Luka AD trade thread Part II

[-Luke-]

You'd think Luka is literally Jabba the Hutt when you read through the justifications put out by the Mavs PR.

[Ryoga Hibiki]

Weird how Cuban has said not a single word about it on X...

or Bluesky

[316Hornets]

Carrying extra weight can improve recovery also because it likely means he's eating more protein. At his age, he shouldn't have too much trouble carrying a few extra pounds and that will also help protect him from hard hits when driving. Once he gets over 30 and starts getting the Superstar calls more often, it'll be easier to shed some weight and keep up numbers. It's all hypothetical of course but the weight thing is really a non-issue. I don't believe it's gotten to the point of Zion where he can't even physically play for long stretches of time due to his body not being able to handle it.

[316Hornets]

If you're worried about being made a target, carrying extra weight to play a little bully ball is a high basketball IQ move imo

[Roco14]

Weight thing is nonsense. Even with extra weight he's the 4th best player in the league. He could gain another 10 pounds today and still be all-NBA.

This is just a desperate attempt (by someone far above the Dallas GM) at increasing interest in a league that is slowly dying

[bledredwine]

Luka got traded for his conditioning before Zion did. That is a joke and it's not true.

Here's the real reason:

The Dallas Mavericks are now majority-owned by Dr. Miriam Adelson and Sivan and Patrick Dumont, after acquiring the team from Mark Cuban. The new owners bring with them a strong background in business and community engagement through their involvement in the Las Vegas Sands company .

Dr. Miriam Adelson and the Dumont family, the new majority owners of the Dallas Mavericks, made their wealth through their involvement in the hospitality, entertainment, and gaming industries. Their wealth stems primarily from the enormous profitability and global reach of Las Vegas Sands in the high-end resort, gambling , and entertainment sectors.

Building a casino in Dallas faces significant legal challenges due to Texas's strict stance on gambling. While Mark Cuban, the owner of the Mavericks, has expressed interest in building a resort that includes a casino, the Texas legislature has consistently resisted efforts to legalize casinos and sports betting.

What can you conclude from the above? They want to tank the team's attendance, move it to Las Vegas, build an in-arena casino. Then 41 / 365 days of the year they will have 20k+ fans going through their casino to attend games and drive up their wealth.

Damn.

[Archx]

I still can't believe what the Mavericks did. It is unprecedent in sports history.

They spat on the Mavericks fanbase with the trade. It's sickening honestly even as a non-Maverick.

I was watching interviews from role and star players and coaches... MPJ said Nuggets are still talking in the locker room they can't believe it. Jokic looked really upset for his buddy lol. He said they texted but didn't go into details. Like fans, no one understands how this trade went down so under the table and in secrecy.

[tribulations]

I have never criticised Luka's conditioning because on court output is the only metric that matters and that has never been in doubt.

I must admit though if you look at tape from about 4-5 years ago he looks whippet quick by comparison.

[tribulations]

Luka got traded for his conditioning before Zion did. That is a joke and it's not true.

Here's the real reason:

The Dallas Mavericks are now majority-owned by Dr. Miriam Adelson and Sivan and Patrick Dumont, after acquiring the team from Mark Cuban. The new owners bring with them a strong background in business and community engagement through their involvement in the Las Vegas Sands company .

Dr. Miriam Adelson and the Dumont family, the new majority owners of the Dallas Mavericks, made their wealth through their involvement in the hospitality, entertainment, and gaming industries. Their wealth stems primarily from the enormous profitability and global reach of Las Vegas Sands in the high-end resort, gambling , and entertainment sectors.

Building a casino in Dallas faces significant legal challenges due to Texas's strict stance on gambling. While Mark Cuban, the owner of the Mavericks, has expressed interest in building a resort that includes a casino, the Texas legislature has consistently resisted efforts to legalize casinos and sports betting.

What can you conclude from the above? They want to tank the team's attendance, move it to Las Vegas, build an in-arena casino. Then 41 / 365 days of the year they will have 20k+ fans going through their casino to attend games and drive up their wealth.

^^Agree with this.

Guess we'll see how it plays out (hope I am/we are wrong!)

[dans1230]

1. Kyrie didn't believe in round Luka

That is very funny lol.
On that though, i remember when Kyrie was in Boston they were desperate to trade for AD because thats who Kyrie wanted to play with. I cant remember if Ainge offered Tatum or Brown, but i believe he offered one of the two. The Mavs were set on not giving Luka the max for whatever reason and wanted to pair Kyrie with someone to keep him happy. I dont believe Kyrie knew nothing.

[kazyv]

Luka got traded for his conditioning before Zion did. That is a joke and it's not true.

Here's the real reason:

The Dallas Mavericks are now majority-owned by Dr. Miriam Adelson and Sivan and Patrick Dumont, after acquiring the team from Mark Cuban. The new owners bring with them a strong background in business and community engagement through their involvement in the Las Vegas Sands company .

Dr. Miriam Adelson and the Dumont family, the new majority owners of the Dallas Mavericks, made their wealth through their involvement in the hospitality, entertainment, and gaming industries. Their wealth stems primarily from the enormous profitability and global reach of Las Vegas Sands in the high-end resort, gambling , and entertainment sectors.

Building a casino in Dallas faces significant legal challenges due to Texas's strict stance on gambling. While Mark Cuban, the owner of the Mavericks, has expressed interest in building a resort that includes a casino, the Texas legislature has consistently resisted efforts to legalize casinos and sports betting.

What can you conclude from the above? They want to tank the team's attendance, move it to Las Vegas, build an in-arena casino. Then 41 / 365 days of the year they will have 20k+ fans going through their casino to attend games and drive up their wealth.

sure, that sounds like good business, but wasn't the NBA going to expand to vegas anyways? why **** over dallas?

[hauntedcomputer]

What can you conclude from the above? They want to tank the team's attendance, move it to Las Vegas, build an in-arena casino. Then 41 / 365 days of the year they will have 20k+ fans going through their casino to attend games and drive up their wealth.

sure, that sounds like good business, but wasn't the NBA going to expand to vegas anyways? why **** over dallas?

Easier to move a "failing franchise." What we don't know for sure is if moving a "failing franchise" is easier than trying to get an expansion franchise, or the timelines. And who will build the arena complex--taxpayers or grifters? American Airlines Center is approaching 25 years old. I couldn't find how much was funded by taxpayers. Wikipedia only says it was split between taxpayers and the Mavericks and Stars (NHL). I can't imagine a better business move than having taxpayers build you a casino.

The Game of Thrones stuff is kind of out there, but the basketball reasons the Mavericks keep desperately leaking still make even less sense, especially the no-competitor trade. Unless Nico really does think AD for a few years is better than Luka for a decade. And nobody's talked about whether the Mavs will pay AD the supermax when he's up again, which will make him cost even more than Luka's supermax. Nico has been very astute so far. The weirdest timeline of all is if he turns out to be right. I wouldn't take that bet.

Apparently the Lakers weren't going to extend Davis anyway. Mavs get two full seasons of Davis at $54 million and $58 million and then a $63 million player option. If they were afraid of extending Doncic (which I refuse to believe) then they probably will be dumping Davis, too.

[Optms]

I have never criticised Luka's conditioning because on court output is the only metric that matters and that has never been in doubt.

I must admit though if you look at tape from about 4-5 years ago he looks whippet quick by comparison.

That extra weight let's him ragdol matchups. No one can guard him.

[ryan in Maine]

The trade that spawned 50 threads lol

[HardenGoat]

Luka losing 120 million wasn’t for punishment. The real deal was the Lakers getting the player and saving 120 mil.

[bledredwine]

Those who are playing this off like there’s nothing else involved are off of their rocker.

How do you explain trading a top two asset without letting a single player know or even seeing what you can get for him, especially after the Rudy or Bridges heists?

It makes no sense other than something else was involved. They were a few games from a championship and Kyrie underperformed in that series.

[CobraCommander]

Last year Luka had the best season of his career. Averaged 34/9/10 with 62% TS. Won a scoring title and had 73 points game. He played the most minutes in Nba and led underdog Mavs to the Finals. And Mavs are afraid of his conditioning and decline?

Being so afraid of their star will get injured, they trade for 32 years old man of glass, who has missed 39 more games than Luka in last 5 years?

Whoever believes narrative Nico is trying to sell must be extremely naive and delusional. I never heard for GM to need to find a new job in China, Nico might be first.

Look the people that know Luka better than you or me - traded Luka- so I don’t get it Bob… but the Mavs gave up on Luka and cost him 120 million -so it was mean spirited and cold - cause Nico clearly hates Luka

According to all sources "the people" = Nico Harrison. He didn't consult with anyone in the organization. And nothing of what came out so far justifies this, so no benefit of the doubt.

But does a billion dollar business let anyone but the owner make a decision of this magnitude without communicating with other people? I don’t know - I have been in the corp world for a long time, and I have never seen anyone not named the owner make a decision of this level that will change the fundamental business strategy for a decade in isolation. I think Nico is lying about not talking to anyone to protect the guilty -

Companies love meetings- and I’m sure there were meetings- If yall think Nico did this alone, then Dallas is indeed the dumbest billion dollar business on earth

[CobraCommander]

This isn’t about Luka. This is simply corruption. Niko is literally a Lebron/Laker con man that was a sleeper cell and activated. The fact that the Lakers only gave one pick says it all. Anything to maximize their talent load around LeBron is what happened here. The free throw disparity is proof that the league is operating all the way to the ground level. I mean even Reaves gets a superstar whistle.

you can say that but you are ignoring all the warning signs that something is up with Luka. the drinking, the on court temper tantrums, the weight issues and the injuries, and the coaching quitting and the intermittent lack of effort on defense. and just watch this....

https://youtu.be/qayhHxOzqUI?si=tAwzIiqYgY2TmM3K

this is last finals....you don't think this matters and may have led to trading Luka? the Mavs are living with Luka everyday and they apparently got tired of him being out of control and they moved him....

its crazy to think BUT ask yourself this...would you have moved Allen Iverson in his prime or would you have rode it out with a player that was talented as all hell but undisciplined? This is starting to feel like the Mavs saw what we learned with AI, a undisciplined all world talent can get to you to the finals but can't beat a team of talented stars committed to winning and doing it the right way....and the MAVs apparently decided to move on from this generations AI EARLY....

not saying I would do it but in hindsight it makes some sense....even if I wouldn't do it...it makes sense.

There would be people defending a Giannis for Harden trade because Giannis' English isn't as good, so he can't communicate with his teammates effectively.

This is why the NBA gets away with stuff like this.

So you just can’t imagine someone like Luka could be so
Much of a headache that a company wouldn’t want to pay he 350 million dollars and would want him out of their company? Well Nico literally said as much and traded him… so take Nico at his word - cause he did trade Luka and other than hating Luka, nothing else really makes sense

[CobraCommander]

Two things no one can believe -

1. A team would get tired of a primadona basketball player with a drinking problem, weight issues and anger management issues

2. That a team would take this step with Luka before Zion for weight, a team would take this step with Luka before Harden for drinking and partying, and a team would take this step with Luka before Draymond for anger issues… hell if it’s injuries they did this to Luka before Embiid and if it’s off the court crazy they did this to Luka before Ja…

So either Dallas ownership is legit strict on doing it the right way or Luka a nut job OR Dallas actually believes that they can win one this year OR


Dallas is the dumbest org in nba history


All and all I only feel bad for Mavs fans- they deserve better- I hope they win the ring this year - cause this appears to be the ballesy move OR the biggest betrayal in sports history

[CBS7]

It still stings. The trade is catastrophic for Dallas.

Not only did they trade their beloved 25 year old global megastar who just took the team to the Finals, but it proves that the new management/ownership don't care to cultivate the "loyalty" brand Cuban did. **** ownership can very well cripple franchises in the very long term.

The Mavericks in its current form will never recover from this.

And for those weirdos who somehow think the Mavs are better off - plenty of people I've talked to say they'd rather try to win with Luka even if the new roster meant multiple straight championships (it won't). Sometimes you just want to win with your guy.