lost this season and next, you can't expect anything from Kyrie next season. His first and only concern will be rehabilitating his knee, he won't hurry back no matter what. Mavs missing playoffs 2x in a row is highly probable.

1) You think I don't know how old AD is? I am not convinced that DAL plans to keep AD long term. It was my feeling fro the beginning that they might want to flip him in the summer, after checking his fit with Kyrie. Last season AD was All-NBA 2nd and All-NBA Defensive 1st. If he did that again, which he was on pace for, they could have dictated their price. As it stands, his value is still pretty high.

2) Luka averages 67 games per season. That's not great. And DAL clearly believes conditioning was a major factor and expected it to get worse, not better. It's ticky-tack things more than the long term injuries AD has dealt with, but those little injuries stack up. AD has average 61 games per season. I in his first six seasons he played 10 more games than Luka did in his first six. Only hindsight will give us the answer to the durability question.

3) You are correct about the PR disaster. I actually understand the DAL side of the trade: The nightmare it could be to deal with a diva like Luka every day, the potential value they got back with AD. I also knew from the get go that DAL fans would want to burn the arena with Nico in it. I'm sure he saw it as well and decided to pull the trigger anyway. He decided it was worth it.

I don't think DAL won the trade, only time will tell on that. Where I differ with most people is the idea that AD, Christie and a pick is chopped liver. If they traded Luka to UTH for Collins, Sexton and five 1sts,... is that really a better deal? Not if winning this decade is something they care about. As I said before, this trade isn't over. We may have to wait a couple of seasons for the dust to clear. One thing we will never know is whether DAL (with Luka on a supermax) would ever have gotten a third star to join him in DAL.

What are you talking about? They traded 25 years old superstar for injury prone 31 years old AD, just to trade him away? Don't you think that Luka would brought you better value than AD, if they put him in the market?

You said they are both injury prone. We're talking about now, not about AD in the start of his career. AD is missing a lot of games in last 5 years, he had only 1 healthy season last 5 years. He played 1 game for Mavs. 1. When you're talking about Luka's average of games played, you have to understand that 2 seasons were shortened because of Covid. I would say that he's playing pretty normal number of games for today's standards. He played the most minutes, RS and playoffs combined, last year. Mavs were afraid about a player, who played the most minutes, with the highest usage, winning scoring title, and brought you in Finals?

What Diva like behavior? What he does? Europeans are having anti Diva behaviour, if anything.

You're talking like Mavs were lottery team with Luka. Mavs were in the Finals last year, they were in WCF in 22. They overachieved in both seasons. They had some success with Luka, they are lottery team now after stupid trade and will probably be next year, they don't have their picks from 27-30 and their stars will be pretty old very soon. Do you really believe they can win something with around 35 years old Kyrie and AD? I doubt very much they will come even close to Finals in next 10 years.

If you want to know what I'm talking about, read the thread.

They are both injury prone. Luka misses a lot of games for a young player and DAL believed that his poor conditioning would make it worse as he aged.

You don't think Luka is a diva? Stop it!

I didn't say anything about the Mavs success with or without Luka. They did all the things you mentioned. The team they have now is good if healthy but we will probably never see it.

You are clearly a Luka homer and I get, he's great. But I didn't say anything bad about Luka and I didn't say DAL won the trade, I just said I understand their rationale and don't believe it is nearly as bad as the NBA talking heads have made it out to be. Get back to me two years from now and we'll discuss it.

[Bob8]

1) You think I don't know how old AD is? I am not convinced that DAL plans to keep AD long term. It was my feeling fro the beginning that they might want to flip him in the summer, after checking his fit with Kyrie. Last season AD was All-NBA 2nd and All-NBA Defensive 1st. If he did that again, which he was on pace for, they could have dictated their price. As it stands, his value is still pretty high.

2) Luka averages 67 games per season. That's not great. And DAL clearly believes conditioning was a major factor and expected it to get worse, not better. It's ticky-tack things more than the long term injuries AD has dealt with, but those little injuries stack up. AD has average 61 games per season. I in his first six seasons he played 10 more games than Luka did in his first six. Only hindsight will give us the answer to the durability question.

3) You are correct about the PR disaster. I actually understand the DAL side of the trade: The nightmare it could be to deal with a diva like Luka every day, the potential value they got back with AD. I also knew from the get go that DAL fans would want to burn the arena with Nico in it. I'm sure he saw it as well and decided to pull the trigger anyway. He decided it was worth it.

I don't think DAL won the trade, only time will tell on that. Where I differ with most people is the idea that AD, Christie and a pick is chopped liver. If they traded Luka to UTH for Collins, Sexton and five 1sts,... is that really a better deal? Not if winning this decade is something they care about. As I said before, this trade isn't over. We may have to wait a couple of seasons for the dust to clear. One thing we will never know is whether DAL (with Luka on a supermax) would ever have gotten a third star to join him in DAL.

What are you talking about? They traded 25 years old superstar for injury prone 31 years old AD, just to trade him away? Don't you think that Luka would brought you better value than AD, if they put him in the market?

You said they are both injury prone. We're talking about now, not about AD in the start of his career. AD is missing a lot of games in last 5 years, he had only 1 healthy season last 5 years. He played 1 game for Mavs. 1. When you're talking about Luka's average of games played, you have to understand that 2 seasons were shortened because of Covid. I would say that he's playing pretty normal number of games for today's standards. He played the most minutes, RS and playoffs combined, last year. Mavs were afraid about a player, who played the most minutes, with the highest usage, winning scoring title, and brought you in Finals?

What Diva like behavior? What he does? Europeans are having anti Diva behaviour, if anything.

You're talking like Mavs were lottery team with Luka. Mavs were in the Finals last year, they were in WCF in 22. They overachieved in both seasons. They had some success with Luka, they are lottery team now after stupid trade and will probably be next year, they don't have their picks from 27-30 and their stars will be pretty old very soon. Do you really believe they can win something with around 35 years old Kyrie and AD? I doubt very much they will come even close to Finals in next 10 years.

If you want to know what I'm talking about, read the thread.

They are both injury prone. Luka misses a lot of games for a young player and DAL believed that his poor conditioning would make it worse as he aged.

You don't think Luka is a diva? Stop it!

I didn't say anything about the Mavs success with or without Luka. They did all the things you mentioned. The team they have now is good if healthy but we will probably never see it.

You are clearly a Luka homer and I get, he's great. But I didn't say anything bad about Luka and I didn't say DAL won the trade, I just said I understand their rationale and don't believe it is nearly as bad as the NBA talking heads have made it out to be. Get back to me two years from now and we'll discuss it.

How is a player with 1 long term injury in his entire career injury prone? On the other hand a player, who is missing a lot of games 4 times in last 5 years is definitely injury prone. And he was long term injured in his first game for Mavs. That's as bad as it gets.

I asked you in what sense is he Diva? Give me an example? Luka like Jokic is more or less just playing basketball in USA and then immediately return in Europe, where Luka more or less every year plays basketball for his country or is spending vacation on Krk island, in the same town, he was spending it as a child. Not exactly behaviour you would expect from Diva.

I explained you what is the main problem with that trade for the Mavs and why Mavs don't have a lot of time. Age difference. Mavs had a contending team, which went to the Finals and which they improved this offseason, built around 25 years old player. They were contending at the moment and were well built for next 10 years. In the moment they trade for 6 years older player, clock was start ticking. They lost this season because of AD and Kyrie injuries. And they will lose next season too, because 33 years old Kyrie won't be back for at least 1 year. We are basically talking about 26/27 season, which is ending 2 years from now. In that season Kyrie will be 35 and AD 34, both old and injury prone, 1 coming back from ACL injury. How likely is that those grandpas with big injury history win Nba title? Highly unlikely.

[deeps6x]

I would not be at all shocked if there was some side deal, under the table, that enriched the new Dallas owners. But hey, we'll never know. The NBA would never admit it, even if they found out. I do know that Nico can't possibly be this incompetent.

[Pickled Prunes]

What are you talking about? They traded 25 years old superstar for injury prone 31 years old AD, just to trade him away? Don't you think that Luka would brought you better value than AD, if they put him in the market?

You said they are both injury prone. We're talking about now, not about AD in the start of his career. AD is missing a lot of games in last 5 years, he had only 1 healthy season last 5 years. He played 1 game for Mavs. 1. When you're talking about Luka's average of games played, you have to understand that 2 seasons were shortened because of Covid. I would say that he's playing pretty normal number of games for today's standards. He played the most minutes, RS and playoffs combined, last year. Mavs were afraid about a player, who played the most minutes, with the highest usage, winning scoring title, and brought you in Finals?

What Diva like behavior? What he does? Europeans are having anti Diva behaviour, if anything.

You're talking like Mavs were lottery team with Luka. Mavs were in the Finals last year, they were in WCF in 22. They overachieved in both seasons. They had some success with Luka, they are lottery team now after stupid trade and will probably be next year, they don't have their picks from 27-30 and their stars will be pretty old very soon. Do you really believe they can win something with around 35 years old Kyrie and AD? I doubt very much they will come even close to Finals in next 10 years.

If you want to know what I'm talking about, read the thread.

They are both injury prone. Luka misses a lot of games for a young player and DAL believed that his poor conditioning would make it worse as he aged.

You don't think Luka is a diva? Stop it!

I didn't say anything about the Mavs success with or without Luka. They did all the things you mentioned. The team they have now is good if healthy but we will probably never see it.

You are clearly a Luka homer and I get, he's great. But I didn't say anything bad about Luka and I didn't say DAL won the trade, I just said I understand their rationale and don't believe it is nearly as bad as the NBA talking heads have made it out to be. Get back to me two years from now and we'll discuss it.

How is a player with 1 long term injury in his entire career injury prone? On the other hand a player, who is missing a lot of games 4 times in last 5 years is definitely injury prone. And he was long term injured in his first game for Mavs. That's as bad as it gets.

I asked you in what sense is he Diva? Give me an example? Luka like Jokic is more or less just playing basketball in USA and then immediately return in Europe, where Luka more or less every year plays basketball for his country or is spending vacation on Krk island, in the same town, he was spending it as a child. Not exactly behaviour you would expect from Diva.

I explained you what is the main problem with that trade for the Mavs and why Mavs don't have a lot of time. Age difference. Mavs had a contending team, which went to the Finals and which they improved this offseason, built around 25 years old player. They were contending at the moment and were well built for next 10 years. In the moment they trade for 6 years older player, clock was start ticking. They lost this season because of AD and Kyrie injuries. And they will lose next season too, because 33 years old Kyrie won't be back for at least 1 year. We are basically talking about 26/27 season, which is ending 2 years from now. In that season Kyrie will be 35 and AD 34, both old and injury prone, 1 coming back from ACL injury. How likely is that those grandpas with big injury history win Nba title? Highly unlikely.

Just read the thread buddy, just read the thread.

You don't need to be in here defending Luka's honor. We are way off the rails from of my original point. The only negative thing I said about Luka is that he's a Diva, which has nothing to do with where he vacations. You don't think he is and that's fair enough... but the Mavs did and that played a part in why they traded him.

DAL was not set for years. Their seasons were ebbing and flowing based around one player. With Luka they have finished 14th, 7th, 5th, 4th, 11th and 5th. They've had home court in the playoffs once. That is not the juggernaut team you make them out to be. None of that is an indictment on Luka. DAL was stuck in limbo with a regular season ceiling, a middling supporting cast and few resources to improve. The roster is talent thin, the organization is asset poor and free agents don't go to DAL. Kyrie was set to opt out and extend for a max or test free agency. They were only able to get him in the first place because he was damaged goods and now his reputation has been largely rehabilitated. (Yes, this all looks different after his injury, but we are talking about the DAL perspective of a trade that happened before the injury. None of us can see the future.)

Who is talking about NBA titles? I know I didn't. (Maybe you should read the thread?) LAL is far more likely to win a title in the next 5 years, but that was true before the trade. Free agents don't go to DAL, but they go to LAL in droves. Nico did Luka a favor... and none of that has anything to do with what I was talking about. All I said was that I understand the trade from the DAL perspective, and I do. It's OK if you don't. If you would like to, just go back and read the thread... and try your best to not get in your feelings about Luka. He's great and we all know it.

[Bob8]

If you want to know what I'm talking about, read the thread.

They are both injury prone. Luka misses a lot of games for a young player and DAL believed that his poor conditioning would make it worse as he aged.

You don't think Luka is a diva? Stop it!

I didn't say anything about the Mavs success with or without Luka. They did all the things you mentioned. The team they have now is good if healthy but we will probably never see it.

You are clearly a Luka homer and I get, he's great. But I didn't say anything bad about Luka and I didn't say DAL won the trade, I just said I understand their rationale and don't believe it is nearly as bad as the NBA talking heads have made it out to be. Get back to me two years from now and we'll discuss it.

How is a player with 1 long term injury in his entire career injury prone? On the other hand a player, who is missing a lot of games 4 times in last 5 years is definitely injury prone. And he was long term injured in his first game for Mavs. That's as bad as it gets.

I asked you in what sense is he Diva? Give me an example? Luka like Jokic is more or less just playing basketball in USA and then immediately return in Europe, where Luka more or less every year plays basketball for his country or is spending vacation on Krk island, in the same town, he was spending it as a child. Not exactly behaviour you would expect from Diva.

I explained you what is the main problem with that trade for the Mavs and why Mavs don't have a lot of time. Age difference. Mavs had a contending team, which went to the Finals and which they improved this offseason, built around 25 years old player. They were contending at the moment and were well built for next 10 years. In the moment they trade for 6 years older player, clock was start ticking. They lost this season because of AD and Kyrie injuries. And they will lose next season too, because 33 years old Kyrie won't be back for at least 1 year. We are basically talking about 26/27 season, which is ending 2 years from now. In that season Kyrie will be 35 and AD 34, both old and injury prone, 1 coming back from ACL injury. How likely is that those grandpas with big injury history win Nba title? Highly unlikely.

Just read the thread buddy, just read the thread.

You don't need to be in here defending Luka's honor. We are way off the rails from of my original point. The only negative thing I said about Luka is that he's a Diva, which has nothing to do with where he vacations. You don't think he is and that's fair enough... but the Mavs did and that played a part in why they traded him.

DAL was not set for years. Their seasons were ebbing and flowing based around one player. With Luka they have finished 14th, 7th, 5th, 4th, 11th and 5th. They've had home court in the playoffs once. That is not the juggernaut team you make them out to be. None of that is an indictment on Luka. DAL was stuck in limbo with a regular season ceiling, a middling supporting cast and few resources to improve. The roster is talent thin, the organization is asset poor and free agents don't go to DAL. Kyrie was set to opt out and extend for a max or test free agency. They were only able to get him in the first place because he was damaged goods and now his reputation has been largely rehabilitated. (Yes, this all looks different after his injury, but we are talking about the DAL perspective of a trade that happened before the injury. None of us can see the future.)

Who is talking about NBA titles? I know I didn't. (Maybe you should read the thread?) LAL is far more likely to win a title in the next 5 years, but that was true before the trade. Free agents don't go to DAL, but they go to LAL in droves. Nico did Luka a favor... and none of that has anything to do with what I was talking about. All I said was that I understand the trade from the DAL perspective, and I do. It's OK if you don't. If you would like to, just go back and read the thread... and try your best to not get in your feelings about Luka. He's great and we all know it.

Who cares about RS. They got better after trade deadline and they were in the Finals last year, beating 1st, 3rd and 4th seed. And they made team better in this offseason. I would imagine they would give the Finalists another try. Apparently not.

This trade is not bad only because they traded Luka, but it's bad because of what they got back. If they didn't believe in their team, which is kinda funny after making Finals half a year ago, they should go with full rebuild getting 7 FRPs and some young talents. Trading for 6 years older injury prone player, who was never first option in a winning team, like Kyrie, couldn't never have worked and has just shortened their window to win something. Kyrie injury basically closed it down totally. Mavs don't have their own FRPs between 27-30, so they can't even go in full rebuild after Grandpas retire. Mavs are dead for next 10 years. I don't know, if Nico really believed that AD can bring him a ring, but I know that their perspective is pretty grim after 1 month of Hell. Maybe they can trade everyone young and perspective they still have and all their available picks for KD and go down in the style with old Cowboys.

[Pickled Prunes]

How is a player with 1 long term injury in his entire career injury prone? On the other hand a player, who is missing a lot of games 4 times in last 5 years is definitely injury prone. And he was long term injured in his first game for Mavs. That's as bad as it gets.

I asked you in what sense is he Diva? Give me an example? Luka like Jokic is more or less just playing basketball in USA and then immediately return in Europe, where Luka more or less every year plays basketball for his country or is spending vacation on Krk island, in the same town, he was spending it as a child. Not exactly behaviour you would expect from Diva.

I explained you what is the main problem with that trade for the Mavs and why Mavs don't have a lot of time. Age difference. Mavs had a contending team, which went to the Finals and which they improved this offseason, built around 25 years old player. They were contending at the moment and were well built for next 10 years. In the moment they trade for 6 years older player, clock was start ticking. They lost this season because of AD and Kyrie injuries. And they will lose next season too, because 33 years old Kyrie won't be back for at least 1 year. We are basically talking about 26/27 season, which is ending 2 years from now. In that season Kyrie will be 35 and AD 34, both old and injury prone, 1 coming back from ACL injury. How likely is that those grandpas with big injury history win Nba title? Highly unlikely.

Just read the thread buddy, just read the thread.

You don't need to be in here defending Luka's honor. We are way off the rails from of my original point. The only negative thing I said about Luka is that he's a Diva, which has nothing to do with where he vacations. You don't think he is and that's fair enough... but the Mavs did and that played a part in why they traded him.

DAL was not set for years. Their seasons were ebbing and flowing based around one player. With Luka they have finished 14th, 7th, 5th, 4th, 11th and 5th. They've had home court in the playoffs once. That is not the juggernaut team you make them out to be. None of that is an indictment on Luka. DAL was stuck in limbo with a regular season ceiling, a middling supporting cast and few resources to improve. The roster is talent thin, the organization is asset poor and free agents don't go to DAL. Kyrie was set to opt out and extend for a max or test free agency. They were only able to get him in the first place because he was damaged goods and now his reputation has been largely rehabilitated. (Yes, this all looks different after his injury, but we are talking about the DAL perspective of a trade that happened before the injury. None of us can see the future.)

Who is talking about NBA titles? I know I didn't. (Maybe you should read the thread?) LAL is far more likely to win a title in the next 5 years, but that was true before the trade. Free agents don't go to DAL, but they go to LAL in droves. Nico did Luka a favor... and none of that has anything to do with what I was talking about. All I said was that I understand the trade from the DAL perspective, and I do. It's OK if you don't. If you would like to, just go back and read the thread... and try your best to not get in your feelings about Luka. He's great and we all know it.

Who cares about RS. They got better after trade deadline and they were in the Finals last year, beating 1st, 3rd and 4th seed. And they made team better in this offseason. I would imagine they would give the Finalists another try. Apparently not.

This trade is not bad only because they traded Luka, but it's bad because of what they got back. If they didn't believe in their team, which is kinda funny after making Finals half a year ago, they should go with full rebuild getting 7 FRPs and some young talents. Trading for 6 years older injury prone player, who was never first option in a winning team, like Kyrie, couldn't never have worked and has just shortened their window to win something. Kyrie injury basically closed it down totally. Mavs don't have their own FRPs between 27-30, so they can't even go in full rebuild after Grandpas retire. Mavs are dead for next 10 years. I don't know, if Nico really believed that AD can bring him a ring, but I know that their perspective is pretty grim after 1 month of Hell. Maybe they can trade everyone young and perspective they still have and all their available picks for KD and go down in the style with old Cowboys.

They made the finals last season and got smoked. It wasn't close.... and they did not get better this season, at least not from where I'm standing. Everything you are saying was discussed earlier in the thread, so why don't we put this discussion on hold until the Summer of 2026.

[Bob8]

Just read the thread buddy, just read the thread.

You don't need to be in here defending Luka's honor. We are way off the rails from of my original point. The only negative thing I said about Luka is that he's a Diva, which has nothing to do with where he vacations. You don't think he is and that's fair enough... but the Mavs did and that played a part in why they traded him.

DAL was not set for years. Their seasons were ebbing and flowing based around one player. With Luka they have finished 14th, 7th, 5th, 4th, 11th and 5th. They've had home court in the playoffs once. That is not the juggernaut team you make them out to be. None of that is an indictment on Luka. DAL was stuck in limbo with a regular season ceiling, a middling supporting cast and few resources to improve. The roster is talent thin, the organization is asset poor and free agents don't go to DAL. Kyrie was set to opt out and extend for a max or test free agency. They were only able to get him in the first place because he was damaged goods and now his reputation has been largely rehabilitated. (Yes, this all looks different after his injury, but we are talking about the DAL perspective of a trade that happened before the injury. None of us can see the future.)

Who is talking about NBA titles? I know I didn't. (Maybe you should read the thread?) LAL is far more likely to win a title in the next 5 years, but that was true before the trade. Free agents don't go to DAL, but they go to LAL in droves. Nico did Luka a favor... and none of that has anything to do with what I was talking about. All I said was that I understand the trade from the DAL perspective, and I do. It's OK if you don't. If you would like to, just go back and read the thread... and try your best to not get in your feelings about Luka. He's great and we all know it.

Who cares about RS. They got better after trade deadline and they were in the Finals last year, beating 1st, 3rd and 4th seed. And they made team better in this offseason. I would imagine they would give the Finalists another try. Apparently not.

This trade is not bad only because they traded Luka, but it's bad because of what they got back. If they didn't believe in their team, which is kinda funny after making Finals half a year ago, they should go with full rebuild getting 7 FRPs and some young talents. Trading for 6 years older injury prone player, who was never first option in a winning team, like Kyrie, couldn't never have worked and has just shortened their window to win something. Kyrie injury basically closed it down totally. Mavs don't have their own FRPs between 27-30, so they can't even go in full rebuild after Grandpas retire. Mavs are dead for next 10 years. I don't know, if Nico really believed that AD can bring him a ring, but I know that their perspective is pretty grim after 1 month of Hell. Maybe they can trade everyone young and perspective they still have and all their available picks for KD and go down in the style with old Cowboys.

They made the finals last season and got smoked. It wasn't close.... and they did not get better this season, at least not from where I'm standing. Everything you are saying was discussed earlier in the thread, so why don't we put this discussion on hold until the Summer of 2026.

You sound like making Finals is something easy to be done. Many teams were never in Finals. Mavs were in the Finals only 3x in their history. Finals are pretty big thing, if you're not Celtics or Lakers. I wonder why Mavs didn't traded Dirk after 2006 loss?

Btw they didn't lose Finals because of D, they have lost because Kyrie and role players couldn't hit any shots. Mavs have 109 drtg, which is far the best among all Celtics opponents in playoffs. If someone had to be traded after that Finals, it should be Kyrie, who was really awful.

They were on 2nd place on Christmas Day, when Luka injured himself, that's pretty big improvement from last year, which shouldn't be surprising because they have 1 year's older Lively, PJ and Gafford playing from the start of the season and new Grimes, Naji and Klay, the only important player they have lost was DJJ. Btw. trading Grimes for injured player and giving SRP away and hard caped himself in the process, was another masterpiece move by Nico. Grimes looking incredible in Philadelphia.

Your proposal tells it all about the deal. Nico said they made a trade to win now and we will talk about 26/27 season, when Mavs stars will average 35+. No problem with me, we can start talking in 2030 if you want, it won't make any difference. The only thing that can safe Mavs is lottery luck this year.

[Pickled Prunes]

Who cares about RS. They got better after trade deadline and they were in the Finals last year, beating 1st, 3rd and 4th seed. And they made team better in this offseason. I would imagine they would give the Finalists another try. Apparently not.

This trade is not bad only because they traded Luka, but it's bad because of what they got back. If they didn't believe in their team, which is kinda funny after making Finals half a year ago, they should go with full rebuild getting 7 FRPs and some young talents. Trading for 6 years older injury prone player, who was never first option in a winning team, like Kyrie, couldn't never have worked and has just shortened their window to win something. Kyrie injury basically closed it down totally. Mavs don't have their own FRPs between 27-30, so they can't even go in full rebuild after Grandpas retire. Mavs are dead for next 10 years. I don't know, if Nico really believed that AD can bring him a ring, but I know that their perspective is pretty grim after 1 month of Hell. Maybe they can trade everyone young and perspective they still have and all their available picks for KD and go down in the style with old Cowboys.

They made the finals last season and got smoked. It wasn't close.... and they did not get better this season, at least not from where I'm standing. Everything you are saying was discussed earlier in the thread, so why don't we put this discussion on hold until the Summer of 2026.

You sound like making Finals is something easy to be done. Many teams were never in Finals. Mavs were in the Finals only 3x in their history. Finals are pretty big thing, if you're not Celtics or Lakers. I wonder why Mavs didn't traded Dirk after 2006 loss?

Btw they didn't lose Finals because of D, they have lost because Kyrie and role players couldn't hit any shots. Mavs have 109 drtg, which is far the best among all Celtics opponents in playoffs. If someone had to be traded after that Finals, it should be Kyrie, who was really awful.

They were on 2nd place on Christmas Day, when Luka injured himself, that's pretty big improvement from last year, which shouldn't be surprising because they have 1 year's older Lively, PJ and Gafford playing from the start of the season and new Grimes, Naji and Klay, the only important player they have lost was DJJ. Btw. trading Grimes for injured player and giving SRP away and hard caped himself in the process, was another masterpiece move by Nico. Grimes looking incredible in Philadelphia.

Your proposal tells it all about the deal. Nico said they made a trade to win now and we will talk about 26/27 season, when Mavs stars will average 35+. No problem with me, we can start talking in 2030 if you want, it won't make any difference. The only thing that can safe Mavs is lottery luck this year.

You know, if you just read back through the thread you would find that nothing you are saying has anything to do with... never mind, I concede: DAL was a dynasty, the world was their oyster and they threw it all away.

All I said was that I understand why DAL traded Luka. You clearly don't understand it, which is fine... but you aren't going to make me understand it any less by telling me things I already know. You're that kid in math class trying to explain to a kid that "gets it" why it doesn't make any sense.

I said I get it... I also said that I don't think I could have made the trade. Understanding it is not the same as condoning it. And obviously, Nico's comments about winning now came before AD and Kyrie went down, making it completely irrelevant to the conversation.... but feel free to bring it up, over and over again. I said I understand the trade; I also understand how risky it was.

The biggest difference between you and me is that I don't believe DAL had a contending roster or the assets to turn it into a contending roster. The trade was made because DAL (not just Nico) felt the same. They didn't want to get stuck like HOU with Harden or OKC with Russ. I get it.

[Bob8]

They made the finals last season and got smoked. It wasn't close.... and they did not get better this season, at least not from where I'm standing. Everything you are saying was discussed earlier in the thread, so why don't we put this discussion on hold until the Summer of 2026.

You sound like making Finals is something easy to be done. Many teams were never in Finals. Mavs were in the Finals only 3x in their history. Finals are pretty big thing, if you're not Celtics or Lakers. I wonder why Mavs didn't traded Dirk after 2006 loss?

Btw they didn't lose Finals because of D, they have lost because Kyrie and role players couldn't hit any shots. Mavs have 109 drtg, which is far the best among all Celtics opponents in playoffs. If someone had to be traded after that Finals, it should be Kyrie, who was really awful.

They were on 2nd place on Christmas Day, when Luka injured himself, that's pretty big improvement from last year, which shouldn't be surprising because they have 1 year's older Lively, PJ and Gafford playing from the start of the season and new Grimes, Naji and Klay, the only important player they have lost was DJJ. Btw. trading Grimes for injured player and giving SRP away and hard caped himself in the process, was another masterpiece move by Nico. Grimes looking incredible in Philadelphia.

Your proposal tells it all about the deal. Nico said they made a trade to win now and we will talk about 26/27 season, when Mavs stars will average 35+. No problem with me, we can start talking in 2030 if you want, it won't make any difference. The only thing that can safe Mavs is lottery luck this year.

You know, if you just read back through the thread you would find that nothing you are saying has anything to do with... never mind, I concede: DAL was a dynasty, the world was their oyster and they threw it all away.

All I said was that I understand why DAL traded Luka. You clearly don't understand it, which is fine... but you aren't going to make me understand it any less by telling me things I already know. You're that kid in math class trying to explain to a kid that "gets it" why it doesn't make any sense.

I said I get it... I also said that I don't think I could have made the trade. Understanding it is not the same as condoning it. And obviously, Nico's comments about winning now came before AD and Kyrie went down, making it completely irrelevant to the conversation.... but feel free to bring it up, over and over again. I said I understand the trade; I also understand how risky it was.

The biggest difference between you and me is that I don't believe DAL had a contending roster or the assets to turn it into a contending roster. The trade was made because DAL (not just Nico) felt the same. They didn't want to get stuck like HOU with Harden or OKC with Russ. I get it.

The biggest difference between us is that you don't believe that Finalist, who went through 1st, 2nd and 4th seed is a contender. Which is laughable.

If the Finalist is not a contender, who is? Only who wins? Everyone who wins the West, beating 1st, 2nd and 4th is a contender for sure. Mavs was top Nba team since ASB, because they got stronger and healthier. They were 2nd seed before Luka's injury this year too.

By your logic Denver is not a contender either. Should they trade Jokic too?

Even, if you don't believe, you can win Boston, who guarantees that Boston comes out of the East? Just look at who Denver played for winning the title, 2 play-in teams.

AD is not winning you anything, he never had as the first option and same goes for Kyrie, who was by the way awful in Finals. We absolutely can discuss injuries, when 2 not young extremely injury prone players are involved. Kyrie didn't play more than 60 games since 18/19 season and Nico and Kidd expected that he will take his and Luka's burden on him and survived? If it wasn't knee, it would be back or something else. Nico traded the player, who had the highest usage and has played the most minutes in RS and playoffs combined in Nba for a big. That trade meant that everything in backcourt was on Kyrie.

Trade was done, results are evident, Nico gambled and lost. I'm sure he didn't expect fans reaction, he's dead man in Dallas. I hope you understand that too.

[Pickled Prunes]

You sound like making Finals is something easy to be done. Many teams were never in Finals. Mavs were in the Finals only 3x in their history. Finals are pretty big thing, if you're not Celtics or Lakers. I wonder why Mavs didn't traded Dirk after 2006 loss?

Btw they didn't lose Finals because of D, they have lost because Kyrie and role players couldn't hit any shots. Mavs have 109 drtg, which is far the best among all Celtics opponents in playoffs. If someone had to be traded after that Finals, it should be Kyrie, who was really awful.

They were on 2nd place on Christmas Day, when Luka injured himself, that's pretty big improvement from last year, which shouldn't be surprising because they have 1 year's older Lively, PJ and Gafford playing from the start of the season and new Grimes, Naji and Klay, the only important player they have lost was DJJ. Btw. trading Grimes for injured player and giving SRP away and hard caped himself in the process, was another masterpiece move by Nico. Grimes looking incredible in Philadelphia.

Your proposal tells it all about the deal. Nico said they made a trade to win now and we will talk about 26/27 season, when Mavs stars will average 35+. No problem with me, we can start talking in 2030 if you want, it won't make any difference. The only thing that can safe Mavs is lottery luck this year.

You know, if you just read back through the thread you would find that nothing you are saying has anything to do with... never mind, I concede: DAL was a dynasty, the world was their oyster and they threw it all away.

All I said was that I understand why DAL traded Luka. You clearly don't understand it, which is fine... but you aren't going to make me understand it any less by telling me things I already know. You're that kid in math class trying to explain to a kid that "gets it" why it doesn't make any sense.

I said I get it... I also said that I don't think I could have made the trade. Understanding it is not the same as condoning it. And obviously, Nico's comments about winning now came before AD and Kyrie went down, making it completely irrelevant to the conversation.... but feel free to bring it up, over and over again. I said I understand the trade; I also understand how risky it was.

The biggest difference between you and me is that I don't believe DAL had a contending roster or the assets to turn it into a contending roster. The trade was made because DAL (not just Nico) felt the same. They didn't want to get stuck like HOU with Harden or OKC with Russ. I get it.

The biggest difference between us is that you don't believe that Finalist, who went through 1st, 2nd and 4th seed is a contender. Which is laughable.

If the Finalist is not a contender, who is? Only who wins? Everyone who wins the West, beating 1st, 2nd and 4th is a contender for sure. Mavs was top Nba team since ASB, because they got stronger and healthier. They were 2nd seed before Luka's injury this year.

By your logic Denver is not a contender either. Should they trade Jokic too?

Even, if you don't believe, you can win Boston, who guarantees that Boston comes out of the East? Just look at, who Denver played for winning the title, 2 play-in teams.

AD is not winning you anything, he never had as the first option and same goes for Kyrie. We absolutely can discuss injuries, when 2 not young extremely injury prone players are involved. Kyrie didn't play more than 60 games since 18/19 season and Nico and Kidd expected that he will take his and Luka's burden on him and survived? If it wasn't knee, it would be back or something else. Nico traded the player, who had the highest usage and has played the most minutes in RS and playoffs combined in Nba for a big. That trade meant that everything in backcourt was on Kyrie.

Trade was done, results are evident, Nico gambled and lost. I'm sure he didn't expect fans reaction, he's dead man in Dallas. I hope you understand that too.

I'm not sure why you're mad at me, I didn't trade Luka. You should probably drop Nico an email.

Luka is a great player. That roster around Luka was pretty mediocre. They faced LAC without Kawhi, a MIN team that was crumbling and a very young OKC team... But OKC has upward mobility that DAL didn't have. MEM, HOU and SAS also have a bright future with young talent and draft capital. DAL was going to finish behind OKC, MEM and HOU this season and all three of those teams have youth, depth and draft capital. I don't believe DAL had the assets or the roster flexibility to keep up with those teams.

I'm sorry if this makes you angry. I can't un-trade Luka. All I can do is tell you why I think DAL did what they did. You should probably direct your anger towards them.