Luka AD trade thread Part II

[Ballerhogger]

No GM has the power to make a trade of this magnitude on their own.

Exactly. Ownership was behind this trade.

True Why did Cuban sell hmmm fishy

[Mavrelous]

No GM has the power to make a trade of this magnitude on their own.

Exactly. Ownership was behind this trade.

True Why did Cuban sell hmmm fishy

The systematic dismantling and dismissal of anyone close to Luka on the Mavs started long before the sale.
He was very close with Jamal Mosley, Nico chose Kidd for coach.
He was very close DFS, Brunson and Boban, all were let go before the sale
Igor Kokoskov, assistant he was close with and coached by him in team Slovenia was let go, Mavs fans will tell how much the team suffered offensively after he was let go.
Head of training staff, very reputable Casey Smith, who works for the Knicks now was let go, I don't remember if it was before or after, ever since he left, team handling of injuries is a complete joke.

I'm not sure many, or any, stars would have put up with the way Nico operated, and yet, Luka kept silent and never threatened to leave.
He isn't an angel, and his weight does yo-yo, he complains a lot to the refs and sometime give his team bad vibes and saps their energy, but he is a **** monster whose play compensates for it 1000X, no one sane would even look at these things given what he provides and what he put up with in roster quality for his 1st 5 years.

I hope he is treated better and valued properly on your team.

[Ballerhogger]

Exactly. Ownership was behind this trade.

True Why did Cuban sell hmmm fishy

The systematic dismantling and dismissal of anyone close to Luka on the Mavs started long before the sale.
He was very close with Jamal Mosley, Nico chose Kidd for coach.
He was very close DFS, Brunson and Boban, all were let go before the sale
Igor Kokoskov, assistant he was close with and coached by him in team Slovenia was let go, Mavs fans will tell how much the team suffered offensively after he was let go.
Head of training staff, very reputable Casey Smith, who works for the Knicks now was let go, I don't remember if it was before or after, ever since he left, team handling of injuries is a complete joke.

I'm not sure many, or any, stars would have put up with the way Nico operated, and yet, Luka kept silent and never threatened to leave.
He isn't an angel, and his weight does yo-yo, he complains a lot to the refs and sometime give his team bad vibes and saps their energy, but he is a **** monster whose play compensates for it 1000X, no one sane would even look at these things given what he provides and what he put up with in roster quality for his 1st 5 years.

I hope he is treated better and valued properly on your team.

Yea he’s already the prince of LA . He will get ton support.

[Mavrelous]

:noway:

Read on Twitter

And I definitely believe it.

Either Cowherd is making things up, or Nico started leaking cover up stuff after the backlash he didn't imagine he will get.
This is on Nico Harrison, ownership is guilty for approving his mad experiment, but he planned this whole thing.

[Ballerhogger]

:noway:

Read on Twitter

And I definitely believe it.

Either Cowherd is making things up, or Nico started leaking cover up stuff after the backlash he didn't imagine he will get.
This is on Nico Harrison, ownership is guilty for approving his mad experiment, but he planned this whole thing.

He’s wanted AD for long time it seems

[Mavrelous]

:noway:

Read on Twitter

And I definitely believe it.

Either Cowherd is making things up, or Nico started leaking cover up stuff after the backlash he didn't imagine he will get.
This is on Nico Harrison, ownership is guilty for approving his mad experiment, but he planned this whole thing.

He’s wanted AD for long time it seems

Yeah, many details I had no idea about, but seems like they are very close, Mavs insiders are reporting that AD is itching to play to help with the PR effort for Nico.

[Ballerhogger]

Either Cowherd is making things up, or Nico started leaking cover up stuff after the backlash he didn't imagine he will get.
This is on Nico Harrison, ownership is guilty for approving his mad experiment, but he planned this whole thing.

He’s wanted AD for long time it seems

Yeah, many details I had no idea about, but seems like they are very close, Mavs insiders are reporting that AD is itching to play to help with the PR effort for Nico.

Nico better bless his knees I can’t say I will miss cringing when ad falls down which is every game

[Marvin Martian]

:noway:

Read on Twitter

And I definitely believe it.

Either Cowherd is making things up, or Nico started leaking cover up stuff after the backlash he didn't imagine he will get.
This is on Nico Harrison, ownership is guilty for approving his mad experiment, but he planned this whole thing.

He’s wanted AD for long time it seems

The Mavs could have gotten AD without trading Luka

[41Dirk41]

https://www.gofundme.com/f/dallas-deserves-better-antinico-adelson-billboards?attribution_id=sl:e9fb8e58-d490-4fe2-b243-daefacd78240&utm_campaign=pd_ss_icons&utm_medium=customer&utm_source=copy_link

[CobraCommander]

True Why did Cuban sell hmmm fishy

The systematic dismantling and dismissal of anyone close to Luka on the Mavs started long before the sale.
He was very close with Jamal Mosley, Nico chose Kidd for coach.
He was very close DFS, Brunson and Boban, all were let go before the sale
Igor Kokoskov, assistant he was close with and coached by him in team Slovenia was let go, Mavs fans will tell how much the team suffered offensively after he was let go.
Head of training staff, very reputable Casey Smith, who works for the Knicks now was let go, I don't remember if it was before or after, ever since he left, team handling of injuries is a complete joke.

I'm not sure many, or any, stars would have put up with the way Nico operated, and yet, Luka kept silent and never threatened to leave.
He isn't an angel, and his weight does yo-yo, he complains a lot to the refs and sometime give his team bad vibes and saps their energy, but he is a **** monster whose play compensates for it 1000X, no one sane would even look at these things given what he provides and what he put up with in roster quality for his 1st 5 years.

I hope he is treated better and valued properly on your team.

Yea he’s already the prince of LA . He will get ton support.

but if what Mav-relous is right and the Mavs started cutting Lukas friends BEFORE the new ownership, then you are indicating that Cuban was allowing people to get rid of Lukas friends and thus risking making Luka unhappy INTENTIONALLY.... WAYYYY before Nico or before the new ownership.

if this is true, you are indicating (not intentionally) that Luka has been a problem that the Mavs have been trying to rein in for a while.

Then if Cuban realizes that Luka is too much of a problem and that eventually he has to do something more serious about it before Luka gets to the super max ...............so he SELLS HIS SHARES of the team while Luka is under contract...which would be when the Mavs value would be at an all time high.

So cuban is selling as HIGH as possible...because the second they traded Luka the mavs probably lost 30% or more of their value.....anyone thinking this is hyperbole, Luka IS the mavs most valuable asset.

Imagine what would happen if Apple stopped selling iPhones? they still got other products but apple would loose 20-50% of market value instantly!

[Michael Bradley]

:noway:

Read on Twitter

And I definitely believe it.

Cowherd's theory makes no sense. Why would Nico not shop Luka around for the best offer he could get if ownership was pressuring him to make a trade? Ownership insisting Luka be traded specifically for AD would be insane, and also unrealistic even if their ownership knew about basketball (which they apparently don't). If I'm a GM and my boss says "trade Luka" (whether I agreed with it or not), I'm not sending him to my buddy's team for 50 cents on the dollar (no disrespect to AD as a player but value-wise it is what it is) just to make a move. I'm trading Luka to get the absolute best value I could get short and long term. This accomplishes neither.

I'm on the "league conspiracy" bandwagon, and usually I'm the one telling people to relax with the conspiracy theory stuff. We will never see another trade like this, unless Nico trades AD back to the Lakers for Gabe Vincent and a pick in the next 24 hours after having brunch at a diner with Pelinka (after ownership insists they make that trade, obviously).

[ConSarnit]

Either Cowherd is making things up, or Nico started leaking cover up stuff after the backlash he didn't imagine he will get.
This is on Nico Harrison, ownership is guilty for approving his mad experiment, but he planned this whole thing.

He’s wanted AD for long time it seems

The Mavs could have gotten AD without trading Luka

How? What incentive would the Lakers have to move AD if Luka wasn't coming back? For Kyrie, a lateral move at best? For DAL flotsam + draft picks? Why does LA do that?

[Castle Black]

Kinda goes without saying but yea. I fully expect him to drop 50 on the Mavs in 3 weeks.

Read on Twitter

[Ryoga Hibiki]

The fact that Nico Harrison is getting all the criticism ITT while the owners are pretty much getting off scot free means this whole thing is going exactly as the NBA planned.

Look over here not over there.

the owners have done much worse in their life tondeserve criticism.

[CobraCommander]

:noway:

Read on Twitter

And I definitely believe it.

Cowherd's theory makes no sense. Why would Nico not shop Luka around for the best offer he could get if ownership was pressuring him to make a trade? Ownership insisting Luka be traded specifically for AD would be insane, and also unrealistic even if their ownership knew about basketball (which they apparently don't). If I'm a GM and my boss says "trade Luka" (whether I agreed with it or not), I'm not sending him to my buddy's team for 50 cents on the dollar (no disrespect to AD as a player but value-wise it is what it is) just to make a move. I'm trading Luka to get the absolute best value I could get short and long term. This accomplishes neither.

I'm on the "league conspiracy" bandwagon, and usually I'm the one telling people to relax with the conspiracy theory stuff. We will never see another trade like this, unless Nico trades AD back to the Lakers for Gabe Vincent and a pick in the next 24 hours after having brunch at a diner with Pelinka (after ownership insists they make that trade, obviously).

Im buying Colin more than a League Conspiracy....if you change out the names and remove fan emotion from this, this can't be done in a vacuum by a GM.

the GM and any basketball person knows this is a horrible trade. ONLY AN OWNER THAT IS CLUELESS ABOUT WHO LUKA IS DOES THIS.

Nico knows Luka is an all time great. Nico knows Luka is better and more box office than AD.


the only league conspiracy thing that could work is if the league compensated the Mavs with the number 1 pick this year and Flagg ends up being the second coming of Luka and they would have to give the mavs a BILLION DOLLARS OF VALUE IN SOME OTHER WAY.... I don't see how the potentiality of Flagg - which the league could do that...frozen ballot...

buttttt if the league moves the mavs to Seattle or Vegas or something else crazy that could significantly increase the value of the Mavs then ill buy your league conspiracy!

[Dirk2Doncic]

This was masterminded by Nico Harrison. He told everyone what happened in the presser. People need to start believing him.

He's a corporate high level executive narcissist. Narcissism at that level in today's corporate America is more the rule than not. Think about Nico's words and body language including the smiling and laughter in the presser - it was pure narcissism.

NIco went to West Point. He's a regimented guy. Luka is not. Luka is Shaq #2 in that regard. Would have been insane to trade Shaq which is why the Lakers didn't. It was insane to trade Luka. Don't get me wrong, Luka is a basketball junkie who continues to play for his country, basketball is his vice.

After Luka reached into the chest of all the Minnesota fans in the arena and ripped out their heart he held it out to show them while it was still beating and then looked at 1 fan who had been taunting him and SCREAMED...

"Who's crying now mfer!!!" Snoop Dog who was sitting in the area starts laughing his A@@off. I've heard Snoop talk about it - he LOVED it - because Snoop knows what that means. And so do most of you reading this. It's rare, it's Larry Legend #2. It's competitor at a maniac level.

We' will never see it again in a Mavericks uniform. The league won't even get to see it again until he's on another contender, at least not on that stage. That's what Nico Harrison took from the world (with ownership signing off on it).

Tim Cato does a Mavericks podcast with Mark Stein at DLLS Sports. Tim wrote an article...

Read on Twitter

?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1886840431004278942%7Ctwgr%5E7738b09f450abe829690f3ac92d07b6d747dbd10%7Ctwcon%5Es3_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fforums.realgm.com%2Fboards%2Fviewtopic.php%3Ft%3D2436145start%3D440

From Mavs Moneyball...

Nico Harrison now stands alone
After spending four years building a contender and endearing himself to Mavericks fans, the former Nike executive and current Dallas GM has put his career on the line by making a trade no one can agree with.

https://www.mavsmoneyball.com/2025/2/4/24358060/nico-harrison-now-stands-alone-dallas-mavericks-luka-doncic-nba-trade-deadline

[Ryoga Hibiki]

Okay so both press conferences just make this whole thing that much more confusing.

Watching Kidd just sit there essentially in shock and disbelief yesterday.

To today seeing Pelinka essentially giddy and talking about how it’s such a gift to have a 25 year old who is already a top 3 player in the world and how these things just don’t come around too often. To thanking Nico for this entire thing.

And on Luka shutting down any idea of him not wanting you be a Mavs.

I just don’t understand this. How does a GM decide to do this with a player like Luka who wants to stay with the franchise? Then on top of that, not start a bidding war for Luka. I almost feel like Nico believes AD was THE major piece in this entire thing and he probably feels like he won this because he didn’t give up extra draft capital to get this done.

And on top of all that idiocy. How does the owners sign off on this? It’s one thing to have a GM come up with one of the dumbest ideas in NBA history. But to actually go along with it, instead of firing your GM for even talking about doing this makes no sense.

How do both things happen? I still can’t wrap my head around this.

Right? The more I read and see the more confusing this is.

In fact I feel even more frustrated if I'm a Mavs fan after watching Luka in the presser. He looks heartbroken

I'm one of those fans that like team riding with THEIR guys and see things unfold winning it all or not so this trade upset me a lot. I can't imagine how devastating this is for Mavs fan. These mofos just don't seem to understand sport team is not your normal business, it belongs to the community, people invested a lot of emotion on their team and players. GM can resign or get fired and owner can sell team, but fans are forever, it's THEIR team!

the more I collect info, the more I think that Nico didn't consult anybody, the owner is hands off and trusted him, and he got played like a violin by his "friend" Pelinka.
All in all, he's an idiot.

[ConSarnit]

The systematic dismantling and dismissal of anyone close to Luka on the Mavs started long before the sale.
He was very close with Jamal Mosley, Nico chose Kidd for coach.
He was very close DFS, Brunson and Boban, all were let go before the sale
Igor Kokoskov, assistant he was close with and coached by him in team Slovenia was let go, Mavs fans will tell how much the team suffered offensively after he was let go.
Head of training staff, very reputable Casey Smith, who works for the Knicks now was let go, I don't remember if it was before or after, ever since he left, team handling of injuries is a complete joke.

I'm not sure many, or any, stars would have put up with the way Nico operated, and yet, Luka kept silent and never threatened to leave.
He isn't an angel, and his weight does yo-yo, he complains a lot to the refs and sometime give his team bad vibes and saps their energy, but he is a **** monster whose play compensates for it 1000X, no one sane would even look at these things given what he provides and what he put up with in roster quality for his 1st 5 years.

I hope he is treated better and valued properly on your team.

Yea he’s already the prince of LA . He will get ton support.

but if what Mav-relous is right and the Mavs started cutting Lukas friends BEFORE the new ownership, then you are indicating that Cuban was allowing people to get rid of Lukas friends and thus risking making Luka unhappy INTENTIONALLY.... WAYYYY before Nico or before the new ownership.

if this is true, you are indicating (not intentionally) that Luka has been a problem that the Mavs have been trying to rein in for a while.

Then if Cuban realizes that Luka is too much of a problem and that eventually he has to do something more serious about it before Luka gets to the super max ...............so he SELLS HIS SHARES of the team while Luka is under contract...which would be when the Mavs value would be at an all time high.

So cuban is selling as HIGH as possible...because the second they traded Luka the mavs probably lost 30% or more of their value.....anyone thinking this is hyperbole, Luka IS the mavs most valuable asset.

Imagine what would happen if Apple stopped selling iPhones? they still got other products but apple would loose 20-50% of market value instantly!

This is hyperbole because when Lebron left the Cavs (a far more devastating move financially) it was estimated they lost 25% of their value. I don't see how Luka being traded hurt the value of their franchise more so than Lebron leaving when the Mavs still have stars in Kyrie and Davis. When Lebron left the Cavs their remaining attraction was Mo Williams.

[ConSarnit]

Okay so both press conferences just make this whole thing that much more confusing.

Watching Kidd just sit there essentially in shock and disbelief yesterday.

To today seeing Pelinka essentially giddy and talking about how it’s such a gift to have a 25 year old who is already a top 3 player in the world and how these things just don’t come around too often. To thanking Nico for this entire thing.

And on Luka shutting down any idea of him not wanting you be a Mavs.

I just don’t understand this. How does a GM decide to do this with a player like Luka who wants to stay with the franchise? Then on top of that, not start a bidding war for Luka. I almost feel like Nico believes AD was THE major piece in this entire thing and he probably feels like he won this because he didn’t give up extra draft capital to get this done.

And on top of all that idiocy. How does the owners sign off on this? It’s one thing to have a GM come up with one of the dumbest ideas in NBA history. But to actually go along with it, instead of firing your GM for even talking about doing this makes no sense.

How do both things happen? I still can’t wrap my head around this.

Right? The more I read and see the more confusing this is.

In fact I feel even more frustrated if I'm a Mavs fan after watching Luka in the presser. He looks heartbroken

I'm one of those fans that like team riding with THEIR guys and see things unfold winning it all or not so this trade upset me a lot. I can't imagine how devastating this is for Mavs fan. These mofos just don't seem to understand sport team is not your normal business, it belongs to the community, people invested a lot of emotion on their team and players. GM can resign or get fired and owner can sell team, but fans are forever, it's THEIR team!

the more I collect info, the more I think that Nico didn't consult anybody, the owner is hands off and trusted him, and he got played like a violin by his "friend" Pelinka.
All in all, he's an idiot.

Occum's razor is the most likely explanation.

Harrison valued Luka vs AD far closer than the general consensus. Pair this with his own belief in "defense, work ethic, etc" and you can see why he made this trade. Add on that all he had to do was sell one other person (Patrick Dumont, who may or may not know anything about basketball) and you can see how this trade gets made. It could be as simple as one person (Harrison) convincing another (Dumont) that this was in the best interest of the Mavs. There were no real check or balances to stop this trade outside of 2 people. We've seen plenty of dumb owner/GM combo's before.

None of this excuses Harrison but if he holds differing valuations than others around the league this trade makes sense. It's stupid but you can see his logic.

It's not some grand league-wide conspiracy. Just one dumb guy (Harrison) convincing an ignorant guy (Dumont) to go along with his dumb plan.

[HotRocks34]

Poor Nico and Dumont. They really didn't understand what they were getting themselves into with this.


upload pic

I knew Nico was toast when he talked at the press conference about the culture he and Kidd built in Dallas and how Luka supposedly wasn't a good fit for that. That's when I realized how much of a bubble he was existing in.

I guess he thought that after the anti-Luka propaganda campaign during and after The Finals that fans would be on his side.

Echoes of Jerry Krause, but without the rings.

Fans very rarely emotionally attach to NBA executives. They bond with the players.

I think many fans were ready to move on from the disarray of the Cuban years but Nico/Dumont just made Cuban look like Prime Dr Buss.

This may be the most stunning, single-day Instant Villain Arc that a person connected with the NBA ever pulled off. At least by a non-player.

Nico could still come out on top, nationally, if Dallas does well. But I don't know about in Dallas.

If the Lakers had traded Kobe and won with his replacements, would the Lakers fans be happy? I'm not sure. It would probably be bittersweet at best.

Popcorn engaged.