Lets admit the obvious: SGA is a better player than Luka

[UglyBugBall]

That guy broke down the defense - play by play - move by move- Luka not only was out of shape, he was out of position on most plays and his fundamentals of defense were horrible. His defensive foot work is highschool level bad… This proves that it’s bigger than being in shape… but these are things he can fix - but in year 8 its embarrassing to have a guy this good on offense to be this bad at the overall game- Luka cost the lakers the series because he couldn’t stay in front of anyone in a critical games- if Luka scored 51 they may have still lost

Luka is not a good 1 on 1 defender. He's an excellent team defender, like a Draymond. Theres a reason he's been on multiple top defensive teams.

No man he isn’t a good team defender - watch the video - he was the reason the defense broke down and accounted for 41 points in a single game-

You think someone is a good defender just because the other 4 guys make up for them?

Luka was horrible at defense in the Minnesota series - there are receipts man - show the video of Luka playing good defense

He was bad against MIN because he had no center to funnel guys to. He's been a very good team defender when he can funnel opponents to his center. He understands angles and opponent tendencies very well and knows where to direct them, but without a center he's not a guy that will hold a defense on his back.

[Archx]

Mavs never offered Luka to OKC and both SGA and Luka had similar individual and team defensive stats in last playoffs when Luka was in shape and wasn't dealing with all the drama. This notion that Mavs needed to hide Luka on defense is insanely incorrect and there are some people on this forum who write 2 posts per page to remind everyone of this fake narrative.

Yeah, this narrative that Luka is a very bad defender esp in the playoffs is really crazy indeed.
If this is the case then playoff teams like the Suns, Clippers with Lue, OKC, TWolves with Finch should have targeted and fully exploited this weakness RELENTLESSLY!! and yet Dallas eliminated these teams before.

The fact that there is video evidence that Luka is bad at defense is refuted by what ?

Stats that take team performance into consideration?

We all have seen Luka play well in spurts but you guys sound like you actually think Luka’s defense is anywhere need respectable on a regular basis…. It’s no where near SGAs because one can actually stay in front of his man

There is a video evidence that Luka can play good defense. You just chose not to look it up. There is also a video evidence with game analysis how Luka picked OKC apart but you also chose to ignore that and just subjectively decided that SGA completely destroyed him in that series.

You can make so many arguments if you focus purely on one thing without context and you drive that narrative to the end of the world however suits you. We admitted many times he wasn't at his best and he was far from being great in these playoffs, that's fair. But to try and rewrite the history from other years when there are actual data out their and videos, that's a bit weird.

[tamaraw08]

The Mavs roster is better than OKCs -

I say that because when OKC and Mavs met last year - sga outplayed Luka (Luka was hurt last playoffs) by a wide margins and The Mavs others out played the OKC others -

With that said- that’s undeniable truth that if you take the Mavs roster minus Luka and okc minus sga - or if you say they cancel each other out.:: the Mavs win…

So I think it’s clear that the Mavs roster isn’t bad at all

OKC pretty much replaced Giddey who was such a great offensive liability (he was so bad he played 12.5 mins vs Dallas) with a veteran who can play defense and hit 3's in Caruso.
OKC also didn't have I-Hart last year.
OKC after 1 year significantly improved ranking from 4th to first in DRTG, I heard one of the best in history at 107.5/100 from 112/100
they also improved their ORTG.
Collectively the really improved like JDub, elected to ALL NBA 3rd team, all defensive 2nd team,
also Dort (all defensive 1st team), Wallace, Wiggins, Joe have really matured and improved both on offense and defense from last year imo.

I’m just saying The Mavs have a quality roster

Mavs have a quality roster but not very close of the current OKC juggernaut that has Dort, voted all defense first team, JDub all NBA 3rd team, Caruso, Wallace plus who also can play tough defense and shoot 3's AND 2 really good centers.
Dallas eliminated the young OKC last year with PJ Washington's anomalous 3pt% of 47%, his career was 38%, DJJ with incredible 37 compared to his career ave of 32%.
Those guys were brought back to earth when they faced Boston, hence the gentlemen sweep.

[tamaraw08]

Mavs never offered Luka to OKC and both SGA and Luka had similar individual and team defensive stats in last playoffs when Luka was in shape and wasn't dealing with all the drama. This notion that Mavs needed to hide Luka on defense is insanely incorrect and there are some people on this forum who write 2 posts per page to remind everyone of this fake narrative.

Yeah, this narrative that Luka is a very bad defender esp in the playoffs is really crazy indeed.
If this is the case then playoff teams like the Suns, Clippers with Lue, OKC, TWolves with Finch should have targeted and fully exploited this weakness RELENTLESSLY!! and yet Dallas eliminated these teams before.

The fact that there is video evidence that Luka is bad at defense is refuted by what ?

Stats that take team performance into consideration?

We all have seen Luka play well in spurts but you guys sound like you actually think Luka’s defense is anywhere need respectable on a regular basis…. It’s no where near SGAs because one can actually stay in front of his man

video evidence? Dude, the freaking Smush Parker has video evidencES of being a great player from YouTube.
No one is saying Doncic's defense in on par with SGA, what some of us are refuting is that narrative that Doncic is a VERY BAD defender esp in the playoffs. Again,how on Earth did good playoff teams like the Suns, Clippers, OKC, TWolves FAILED TO TARGET AND EXPLOIT Luka's poor defense? HOW!!!!

[Lalouie]

generational

lebron,,,curry,,,luka,,,jokic,,,giannis?,,,wemby?
_______________________________________
_______________________________________ } - indicates this is where i draw the line/s
_______________________________________

sga,,,kawhi,,,kd

[CobraCommander]

Yeah, this narrative that Luka is a very bad defender esp in the playoffs is really crazy indeed.
If this is the case then playoff teams like the Suns, Clippers with Lue, OKC, TWolves with Finch should have targeted and fully exploited this weakness RELENTLESSLY!! and yet Dallas eliminated these teams before.

The fact that there is video evidence that Luka is bad at defense is refuted by what ?

Stats that take team performance into consideration?

We all have seen Luka play well in spurts but you guys sound like you actually think Luka’s defense is anywhere need respectable on a regular basis…. It’s no where near SGAs because one can actually stay in front of his man

video evidence? Dude, the freaking Smush Parker has video evidencES of being a great player from YouTube.
No one is saying Doncic's defense in on par with SGA, what some of us are refuting is that narrative that Doncic is a VERY BAD defender esp in the playoffs. Again,how on Earth did good playoff teams like the Suns, Clippers, OKC, TWolves FAILED TO TARGET AND EXPLOIT Luka's poor defense? HOW!!!!

They did target it- but the truth is Luka can score -

And honestly the Mavs built a team to cover for his inconsistency in defense.

Plus no one is saying young in shape Luka wouldn’t be great on defense - we saying what we seeing right now is the problem - Luka’s defense THIS playoffs was bad.:. Last year Luka was hurt too… so why was he better at defense?

I’m saying it’s the fact they they built a system to cover for his bad defense.:.

[CobraCommander]

Yeah, this narrative that Luka is a very bad defender esp in the playoffs is really crazy indeed.
If this is the case then playoff teams like the Suns, Clippers with Lue, OKC, TWolves with Finch should have targeted and fully exploited this weakness RELENTLESSLY!! and yet Dallas eliminated these teams before.

The fact that there is video evidence that Luka is bad at defense is refuted by what ?

Stats that take team performance into consideration?

We all have seen Luka play well in spurts but you guys sound like you actually think Luka’s defense is anywhere need respectable on a regular basis…. It’s no where near SGAs because one can actually stay in front of his man

There is a video evidence that Luka can play good defense. You just chose not to look it up. There is also a video evidence with game analysis how Luka picked OKC apart but you also chose to ignore that and just subjectively decided that SGA completely destroyed him in that series.

You can make so many arguments if you focus purely on one thing without context and you drive that narrative to the end of the world however suits you. We admitted many times he wasn't at his best and he was far from being great in these playoffs, that's fair. But to try and rewrite the history from other years when there are actual data out their and videos, that's a bit weird.

Look - facts - mavs moved Luka cause he was - in their opinion a problem in defense because of his lack of professionalism and conditioning- those are facts - and the Bucks and Minnesota said no to a trade for Luka cause they thought they would rather have Giannis (logical) and Ant (illogical)… so it’s not just … it’s at least 3 teams that thought the could do better than Luka - especially on defense -

While I wouldn’t make the trade - someone did … and someone thought ant was better than Luka - and no one thinks Ant is better than SGA:

To me, this discussion is over until Luka is in shape. Out of shape Luka can’t compete with SGA

[Archx]

Look - facts - mavs moved Luka cause he was - in their opinion a problem in defense because of his lack of professionalism and conditioning- those are facts - and the Bucks and Minnesota said no to a trade for Luka cause they thought they would rather have Giannis (logical) and Ant (illogical)…

This is how random twitter media gets to people.

Stein was Cuban's right hand media guy and obviously still has many inside sources.

[Stein on DLLS] The Mavericks didn’t conduct a bidding war for Luka Dončić because they didn’t want it to get out and for it to possibly lead to Luka Dončić demanding a trade in response to that.

Tim MacMahon, Tim Cato and Grant Afseth (3 guys deeply connected with Mavs franchise). All 3 made three separate articles with interviews from Mavs employees. I won't write 3 pages of this because you can go an read yourself. It's an incredible read actually. They go into details of how and why the trade was actually made. The fact that Nico managed to drive away a legendary Dirk from the franchise, is enough to convince many people how f*cked up the new front office, that Nico created for himself, actually is.

Here is the "short" sum up. It's actually insane what happened leading to the trade.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1k4czsv/tim_macmahon_inside_the_end_of_the_luka_donic_era/

Nico already wanted to trade him during the 23/24 when he averaged 34/9/10. That was in a season, when he also averaged 37/9/9 for two straight months and came in best shape since bubble.

To me, this discussion is over until Luka is in shape. Out of shape Luka can’t compete with SGA

Cool.. that's fair.

[madmaxmedia]

Luka is not a good 1 on 1 defender. He's an excellent team defender, like a Draymond. Theres a reason he's been on multiple top defensive teams.

No man he isn’t a good team defender - watch the video - he was the reason the defense broke down and accounted for 41 points in a single game-

You think someone is a good defender just because the other 4 guys make up for them?

Luka was horrible at defense in the Minnesota series - there are receipts man - show the video of Luka playing good defense

He was bad against MIN because he had no center to funnel guys to. He's been a very good team defender when he can funnel opponents to his center. He understands angles and opponent tendencies very well and knows where to direct them, but without a center he's not a guy that will hold a defense on his back.

Is he really good at funneling guys a particular way, or is not very good at staying in front of guys? I understand he's not expected to be a lightning quick perimeter defender. But if your team doesn't have a center or inside presence, that's not really funneling.

Regardless the Lakers do have some roster needs to address that will improve their team defense.

[Onlytimewilltel]

SGA currently is better. Up to Luka if he is going to get into shape. SGA is a super solid defender as well. I can't say I'm too confident about Luka laying off the junk food and booze though lol

[syrus3]

Scooby Doo is surrounded by great defenders. He’s already becoming quite overrated cause I have yet to see this “super solid” defense that he plays more than Luka.

[NO-KG-AI]

Luka should have tried tanking for like 3-4 years while his team stockpiled assets. That way he could ne better.

[CobraCommander]

Look - facts - mavs moved Luka cause he was - in their opinion a problem in defense because of his lack of professionalism and conditioning- those are facts - and the Bucks and Minnesota said no to a trade for Luka cause they thought they would rather have Giannis (logical) and Ant (illogical)…

This is how random twitter media gets to people.

Stein was Cuban's right hand media guy and obviously still has many inside sources.

[Stein on DLLS] The Mavericks didn’t conduct a bidding war for Luka Dončić because they didn’t want it to get out and for it to possibly lead to Luka Dončić demanding a trade in response to that.

Tim MacMahon, Tim Cato and Grant Afseth (3 guys deeply connected with Mavs franchise). All 3 made three separate articles with interviews from Mavs employees. I won't write 3 pages of this because you can go an read yourself. It's an incredible read actually. They go into details of how and why the trade was actually made. The fact that Nico managed to drive away a legendary Dirk from the franchise, is enough to convince many people how f*cked up the new front office, that Nico created for himself, actually is.

Here is the "short" sum up. It's actually insane what happened leading to the trade.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/1k4czsv/tim_macmahon_inside_the_end_of_the_luka_donic_era/

Nico already wanted to trade him during the 23/24 when he averaged 34/9/10. That was in a season, when he also averaged 37/9/9 for two straight months and came in best shape since bubble.

To me, this discussion is over until Luka is in shape. Out of shape Luka can’t compete with SGA

Cool.. that's fair.

I do respect your opinion and I hope you understand most people feel like SGA is better because Luka has proven to be less interested in doing the off the court things that turn a luka level talent into a MVP or multiple MVP caliber player… and when I see a guy like sga with less talent than Luka our doing him in the meaningful ways- winning- it tells me that one guys professionalism is his super power and the other guys lack of it is his kryptonite…

[CobraCommander]

Luka should have tried tanking for like 3-4 years while his team stockpiled assets. That way he could ne better.

Well he is in year 8 - he had Kyrie and Lively- but Brunson, KP and Rick all left because Dallas didn’t want them then they traded Luka cause he is lazy. No SGA has more accolades than him and has won more than him. Sad that Luka didn’t take the first 7 years of his career more seriously… maybe be he would be an mvp by now - mj was runner up in MVP by the time he was 23- Luka would be 27 if he won it next year - so sad that he decided not to work hard

[Kobe187]

Luka is better. SGA plays on a stacked team, Luka took Dallas to the Finals last year putting the team on his back.

[ball_takes23]

regardless of who wins this series, Luka is better. SGA is like KD, he's gonna get his but he doesn't make his teammates better to nearly the extent that Luka does. Chet and Hart would be absolutely feasting on lobs if they had Luka as their pg and okc wouldn't lose more than 3 games the entire postseason if Luka was their starting pg.

[LAvision]

The OKC PR machine this year has been outrageous.

[MoneyTalks41890]

This is still obviously true. Shai’s been better the last two years.

[Michaellam1987]

SGA is a player that can give you 30 points every night, against any teams, with elite efficiency. Luka sometime may have a higher upside, with some crazy big triple double, but on another night, he may have a very subpar performance. IMO, I would always take consistency first.

[Deivork]

I won't even bother to check who bumped this today and why, but as much as I'm a Luka fan over Shai, SGA played an absolute tremendous game last night, so I hope it's not about him coming up short. Team sport, remember.