REPORT: AD out indefinitely

[Broadcaster]

I keep seeing this conspiracy getting floated around that they want to move the team to Vegas I don't think you quite understand how stupid that sounds. The NBA is talking about expanding, not relocating one of their biggest markets.

They don't need the Mavericks to move to Vegas because there is plenty of rich people out there that will and can start a brand new team in Las Vegas. It's not exactly a secret that they are going to be one of the two cities that get an expansion team.

I do agree with you. I’m just speculating at the potential logic because this was definitely not done to win basketball games.

How was it not? They didn't trade for a scrub, they got Anthony Davis who just finished last season with an 2nd Team All NBA nod + 1st Team All Defense. This was the definition of a win-now move and one where they prioritized improving their defense while giving them better scoring option inside the paint.

If AD was 25yo like Luka and not about to turn 33yo there wouldn't be this many people upset. The problem with the trade is that they sold their future for some potential short term gains.

I think my point is pretty clear. There’s no way this was for basketball reasons. If they wanted to win now Luka is better now. There is no basketball related rationale.

[Beethoven]

so like... are we arguing that all of the lakers titles are rigged or just some of them? how many titles am i allowed to celebrate. you tell me.

They're not all rigged, but they're certainly all bull. The Lakers never built a team the hard way.

1980s: Kareem demanded a trade from Milwaukee, joined an MVP-level player in LAL.

1990s/early 2000s: Shaq signed as a FA.

Late 2000s: Pau traded to Lakers for peanuts.

2010s: LeBron signed as a FA. AD demanded a trade to the Lakers (this was the first time the Lakers ever paid fair value for a star player in a trade).

2020s: Luka traded to LAL for peanuts.

The Lakers' entire history of success comes down to FAs signing there, players demanding trades there, and other teams inexplicably trading them star players for peanuts. The last part is the rigged part. The rest is BS from a fan of the sport perspective. The Lakers get bailed out of mediocrity/suckage every time while other teams have to toil in the draft for years/decades.

The Raptors traded for Kawhi.

The Celtics traded for the draft picks that became Tatum and Brown, and traded for Porzingis, White, and Holiday. Before that the Celtics traded for KG and Ray Allen. Before that the Celtics traded for McHale and Parish. Bill Russell wanted a $25,000 signing bonus which the Rochester Royals didn’t want to pay him, and the Celtics owner said he’d give the Royals owner free tickets to the Ice Capades if he didn’t draft Russell. The Celtics didn’t draft Bob Cousy and Auerbach said “Am I supposed to win or appease local Yokels?” The Blackhawks drafted Cousy but they couldn’t agree to contract terms. Then the Stags got him but then they folded. Then the Celtics won Cousy in a drawing when they preferred not to because they didn’t want to give him a big contract. The Celtics owner said’ “I could have fallen to the floor,” when he drew Cousy and had to give him a $9,000 salary.

The Cavs won the draft lottery 3 times in 4 years, and that doesn’t include them winning the LeBron draft.

It’s not the Lakers fault that LA was accepting of black men dating white women in the 60s and the rest of the country wasn’t so Wilt wanted to play in LA. It’s not the Lakers fault that they have a large Muslim population and Kareem wanted to play there. It’s not the Lakers fault that LA is the entertainment capitol of the world and they treat superstars right.

The Lakers traded Luka. The Bulls refused to run it back with the 98 team. The Magic lowballed Shaq and the people in Orlando said he wasn’t worth the max. The Heat refused to give Jimmy Butler the max and let Dwayne Wade play for another team. The Lakers gave Kobe the max when he was past his prime and are building him 4 statues.

The Lakers traded for CP3 and the league rejected it. Rigged isn’t the right word. If one company treats employees better and employees prefer to work for that company, that doesn’t mean the market is rigged. That means other companies have to do better.

Well said.

[Memories]

so like... are we arguing that all of the lakers titles are rigged or just some of them? how many titles am i allowed to celebrate. you tell me.

They're not all rigged, but they're certainly all bull. The Lakers never built a team the hard way.

1980s: Kareem demanded a trade from Milwaukee, joined an MVP-level player in LAL.

1990s/early 2000s: Shaq signed as a FA.

Late 2000s: Pau traded to Lakers for peanuts.

2010s: LeBron signed as a FA. AD demanded a trade to the Lakers (this was the first time the Lakers ever paid fair value for a star player in a trade).

2020s: Luka traded to LAL for peanuts.

The Lakers' entire history of success comes down to FAs signing there, players demanding trades there, and other teams inexplicably trading them star players for peanuts. The last part is the rigged part. The rest is BS from a fan of the sport perspective. The Lakers get bailed out of mediocrity/suckage every time while other teams have to toil in the draft for years/decades.

The Raptors traded for Kawhi.

The Celtics traded for the draft picks that became Tatum and Brown, and traded for Porzingis, White, and Holiday. Before that the Celtics traded for KG and Ray Allen. Before that the Celtics traded for McHale and Parish. Bill Russell wanted a $25,000 signing bonus which the Rochester Royals didn’t want to pay him, and the Celtics owner said he’d give the Royals owner free tickets to the Ice Capades if he didn’t draft Russell. The Celtics didn’t draft Bob Cousy and Auerbach said “Am I supposed to win or appease local Yokels?” The Blackhawks drafted Cousy but they couldn’t agree to contract terms. Then the Stags got him but then they folded. Then the Celtics won Cousy in a drawing when they preferred not to because they didn’t want to give him a big contract. The Celtics owner said’ “I could have fallen to the floor,” when he drew Cousy and had to give him a $9,000 salary.

The Cavs won the draft lottery 3 times in 4 years, and that doesn’t include them winning the LeBron draft.

It’s not the Lakers fault that LA was accepting of black men dating white women in the 60s and the rest of the country wasn’t so Wilt wanted to play in LA. It’s not the Lakers fault that they have a large Muslim population and Kareem wanted to play there. It’s not the Lakers fault that LA is the entertainment capitol of the world and they treat superstars right.

The Lakers traded Luka. The Bulls refused to run it back with the 98 team. The Magic lowballed Shaq and the people in Orlando said he wasn’t worth the max. The Heat refused to give Jimmy Butler the max and let Dwayne Wade play for another team. The Lakers gave Kobe the max when he was past his prime and are building him 4 statues.

The Lakers traded for CP3 and the league rejected it. Rigged isn’t the right word. If one company treats employees better and employees prefer to work for that company, that doesn’t mean the market is rigged. That means other companies have to do better.

Pretty much this.

The true story of this trade is much more boring than the entertaining conspiracy. The Mavs front office are just stupid. Simple as that.

[NZB2323]

You’re naive if you think this is all because the Lakers treat their employees well. I think the unwillingness from Lakers fans to see that it’s not actually an even playing field is bewildering. At least be able to be somewhat impartial.

I’m a Bulls fan who wishes the Bulls operated like the Lakers. I wish we ran it back in 99 and gave Pippen a big contract. I wish we had a reputation for treating stars right and maybe we could have landed better free agents. I wish we kept Butler and gave him the max. I wish we didn’t have 2 different front offices who fueded with successful coaches.

The Lakers ran Shaq out of town, and then nearly ran Kobe out as well. Plenty of teams treat their stars well, yet they don't attract any free agents because they aren't located in a subtropical paradise. A paradise where all of America's richest and most influential people live.

The Lakers tried to keep Shaq and Kobe and chose the star in his 20s over the star in his 30s. Then they kept Kobe and built around him. The Clippers play in the same town. The Heat are in Miami. The Knicks and Nets haven’t done great at attracting free agents.

Part of it is market, but the Lakers should get some credit, and playing in a nice market doesn’t make the game rigged. The most successful NFL teams since 2000 are in Boston and Kansas City.

[nikster]

I’m not trying to suggest anything crazy. I’m not saying the Lakers haven’t won legitimately before. I’m not disagreeing that people have come to the Lakers because they want to. We do live in a world where money matters most though. With this move not being a free-agency choice, and with it potentially having a large revenue benefit, it seems like a pretty nice coincidence. It also seems like an easy out that Nico or the owners are idiots just like it seemed like an easy out to only blame Donaghy.

We’re talking about billionaires managing a multi-billion dollar business. What do you think they’re going to care for? You don’t think they’ll do what’s necessary to maximize profit? What business wouldn’t? And what professional organization would ever actually hire a GM, or have an ownership group, that lacks that much awareness about the thing they’re managing? I think it’s far more likely that money, and people’s pursuit of it, has bigger influence than any of us will ever understand. I think it will definitely be a much greater priority than actually having a professional sport be fair.

If you want to follow the money...how does this help the owner of the Mavs who just invested in their team? What about the 28 other billionare owners that would like to have a player like Luka? The league is not a single entity
I also think incompetence at high level executives/management is a lot more common than you'd think.

It helps them if they want to move it to Vegas. Also, more revenue for the league on the whole would make the other owners more money. It’s also incredibly naive to call this incompetence. This has no rational and every attempt at rationalizing sounds like a stretch for the sake of covering up something that is clearly asinine.

I dont see why would they make the move to Vegas. I dont think it makes any sense fianncially to move a team from a massive media market with an established fan base. Just seems like more baseless conspiracy talk.

The small market owners would benefit way more personally by getting Luka themselves rather than the small bump I revenue sharing they'd get from Luka going to LA.

[Grumpy Heat Fan]

Kobe Bryant was a 17 year old player taken with 13th overall pick. Vlade Divac was a borderline all star starting center. Kobe came off the bench his rookie season, and wasnt even seen as a sure fire NBA talent... let alone all star... let alone freaking legend. In hindsight obviously it looks awesome, but guess what? thats to the lakers CREDIT, not to their detriment. 12 other teams had a chance to draft him. He didnt fall into their lap, and on top of that, they had to develop him.

The Magic pick was also not some kind of rigged system. Do you even know how the NBA worked in the 70's? Lakers lost Gail Goodrich... 5 time all star, NBA champion, future hall of famer Gail Goodrich, in 1976. Back then, the rules were that the team that stole away the veteran player owed draft compensation in some form to the former team. The Jazz sent over their 1979 FRP, and just happened to be absolutely awful in 1978, meaning the pick went to first overall. Obviously that was lucky, but its the kind of luck that happens every year in the nba in some form or another. Even then, again I have to emphasize, Magic Johnson was FAR from a sure thing. He was a completely A-typical player, and nobody knew if his skill set would work in the NBA. He had a lot of doubters during the draft, including the Lakers FO... and for the love of god the kid literally had the nickname Tragic Johnson that followed him around his early career. Again, its funny to look back in hindsight and say all of this was a foregone conclusion, but I assure you it wasnt.

Whats funny to me about the 2 examples you listed is it only indicates how well the lakers drafted those two years lol. thats the kind of stuff youre supposed to praise. I dont exactly see people calling the Bulls lucky for drafting Jordan with the 2nd overall pick. Or Boston for drafting Bird... but when its the Lakers drafting Magic or Kobe? Its divine intervention.

are we really doing the lying thing?

Other teams DID want to draft Kobe.

Except Kobe and his agent threatened everyone to not draft him, and if they did, he would go play in Italy, because of his dad's connections, he could speak italian and had been there, etc.

The only reason why Kobe was off the bench, was because of some old school way of thinking by their coach at the time, Del Harris? Everyone knew Kobe was a star, and should be in the starting lineup.

OK Grumpy Heat Fan. Way to live up to your name. What you said is mostly untrue, or at least misleading. Kobe and his agent did not "threaten everyone not to draft him". He literally threated ONE team not to draft him... that was the Nets... who wouldve drafted him 8th overall. If the 76's for instance wanted to draft him with the 1st overall pick, instead of AI, there is not a chance in hell he wouldve turned that down. In fact there is absolutely no indication that Kobe would have fought against being drafted top 5 or so at all, as to do so wouldve been 1. bad for his ego and 2. bad for his wallet.

Bottom line is this... if scouts truly believed that Bryant was unquestionably a star in the making (they didnt, thats just a fact) he would have been drafted much higher. 17 year olds were not... again repeating here... were NOT taken in the draft. Kevin Garnett was the only other guy ever taken right out of high school at that point... and he was 19, not 17. And no, Kobe Bryant did not come off the bench because of "old school blah blah blah". Kobe's first NBA game saw him play 6 minutes, and take one shot which he airballed... something he did a LOT back then by the way. Kobe Bryant was literally the definition of an NBA prospect. Unbelievable potential with high risk of flaming out early.

Can I just ask how old you are? Were you actually watching the NBA in 1996? Because I was, and I can tell you that Kobe Bryant was extremely far from a surefire thing.

So, now you admit Kobe did threaten teams. You tried to paint a rosy picture that nobody wanted Kobe and the Lakers took a shot at an unknown, which is a lie.

Okay, so you admitted one team.

Here's a second :

Bryant's agent threatened the Hornets, that Bryant could potentially sit out the season if they tried to keep him on the Hornets.

[ryguy613]

They're not all rigged, but they're certainly all bull. The Lakers never built a team the hard way.

1980s: Kareem demanded a trade from Milwaukee, joined an MVP-level player in LAL.

1990s/early 2000s: Shaq signed as a FA.

Late 2000s: Pau traded to Lakers for peanuts.

2010s: LeBron signed as a FA. AD demanded a trade to the Lakers (this was the first time the Lakers ever paid fair value for a star player in a trade).

2020s: Luka traded to LAL for peanuts.

The Lakers' entire history of success comes down to FAs signing there, players demanding trades there, and other teams inexplicably trading them star players for peanuts. The last part is the rigged part. The rest is BS from a fan of the sport perspective. The Lakers get bailed out of mediocrity/suckage every time while other teams have to toil in the draft for years/decades.

The Raptors traded for Kawhi.

The Celtics traded for the draft picks that became Tatum and Brown, and traded for Porzingis, White, and Holiday. Before that the Celtics traded for KG and Ray Allen. Before that the Celtics traded for McHale and Parish. Bill Russell wanted a $25,000 signing bonus which the Rochester Royals didn’t want to pay him, and the Celtics owner said he’d give the Royals owner free tickets to the Ice Capades if he didn’t draft Russell. The Celtics didn’t draft Bob Cousy and Auerbach said “Am I supposed to win or appease local Yokels?” The Blackhawks drafted Cousy but they couldn’t agree to contract terms. Then the Stags got him but then they folded. Then the Celtics won Cousy in a drawing when they preferred not to because they didn’t want to give him a big contract. The Celtics owner said’ “I could have fallen to the floor,” when he drew Cousy and had to give him a $9,000 salary.

The Cavs won the draft lottery 3 times in 4 years, and that doesn’t include them winning the LeBron draft.

It’s not the Lakers fault that LA was accepting of black men dating white women in the 60s and the rest of the country wasn’t so Wilt wanted to play in LA. It’s not the Lakers fault that they have a large Muslim population and Kareem wanted to play there. It’s not the Lakers fault that LA is the entertainment capitol of the world and they treat superstars right.

The Lakers traded Luka. The Bulls refused to run it back with the 98 team. The Magic lowballed Shaq and the people in Orlando said he wasn’t worth the max. The Heat refused to give Jimmy Butler the max and let Dwayne Wade play for another team. The Lakers gave Kobe the max when he was past his prime and are building him 4 statues.

The Lakers traded for CP3 and the league rejected it. Rigged isn’t the right word. If one company treats employees better and employees prefer to work for that company, that doesn’t mean the market is rigged. That means other companies have to do better.

Pretty much this.

The true story of this trade is much more boring than the entertaining conspiracy. The Mavs front office are just stupid. Simple as that.

why is it so hard for people to accept that sometimes FO's make really stupid decisions?

[ryguy613]

are we really doing the lying thing?

Other teams DID want to draft Kobe.

Except Kobe and his agent threatened everyone to not draft him, and if they did, he would go play in Italy, because of his dad's connections, he could speak italian and had been there, etc.

The only reason why Kobe was off the bench, was because of some old school way of thinking by their coach at the time, Del Harris? Everyone knew Kobe was a star, and should be in the starting lineup.

OK Grumpy Heat Fan. Way to live up to your name. What you said is mostly untrue, or at least misleading. Kobe and his agent did not "threaten everyone not to draft him". He literally threated ONE team not to draft him... that was the Nets... who wouldve drafted him 8th overall. If the 76's for instance wanted to draft him with the 1st overall pick, instead of AI, there is not a chance in hell he wouldve turned that down. In fact there is absolutely no indication that Kobe would have fought against being drafted top 5 or so at all, as to do so wouldve been 1. bad for his ego and 2. bad for his wallet.

Bottom line is this... if scouts truly believed that Bryant was unquestionably a star in the making (they didnt, thats just a fact) he would have been drafted much higher. 17 year olds were not... again repeating here... were NOT taken in the draft. Kevin Garnett was the only other guy ever taken right out of high school at that point... and he was 19, not 17. And no, Kobe Bryant did not come off the bench because of "old school blah blah blah". Kobe's first NBA game saw him play 6 minutes, and take one shot which he airballed... something he did a LOT back then by the way. Kobe Bryant was literally the definition of an NBA prospect. Unbelievable potential with high risk of flaming out early.

Can I just ask how old you are? Were you actually watching the NBA in 1996? Because I was, and I can tell you that Kobe Bryant was extremely far from a surefire thing.

So, now you admit Kobe did threaten teams. You tried to paint a rosy picture that nobody wanted Kobe and the Lakers took a shot at an unknown, which is a lie.

Okay, so you admitted one team.

Here's a second :

Bryant's agent threatened the Hornets, that Bryant could potentially sit out the season if they tried to keep him on the Hornets.

dawg, lol, its widely known that the Hornets had no intention of drafting Kobe for themselves so I dont really know where all that is coming from. The Lakers and Hornets had agreed to the parameters of the trade earlier in the week, and it was part of the deal that Charlotte would be drafting for the Lakers. This was not a trade the Hornets were backed into making. This wasnt Eli Manning.

Look, I never said it was perfect, or rosy for that matter. I just said it was FAR from a foregone conclusion that Kobe was gonna be a star player for the Lakers. It was a risky move to make in 1996. And he was drafted 13th overall. He wasnt the heir apparent like LeBron James. He was a talented, but immature 17 year old high school player who showed immense potential, but also risked being a dud. You know how many straight out of high school prospects with star potential ended up flaming out? I can make a list if youd like...

[Broadcaster]

The Raptors traded for Kawhi.

The Celtics traded for the draft picks that became Tatum and Brown, and traded for Porzingis, White, and Holiday. Before that the Celtics traded for KG and Ray Allen. Before that the Celtics traded for McHale and Parish. Bill Russell wanted a $25,000 signing bonus which the Rochester Royals didn’t want to pay him, and the Celtics owner said he’d give the Royals owner free tickets to the Ice Capades if he didn’t draft Russell. The Celtics didn’t draft Bob Cousy and Auerbach said “Am I supposed to win or appease local Yokels?” The Blackhawks drafted Cousy but they couldn’t agree to contract terms. Then the Stags got him but then they folded. Then the Celtics won Cousy in a drawing when they preferred not to because they didn’t want to give him a big contract. The Celtics owner said’ “I could have fallen to the floor,” when he drew Cousy and had to give him a $9,000 salary.

The Cavs won the draft lottery 3 times in 4 years, and that doesn’t include them winning the LeBron draft.

It’s not the Lakers fault that LA was accepting of black men dating white women in the 60s and the rest of the country wasn’t so Wilt wanted to play in LA. It’s not the Lakers fault that they have a large Muslim population and Kareem wanted to play there. It’s not the Lakers fault that LA is the entertainment capitol of the world and they treat superstars right.

The Lakers traded Luka. The Bulls refused to run it back with the 98 team. The Magic lowballed Shaq and the people in Orlando said he wasn’t worth the max. The Heat refused to give Jimmy Butler the max and let Dwayne Wade play for another team. The Lakers gave Kobe the max when he was past his prime and are building him 4 statues.

The Lakers traded for CP3 and the league rejected it. Rigged isn’t the right word. If one company treats employees better and employees prefer to work for that company, that doesn’t mean the market is rigged. That means other companies have to do better.

Pretty much this.

The true story of this trade is much more boring than the entertaining conspiracy. The Mavs front office are just stupid. Simple as that.

why is it so hard for people to accept that sometimes FO's make really stupid decisions?

Because no one is that stupid and it’s way too convenient. Being asked to believe that is asinine.

[WolfAddict]

I can almost hear the tinfoil crinkling in this thread

[Memories]

Pretty much this.

The true story of this trade is much more boring than the entertaining conspiracy. The Mavs front office are just stupid. Simple as that.

why is it so hard for people to accept that sometimes FO's make really stupid decisions?

Because no one is that stupid and it’s way too convenient. Being asked to believe that is asinine.

I hate to break it to you, but people CAN be that stupid. Look at who our president is.

It happens. People like Nico just goes to show that anybody can be a GM. Because he ain’t smarter than your average Joe. And some average joes make smarter choices than he does.

He’s the same guy that fumbled the Curry Nike Presentation. He’s an average IQ person who made a stupid decision like other average IQ people do.

[NZB2323]

The Raptors traded for Kawhi.

The Celtics traded for the draft picks that became Tatum and Brown, and traded for Porzingis, White, and Holiday. Before that the Celtics traded for KG and Ray Allen. Before that the Celtics traded for McHale and Parish. Bill Russell wanted a $25,000 signing bonus which the Rochester Royals didn’t want to pay him, and the Celtics owner said he’d give the Royals owner free tickets to the Ice Capades if he didn’t draft Russell. The Celtics didn’t draft Bob Cousy and Auerbach said “Am I supposed to win or appease local Yokels?” The Blackhawks drafted Cousy but they couldn’t agree to contract terms. Then the Stags got him but then they folded. Then the Celtics won Cousy in a drawing when they preferred not to because they didn’t want to give him a big contract. The Celtics owner said’ “I could have fallen to the floor,” when he drew Cousy and had to give him a $9,000 salary.

The Cavs won the draft lottery 3 times in 4 years, and that doesn’t include them winning the LeBron draft.

It’s not the Lakers fault that LA was accepting of black men dating white women in the 60s and the rest of the country wasn’t so Wilt wanted to play in LA. It’s not the Lakers fault that they have a large Muslim population and Kareem wanted to play there. It’s not the Lakers fault that LA is the entertainment capitol of the world and they treat superstars right.

The Lakers traded Luka. The Bulls refused to run it back with the 98 team. The Magic lowballed Shaq and the people in Orlando said he wasn’t worth the max. The Heat refused to give Jimmy Butler the max and let Dwayne Wade play for another team. The Lakers gave Kobe the max when he was past his prime and are building him 4 statues.

The Lakers traded for CP3 and the league rejected it. Rigged isn’t the right word. If one company treats employees better and employees prefer to work for that company, that doesn’t mean the market is rigged. That means other companies have to do better.

Pretty much this.

The true story of this trade is much more boring than the entertaining conspiracy. The Mavs front office are just stupid. Simple as that.

why is it so hard for people to accept that sometimes FO's make really stupid decisions?

People absolutely can be that stupid. Have you studied History? There was a religion based on peace and loving your neighbor, and people fought wars and killed each other over which interpretation of it was correct.

Corporations are like this all the time. When an employee isn’t performing up to a certain standard, they get fired. Oprah was fired. Walt Disney was fired for lacking imagination. Luka was out of shape and the Mavs treated him like an employee rather than a superstar. 4 teams passed on Luka in the draft. Auerbach didn’t want Cousy on the Celtics. Some Eagles fans died while destroying their city celebrating the Super Bowl win. People do stupid things every day.

[ryguy613]

Pretty much this.

The true story of this trade is much more boring than the entertaining conspiracy. The Mavs front office are just stupid. Simple as that.

why is it so hard for people to accept that sometimes FO's make really stupid decisions?

Because no one is that stupid and it’s way too convenient. Being asked to believe that is asinine.

[bwgood77]

They're not all rigged, but they're certainly all bull. The Lakers never built a team the hard way.

1980s: Kareem demanded a trade from Milwaukee, joined an MVP-level player in LAL.

1990s/early 2000s: Shaq signed as a FA.

Late 2000s: Pau traded to Lakers for peanuts.

2010s: LeBron signed as a FA. AD demanded a trade to the Lakers (this was the first time the Lakers ever paid fair value for a star player in a trade).

2020s: Luka traded to LAL for peanuts.

The Lakers' entire history of success comes down to FAs signing there, players demanding trades there, and other teams inexplicably trading them star players for peanuts. The last part is the rigged part. The rest is BS from a fan of the sport perspective. The Lakers get bailed out of mediocrity/suckage every time while other teams have to toil in the draft for years/decades.

Kobe traded for Vlade. Also, how did the best team end up with the pick to take Magic, who was obviously going to be a megastar and already was in college?

Kobe Bryant was a 17 year old player taken with 13th overall pick. Vlade Divac was a borderline all star starting center. Kobe came off the bench his rookie season, and wasnt even seen as a sure fire NBA talent... let alone all star... let alone freaking legend. In hindsight obviously it looks awesome, but guess what? thats to the lakers CREDIT, not to their detriment. 12 other teams had a chance to draft him. He didnt fall into their lap, and on top of that, they had to develop him.

The Magic pick was also not some kind of rigged system. Do you even know how the NBA worked in the 70's? Lakers lost Gail Goodrich... 5 time all star, NBA champion, future hall of famer Gail Goodrich, in 1976. Back then, the rules were that the team that stole away the veteran player owed draft compensation in some form to the former team. The Jazz sent over their 1979 FRP, and just happened to be absolutely awful in 1978, meaning the pick went to first overall. Obviously that was lucky, but its the kind of luck that happens every year in the nba in some form or another. Even then, again I have to emphasize, Magic Johnson was FAR from a sure thing. He was a completely A-typical player, and nobody knew if his skill set would work in the NBA. He had a lot of doubters during the draft, including the Lakers FO... and for the love of god the kid literally had the nickname Tragic Johnson that followed him around his early career. Again, its funny to look back in hindsight and say all of this was a foregone conclusion, but I assure you it wasnt.

Whats funny to me about the 2 examples you listed is it only indicates how well the lakers drafted those two years lol. thats the kind of stuff youre supposed to praise. I dont exactly see people calling the Bulls lucky for drafting Jordan with the 2nd overall pick. Or Boston for drafting Bird... but when its the Lakers drafting Magic or Kobe? Its divine intervention.

They lucked out getting the #1 pick when two different players were pretty much consensus, based on earlier trades and getting lucky with coin flips. Kobe would likely not have been available had he not demanded he only play in LA.

I mean, the trades to get those picks were good, but they were still a premier team twice that got the #1 picks because the teams they traded their players to ended up being the worst and lost the coin flip. That's pretty lucky.

[Broadcaster]

why is it so hard for people to accept that sometimes FO's make really stupid decisions?

Because no one is that stupid and it’s way too convenient. Being asked to believe that is asinine.

I hate to break it to you, but people CAN be that stupid. Look at who our president is.

It happens. People like Nico just goes to show that anybody can be a GM. Because he ain’t smarter than your average Joe. And some average joes make smarter choices than he does.

He’s the same guy that fumbled the Curry Nike Presentation. He’s an average IQ person who made a stupid decision like other average IQ people do.

I really will never believe that. I think that’s too convenient and an easy cop out. You also really can’t know just like I can’t. I know what I believe. Believe what you want.

[Broadcaster]

why is it so hard for people to accept that sometimes FO's make really stupid decisions?

Because no one is that stupid and it’s way too convenient. Being asked to believe that is asinine.

So because I don’t believe anyone is dumb enough to trade Luka I’m crazy? The fact that you’d even suggest that says more about you.

[Dacost]

1.Ownership force nico to make the trade because of the money.

Or

2.Nico too advantage of a rookie native owner who has no idea how run a team.And saw an opportunity to take the power.


If you go see the owners interview he talks about Nicos trade last season and how he credits him for the playoff run never once mentioned Luka.

So I think number 2 is the most likely scenario.

[ryguy613]

Because no one is that stupid and it’s way too convenient. Being asked to believe that is asinine.

So because I don’t believe anyone is dumb enough to trade Luka I’m crazy? The fact that you’d even suggest that says more about you.

The owner and the GM are literally telling you... publicly... repeatedly... THEY WANTED TO TRADE LUKA. If you refuse to believe them thats on you. Just dont make it everyone elses problem.

[Broadcaster]

To be clear, I don’t claim to know what the reasoning was and I’m not suggesting anything ridiculous. I’m suggesting two things:

1) No one would trade Luka for basketball reasons.

2) The Lakers have a repeated history of being the recipients of favourable circumstances in a way that other teams have never had the advantage of.

Sure it’s possible that Nico/the ownership is just that dumb. It’s possible the Lakers are just lucky. But when there’s so much money to be gained, and that ultimately this is a business, I start feeling like something doesn’t add up. I can’t claim to know exactly what but having someone like Dwyane Wade say what he said it definitely suggests that something like this would be a big benefit. Only talking to the Lakers? Well below market value? Definitely a pretty nice set of coincidences all things considered. I think taking that at face value is pretty difficult.

[ryguy613]

Kobe traded for Vlade. Also, how did the best team end up with the pick to take Magic, who was obviously going to be a megastar and already was in college?

Kobe Bryant was a 17 year old player taken with 13th overall pick. Vlade Divac was a borderline all star starting center. Kobe came off the bench his rookie season, and wasnt even seen as a sure fire NBA talent... let alone all star... let alone freaking legend. In hindsight obviously it looks awesome, but guess what? thats to the lakers CREDIT, not to their detriment. 12 other teams had a chance to draft him. He didnt fall into their lap, and on top of that, they had to develop him.

The Magic pick was also not some kind of rigged system. Do you even know how the NBA worked in the 70's? Lakers lost Gail Goodrich... 5 time all star, NBA champion, future hall of famer Gail Goodrich, in 1976. Back then, the rules were that the team that stole away the veteran player owed draft compensation in some form to the former team. The Jazz sent over their 1979 FRP, and just happened to be absolutely awful in 1978, meaning the pick went to first overall. Obviously that was lucky, but its the kind of luck that happens every year in the nba in some form or another. Even then, again I have to emphasize, Magic Johnson was FAR from a sure thing. He was a completely A-typical player, and nobody knew if his skill set would work in the NBA. He had a lot of doubters during the draft, including the Lakers FO... and for the love of god the kid literally had the nickname Tragic Johnson that followed him around his early career. Again, its funny to look back in hindsight and say all of this was a foregone conclusion, but I assure you it wasnt.

Whats funny to me about the 2 examples you listed is it only indicates how well the lakers drafted those two years lol. thats the kind of stuff youre supposed to praise. I dont exactly see people calling the Bulls lucky for drafting Jordan with the 2nd overall pick. Or Boston for drafting Bird... but when its the Lakers drafting Magic or Kobe? Its divine intervention.

They lucked out getting the #1 pick when two different players were pretty much consensus, based on earlier trades and getting lucky with coin flips. Kobe would likely not have been available had he not demanded he only play in LA.

I mean, the trades to get those picks were good, but they were still a premier team twice that got the #1 picks because the teams they traded their players to ended up being the worst and lost the coin flip. That's pretty lucky.

This is just such a weird game to play imo. Getting a generational talent in the draft is already insanely lucky. Why would we give San Antonio credit for being terrible for the better part of a decade, and winning a terrible team lottery that landed them a 7 footer who can shoot like a guard and blocks shots in his sleep? Having him fall into their laps makes them a well run franchise? But the Lakers getting lucky with Magic and Kobe panning out is the sign of an inept franchise getting bailed out? lol. what are we doing here guys?