REPORT: AD out indefinitely

[Broadcaster]

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.

For less than market value? And they only wanted to talk to the Lakers? That makes sense to you?

[Calvin Klein]

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.

For less than market value? And they only wanted to talk to the Lakers? That makes sense to you?

Nobody can defend this part of the trade. The reasons for trading…sure, whatever, I can believe it. But this is unexplainable.

[ryguy613]

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.

For less than market value? And they only wanted to talk to the Lakers? That makes sense to you?

They went high risk high reward with the trade, and it might... MIGHT... be already falling apart for them. Its too early to know for sure.

Heres the logical way this played out. Dumont, being a new owner, idiot billionaire, saw a $350M impending price tag for a player he saw as undeserving... because hes an idiot who doesnt understand sports very well... because hes a child playing with toys instead of a serious person. He told Nico to get rid of Luka. Nico predicted that Mavs fans, and the basketball world at large were going to be insanely critical of the move so he decided there was literally only one way he could potentially not go down in history as the moron who sold Luka, and that was to get the best "win now" player in the deal and bet everything on the idea that you could win a title right away. the smartest way to do this, if youre going to do it all all (which you shouldnt) would be to blow it up and rebuild with a mountain of first round picks, but Nico understands that sending the Mavs back into the lottery for the next 4 or 5 years is going to make him a laughing stock, and assuming those assets pan out for them in the future, hes likely not going to be the GM of the team, and wont be able to take credit for it. Hell, he literally said that exact thing at his press conference with JKidd.

So yeah he figured, rip the band-aid quickly. Hope the team stays healthy and can win a title. breath a sigh of relief knowing that getting a ring in the immediate future puts you ahead of where Luka is right now and just pray he doesnt win multiple titles down the road.

Is that stupid? absolutely. But it also makes sense given everything we know about the way the mavs handled this.

[Baz]

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.

The biggest mainstream team the Lakers were 2 years away from being a lottery team when LeBron would eventually retire. Adam Silver's NBA ratings are plummeting. He has constantly been talking about gambling in the NBA and adding a team in Las Vegas. New Vegas casino owners of the Mavs trading their generational superstar in the midst of the Texas legislature session trying to amend gambling rules in the state, pissing off an entire fanbase. They treat their arena like it's North Korea in the weeks that follow, kicking out any fans with an anti-Nico or anti ownership sentiment. But no, we should take these owners at their word. They are just morons. That's it. Definitely not moving the team to Vegas. Definitely not convenient the only team that they negotiated with out of 29 others was the Los Angeles Lakers, getting back peanuts. Definitely nothing to see here.

[Broadcaster]

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.

For less than market value? And they only wanted to talk to the Lakers? That makes sense to you?

They went high risk high reward with the trade, and it might... MIGHT... be already falling apart for them. Its too early to know for sure.

Heres the logical way this played out. Dumont, being a new owner, idiot billionaire, saw a $350M impending price tag for a player he saw as undeserving... because hes an idiot who doesnt understand sports very well... because hes a child playing with toys instead of a serious person. He told Nico to get rid of Luka. Nico predicted that Mavs fans, and the basketball world at large were going to be insanely critical of the move so he decided there was literally only one way he could potentially not go down in history as the moron who sold Luka, and that was to get the best "win now" player in the deal and bet everything on the idea that you could win a title right away. the smartest way to do this, if youre going to do it all all (which you shouldnt) would be to blow it up and rebuild with a mountain of first round picks, but Nico understands that sending the Mavs back into the lottery for the next 4 or 5 years is going to make him a laughing stock, and assuming those assets pan out for them in the future, hes likely not going to be the GM of the team, and wont be able to take credit for it. Hell, he literally said that exact thing at his press conference with JKidd.

So yeah he figured, rip the band-aid quickly. Hope the team stays healthy and can win a title. breath a sigh of relief knowing that getting a ring in the immediate future puts you ahead of where Luka is right now and just pray he doesnt win multiple titles down the road.

Is that stupid? absolutely. But it also makes sense given everything we know about the way the mavs handled this.

I just don’t find that believable.

[ryguy613]

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.

The biggest mainstream team the Lakers were 2 years away from being a lottery team when LeBron would eventually retire. Adam Silver's NBA ratings are plummeting. He has constantly been talking about gambling in the NBA and adding a team in Las Vegas. New Vegas casino owners of the Mavs trading their generational superstar in the midst of the Texas legislature session trying to amend gambling rules in the state, pissing off an entire fanbase. They treat their arena like it's North Korea in the weeks that follow, kicking out any fans with an anti-Nico or anti ownership sentiment. But no, we should take these owners at their word. They are just morons. That's it. Definitely not moving the team to Vegas. Definitely not convenient the only team that they negotiated with out of 29 others was the Los Angeles Lakers, getting back peanuts. Definitely nothing to see here.

Can I just ask you a quick question. If you actually believe that Adam Silver has the whole league rigged for the Lakers, including having other teams owners in line... and all of this is just a smoke screen for the Lakers to stay on top... why are you still watching, and why are you on a RealGM board talking basketball? I mean you figured it out Columbo. You see the Matrix for what it is. Go out and smell the roses and let all of us still plugged into the Matrix live in peace as the little sheep we are.

[Baz]

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.

The biggest mainstream team the Lakers were 2 years away from being a lottery team when LeBron would eventually retire. Adam Silver's NBA ratings are plummeting. He has constantly been talking about gambling in the NBA and adding a team in Las Vegas. New Vegas casino owners of the Mavs trading their generational superstar in the midst of the Texas legislature session trying to amend gambling rules in the state, pissing off an entire fanbase. They treat their arena like it's North Korea in the weeks that follow, kicking out any fans with an anti-Nico or anti ownership sentiment. But no, we should take these owners at their word. They are just morons. That's it. Definitely not moving the team to Vegas. Definitely not convenient the only team that they negotiated with out of 29 others was the Los Angeles Lakers, getting back peanuts. Definitely nothing to see here.

Can I just ask you a quick question. If you actually believe that Adam Silver has the whole league rigged for the Lakers, including having other teams owners in line... and all of this is just a smoke screen for the Lakers to stay on top... why are you still watching, and why are you on a RealGM board talking basketball? I mean you figured it out Columbo. You see the Matrix for what it is. Go out and smell the roses and let all of us still plugged into the Matrix live in peace as the little sheep we are.

Fair question. I am speculating. I hope I am wrong and you are right. I just think it is naive to not be at least somewhat skeptical.

Watching the NBA has been one of my favorite pastimes for as long as I can remember, hard to just switch that off. As far as my allegiance to the Mavericks goes, that's over for now at least. Whatever way you spin it, the Mavericks screwed their own fans. I still am attached to some of the personalities in the game. I will still enjoy Luka. But this will bother me forever so talking about it with y'all is a good outlet

[bwgood77]

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?

SA got super lucky too 3x, getting the #1 pick only 3x in their history in years where there were obvious generational Cs available. One year when Robinson was injured that year. LA is a desirable place to play so many of the stars joining in FA is less lucky, but more because a lot of people want to live there and/or play for a historic franchise. But to make a trade twice a couple of years for a pick that ended up being #1 on a coin flip is luck. But yeah, any team that gets the #1 pick is lucky. It is rare that team is one of the best teams in the NBA and just happened to trade for what ended up the #1 pick. Not sure how many times it's happened, but did twice in 3 years there.

[madmaxmedia]

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.

The biggest mainstream team the Lakers were 2 years away from being a lottery team when LeBron would eventually retire. Adam Silver's NBA ratings are plummeting. He has constantly been talking about gambling in the NBA and adding a team in Las Vegas. New Vegas casino owners of the Mavs trading their generational superstar in the midst of the Texas legislature session trying to amend gambling rules in the state, pissing off an entire fanbase. They treat their arena like it's North Korea in the weeks that follow, kicking out any fans with an anti-Nico or anti ownership sentiment. But no, we should take these owners at their word. They are just morons. That's it. Definitely not moving the team to Vegas. Definitely not convenient the only team that they negotiated with out of 29 others was the Los Angeles Lakers, getting back peanuts. Definitely nothing to see here.

Can I just ask you a quick question. If you actually believe that Adam Silver has the whole league rigged for the Lakers, including having other teams owners in line... and all of this is just a smoke screen for the Lakers to stay on top... why are you still watching, and why are you on a RealGM board talking basketball? I mean you figured it out Columbo. You see the Matrix for what it is. Go out and smell the roses and let all of us still plugged into the Matrix live in peace as the little sheep we are.

Here's the thing. If these guys are so devious and clever rigging the league for squeeze out maximum profit, they would for damn sure rig up a more realistic trade than the one that was made. One or two swaps, another 1st, whatever to get in the ballpark of typical superstar trades, it would still have been a slam dunk for the Lakers.

But in any case, the major pro sports have become dominant cultural and commercial forces and all the money and franchise value and naming rights that come along with that. TBH rigging everything with the involvement of refs, owners, etc. would be like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, hoping to get more eggs out of it. I'm not saying shady stuff never happens, but I'm just not seeing this grand scale of manipulation as really practical and worth the risk.

I think conspiracy theories can be fun to talk about, just keep it light because everyone is gonna believe what they believe. When the NBA blocked Chris Paul to the Lakers, the absolute uproar you heard from some (not all) Laker fans was that the league was stacked the other way.

[Prince187]

The biggest mainstream team the Lakers were 2 years away from being a lottery team when LeBron would eventually retire. Adam Silver's NBA ratings are plummeting. He has constantly been talking about gambling in the NBA and adding a team in Las Vegas. New Vegas casino owners of the Mavs trading their generational superstar in the midst of the Texas legislature session trying to amend gambling rules in the state, pissing off an entire fanbase. They treat their arena like it's North Korea in the weeks that follow, kicking out any fans with an anti-Nico or anti ownership sentiment. But no, we should take these owners at their word. They are just morons. That's it. Definitely not moving the team to Vegas. Definitely not convenient the only team that they negotiated with out of 29 others was the Los Angeles Lakers, getting back peanuts. Definitely nothing to see here.

Can I just ask you a quick question. If you actually believe that Adam Silver has the whole league rigged for the Lakers, including having other teams owners in line... and all of this is just a smoke screen for the Lakers to stay on top... why are you still watching, and why are you on a RealGM board talking basketball? I mean you figured it out Columbo. You see the Matrix for what it is. Go out and smell the roses and let all of us still plugged into the Matrix live in peace as the little sheep we are.

Here's the thing. If these guys are so devious and clever rigging the league for squeeze out maximum profit, they would for damn sure rig up a more realistic trade than the one that was made. One or two swaps, another 1st, whatever to get in the ballpark of typical superstar trades, it would still have been a slam dunk for the Lakers.

But in any case, the major pro sports have become dominant cultural and commercial forces and all the money and franchise value and naming rights that come along with that. TBH rigging everything with the involvement of refs, owners, etc. would be like killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, hoping to get more eggs out of it. I'm not saying shady stuff never happens, but I'm just not seeing this grand scale of manipulation as really practical and worth the risk.

I think conspiracy theories can be fun to talk about, just keep it light because everyone is gonna believe what they believe. When the NBA blocked Chris Paul to the Lakers, the absolute uproar you heard from some (not all) Laker fans was that the league was stacked the other way.

What you’re saying makes sense. Why not make it more plausible? LA could have thrown in a few more FRPs starting in the 2030s and maybe Rui or Knecht. The answer to that is that they don’t have to do. They can get away with it just fine by squeezing every last drop out of Dallas and not giving up anything.

Large segments of the population already think the NFL and NBA are rigged and it doesn’t charge anything. The Super Bowl just had record ratings. We live in an oligarchy. All the major institutions are controlled by a small group of billionaires and they have a monopoly. They also have an army of online shills posing as regular people on every platform to run cover for them.

[NZB2323]

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.

I don’t think the argument is that you’re crazy as much as your argument sounds like a crazy conspiracy theory.

If they really believed that Luka was the franchise superstar that he is, they wouldn’t have traded him. We’ve seen this before. The Magic didn’t offer Shaq the max because they didn’t believe in him enough. The Warriors traded Wilt Chamberlain to the 76ers because he was difficult and the Warriors wanted to save money.

The 76ers never offered Jimmy Butler an extension because they believed in Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, and Bruce Brown more than him. The Bucks traded away a 27 year old Ray Allen for a 34 year old Gary Payton. After Eddy Curry was ruled to not play basketball in the playoffs for a heart condition, the Knicks traded 2 unprotected 1st round picks for him.

[MrGoat]

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.

Oh, what a great point. That's exactly why I fully believed OJ Simpson when he said he wasn't the murderer and I will spend the rest of my life in the effort to find the real killer. And why I knew Trump was right that he would lower the price of eggs. Also Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are real.

I also have a massively expensive bridge for sale at an incredible deal if you're interested, you'd basically be stealing from me, DM me for details with your bank information

[WolfAddict]

Oh, what a great point. That's exactly why I fully believed OJ Simpson when he said he wasn't the murderer and I will spend the rest of my life in the effort to find the real killer. And why I knew Trump was right that he would lower the price of eggs. Also Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are real.

I also have a massively expensive bridge for sale at an incredible deal if you're interested, you'd basically be stealing from me, DM me for details with your bank information

There's a lot in this post so let me just address the important part:

**** you, the Easter Bunny and Santa are real AF and I won't hear another slanderous word about them

[ForeverTFC]

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.

For less than market value? And they only wanted to talk to the Lakers? That makes sense to you?

They went high risk high reward with the trade, and it might... MIGHT... be already falling apart for them. Its too early to know for sure.

Heres the logical way this played out. Dumont, being a new owner, idiot billionaire, saw a $350M impending price tag for a player he saw as undeserving... because hes an idiot who doesnt understand sports very well... because hes a child playing with toys instead of a serious person. He told Nico to get rid of Luka. Nico predicted that Mavs fans, and the basketball world at large were going to be insanely critical of the move so he decided there was literally only one way he could potentially not go down in history as the moron who sold Luka, and that was to get the best "win now" player in the deal and bet everything on the idea that you could win a title right away. the smartest way to do this, if youre going to do it all all (which you shouldnt) would be to blow it up and rebuild with a mountain of first round picks, but Nico understands that sending the Mavs back into the lottery for the next 4 or 5 years is going to make him a laughing stock, and assuming those assets pan out for them in the future, hes likely not going to be the GM of the team, and wont be able to take credit for it. Hell, he literally said that exact thing at his press conference with JKidd.

So yeah he figured, rip the band-aid quickly. Hope the team stays healthy and can win a title. breath a sigh of relief knowing that getting a ring in the immediate future puts you ahead of where Luka is right now and just pray he doesnt win multiple titles down the road.

Is that stupid? absolutely. But it also makes sense given everything we know about the way the mavs handled this.

With all due respect, please don't treat the rest of us as idiots. If the Mavs had asked for another pick, do you honestly believe that the Lakers would have walked away? Be honest. If I told you the trade was AD, 2 picks and Christie for Doncic, would you not have thought that you all still robbed the Mavs?

There doesn't need to be any grand conspiracy here. But we've seen friends help each other out in this league - see Ainge/McHale. I'm willing to believe everything you wrote. It still does not explain why 1) the Mavs did not bid Luka out and 2) ask for more from the Lakers who were never going to turn this opportunity down.

[MrGoat]

Oh, what a great point. That's exactly why I fully believed OJ Simpson when he said he wasn't the murderer and I will spend the rest of my life in the effort to find the real killer. And why I knew Trump was right that he would lower the price of eggs. Also Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are real.

I also have a massively expensive bridge for sale at an incredible deal if you're interested, you'd basically be stealing from me, DM me for details with your bank information

There's a lot in this post so let me just address the important part:

**** you, the Easter Bunny and Santa are real AF and I won't hear another slanderous word about them

Well I just said in that post that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are real so I'm not sure what the problem is, I know Santa and the Bunny. I was just trying to sell a bridge at a cutthroat rate to somebody lucky enough to be the recipient of my niceness...

[ryguy613]

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.

Oh, what a great point. That's exactly why I fully believed OJ Simpson when he said he wasn't the murderer and I will spend the rest of my life in the effort to find the real killer. And why I knew Trump was right that he would lower the price of eggs. Also Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are real.

I also have a massively expensive bridge for sale at an incredible deal if you're interested, you'd basically be stealing from me, DM me for details with your bank information

See, the reason the OJ comp is bad is because there was like... a **** TON of evidence that OJ was lying. The problem on your end is that you have literally ZERO evidence that anything else is happening here. Like, you wont listen to the owner, you wont listen to the GM, you wont listen to the coach, you wont listen to every single person in NBA media with any kind of inside knowledge of the situation. the only thing you listen to is your own mind. Now, if you had something... ANYTHING... the smallest of breadcrumbs to follow, sure. you might be worth humoring. but you dont. you only have disbelief that a FO would be stupid enough to do this. Unfortunately for you... they did. sorry. I really am. But unless you can point to something. some anonymous whistleblower, some leaked audio, some lingering rumor that beat reporters have been following, youre just telling yourself a bedtime story to make you feel better

[WolfAddict]

Oh, what a great point. That's exactly why I fully believed OJ Simpson when he said he wasn't the murderer and I will spend the rest of my life in the effort to find the real killer. And why I knew Trump was right that he would lower the price of eggs. Also Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are real.

I also have a massively expensive bridge for sale at an incredible deal if you're interested, you'd basically be stealing from me, DM me for details with your bank information

There's a lot in this post so let me just address the important part:

**** you, the Easter Bunny and Santa are real AF and I won't hear another slanderous word about them

Well I just said in that post that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are real so I'm not sure what the problem is, I know Santa and the Bunny. I was just trying to sell a bridge at a cutthroat rate to somebody lucky enough to be the recipient of my niceness...

Touche

On another note, this bridge... suspension? What are we talking about here?

[MrGoat]

There's a lot in this post so let me just address the important part:

**** you, the Easter Bunny and Santa are real AF and I won't hear another slanderous word about them

Well I just said in that post that Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny are real so I'm not sure what the problem is, I know Santa and the Bunny. I was just trying to sell a bridge at a cutthroat rate to somebody lucky enough to be the recipient of my niceness...

Touche

On another note, this bridge... suspension? What are we talking about here?

It's a 34 mile bridge between Macau (my Adelscum connections are coming out) and Hong Kong-Zhuzai. It's 34 miles and cost $20B to make. It's actually three bridges in one with an undersea tunnel and four artificial islands and took 400K tons of steel to construct, that's 60 Eiffel Towers. It's also the world's longest bridge (google it), and I was was offering it for a mere 5 billion dollars to my Swiss bank account, all I need is your account number and the bank's routing number

[One Last Shot]

For less than market value? And they only wanted to talk to the Lakers? That makes sense to you?

They went high risk high reward with the trade, and it might... MIGHT... be already falling apart for them. Its too early to know for sure.

Heres the logical way this played out. Dumont, being a new owner, idiot billionaire, saw a $350M impending price tag for a player he saw as undeserving... because hes an idiot who doesnt understand sports very well... because hes a child playing with toys instead of a serious person. He told Nico to get rid of Luka. Nico predicted that Mavs fans, and the basketball world at large were going to be insanely critical of the move so he decided there was literally only one way he could potentially not go down in history as the moron who sold Luka, and that was to get the best "win now" player in the deal and bet everything on the idea that you could win a title right away. the smartest way to do this, if youre going to do it all all (which you shouldnt) would be to blow it up and rebuild with a mountain of first round picks, but Nico understands that sending the Mavs back into the lottery for the next 4 or 5 years is going to make him a laughing stock, and assuming those assets pan out for them in the future, hes likely not going to be the GM of the team, and wont be able to take credit for it. Hell, he literally said that exact thing at his press conference with JKidd.

So yeah he figured, rip the band-aid quickly. Hope the team stays healthy and can win a title. breath a sigh of relief knowing that getting a ring in the immediate future puts you ahead of where Luka is right now and just pray he doesnt win multiple titles down the road.

Is that stupid? absolutely. But it also makes sense given everything we know about the way the mavs handled this.

With all due respect, please don't treat the rest of us as idiots. If the Mavs had asked for another pick, do you honestly believe that the Lakers would have walked away? Be honest. If I told you the trade was AD, 2 picks and Christie for Doncic, would you not have thought that you all still robbed the Mavs?

There doesn't need to be any grand conspiracy here. But we've seen friends help each other out in this league - see Ainge/McHale. I'm willing to believe everything you wrote. It still does not explain why 1) the Mavs did not bid Luka out and 2) ask for more from the Lakers who were never going to turn this opportunity down.

The way I see it, Mavs only wanted two players for Luka and that's Wemby which I think they approached first and rejected their offer before Nico negotiated to trade for AD. Pelinka is willing to offer Knetch plus more draft compensations if they allow him to talk with Luka's agent. Harrison refused and just settle for AD + Christie + 2029 FRP. It should be common sense that once Luka's camp found out that they are trying to trade him to Lakers, they can easily dictate the terms of trade negotiations like they won't sign an extension with the Lakers and he will be a rental for 1.5 season thus Pelinka will hesitate to trade the AD package the way Ainge back off on trading for Anthony Davis for his warchest of assets that time. Remember when AD"s father publicly stated that his son will never sign a contract extension with Celtics? That's why they keep the negotiations in private and pull the trigger in the middle of the night, AD is the only player that they want for Luka. They don't want the 10+ first round draft picks and swaps plus young players that the Nets, Rockets, OKC, Jazz, Spurs and other teams can offer.

[ryguy613]

For less than market value? And they only wanted to talk to the Lakers? That makes sense to you?

They went high risk high reward with the trade, and it might... MIGHT... be already falling apart for them. Its too early to know for sure.

Heres the logical way this played out. Dumont, being a new owner, idiot billionaire, saw a $350M impending price tag for a player he saw as undeserving... because hes an idiot who doesnt understand sports very well... because hes a child playing with toys instead of a serious person. He told Nico to get rid of Luka. Nico predicted that Mavs fans, and the basketball world at large were going to be insanely critical of the move so he decided there was literally only one way he could potentially not go down in history as the moron who sold Luka, and that was to get the best "win now" player in the deal and bet everything on the idea that you could win a title right away. the smartest way to do this, if youre going to do it all all (which you shouldnt) would be to blow it up and rebuild with a mountain of first round picks, but Nico understands that sending the Mavs back into the lottery for the next 4 or 5 years is going to make him a laughing stock, and assuming those assets pan out for them in the future, hes likely not going to be the GM of the team, and wont be able to take credit for it. Hell, he literally said that exact thing at his press conference with JKidd.

So yeah he figured, rip the band-aid quickly. Hope the team stays healthy and can win a title. breath a sigh of relief knowing that getting a ring in the immediate future puts you ahead of where Luka is right now and just pray he doesnt win multiple titles down the road.

Is that stupid? absolutely. But it also makes sense given everything we know about the way the mavs handled this.

With all due respect, please don't treat the rest of us as idiots. If the Mavs had asked for another pick, do you honestly believe that the Lakers would have walked away? Be honest. If I told you the trade was AD, 2 picks and Christie for Doncic, would you not have thought that you all still robbed the Mavs?

There doesn't need to be any grand conspiracy here. But we've seen friends help each other out in this league - see Ainge/McHale. I'm willing to believe everything you wrote. It still does not explain why 1) the Mavs did not bid Luka out and 2) ask for more from the Lakers who were never going to turn this opportunity down.

its not my job to convince you of anything. believe whatever you want. just dont think of yourself as smart because you concocted a story in your head that you think better explains a stupid trade. i work off of evidence. i dont just wildly speculate because it makes me feel better.

The exra pick not being included was already addressed by both teams. The Mavs asked for it. The Lakers countered that because they werent allowed to speak with Luka or his agent to get the deal done, meaning they had no way of gauging his interest to stay long term, one of the picks should be removed. Now, do I think Pelinka put his foot down on that? heeeeeell no. In other words, if Nico had countered that both picks were needed or the deal was off, 100% Pelinka wouldve caved, but in favor of getting the deal done quickly and remaining quiet, he decided he wouldnt push back. Remember Nico felt he had something to lose here if talks were in danger of stalling. Was that smart? once again.... heeeeeell no. but i also dont think it was smart to trade Luka from the get go so I really dont think we're dealing with a shrewd business man here.

You can believe all of that, which is backed up by basically every account of how this went down. or you can believe your own theories. thats really up to you. Im pretty sure I could literally show you a video recording of the trade talks with audio of the discussion, and the people who want to believe something isnt right here would just claim it was AI. Not much I can do