Nico Harrison decides to double down on stupid

[Castle Black]

“A trade that attracted a lot of attention” lol. I've never been more convinced that Adam Silver had a hand in this

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[CobraCommander]

Imagine alienating the greatest player in your franchise's history. Wild.

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They don’t care - if the new owner didn’t care about Luka or any of the existing players, he sure doesn’t care about a guy that no longer plays for them

[TinmanZBoy]

“A trade that attracted a lot of attention” lol. I've never been more convinced that Adam Silver had a hand in this

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Nico saved NBA!

[UglyBugBall]

Anyway, it's not like Barkley was a bum

He was a bum compared to Luka. Luka is projecting to be better than Jokic, Giannis, Shai and a bunch of guys we consider all time greats. He's positioning himself for top 5 all time and this guy compares him to Barkley???

If you think Charles Barkley was a bum compared to Luka, then I can't take you seriously. Luka can easily end up never making the finals again, and if he doesn't, he will end up in the Barkley, Malone, Iverson category.

Incredibly unlikely. That's like saying that a player of Lebron, or Jordans, or Jokic's caliber may never make the finals, let alone win a ring. The gap between Luka/Jokic and everyone else is as big as between Lebron and everyone else in his prime. He's clearly on pace to win a ring, and probably multiple. There's a reason he's Lebrons favorite player. He is the first one at his level since Lebron himself.

[RRFB]

Nico refusing to admit they underestimated the fanbase’s reaction is the biggest offense here, in my opinion. It’s such an obvious lie, because there is no way in hell this trade would have happened if they anticipated the fallout from the fans.

This org desperately needs to do something/anything to make amends with their fans, and they could’ve easily taken a small step forward by just admitting they didn’t expect this much backlash, apologizing, and vowing to do better. It’s insane that he couldn’t even do that. Wtf is even if the point of this interview if you’re not going to use it to extend an olive branch to your fans.

[SA37]

Spoiler:

If you have concerns on his future, fine. Just this is not the way to trade him, in secret, with this package and negotiating only with the Lakers.
Moreover, with the money we keep mixing up things.
Giving the supermax to a top5 guy is NEVER the problem, it's never what takes away the flexibility.
It's what you do with the rest of the roster the issue.
The Nuggets don't have an issue with Jokic, their problem is that Murray and MPj are not goof enough as second and third star.
The Bucks don't have an issue with Giannis, their problem is that Dame costs too much and Middleton was not performing anymore.
Don't let me start on Phoenix, three supermax guys and none really worth it.
1-2 player are not the problem, if good, how you overpay the rest of the roster is.
Moreover, part of it it's a feature: to compete you must find good value, make decisions. Hit on your picks, start reclaiming projects, find the underrated guys. You can't keep together a championship team for too long because proven championship player are going to command too much money, to be the 4th of 5th most paid guy.

But the last of your issues is how much you pay you're MVP level guy. Those guys are always the best bargain.

Re: Giving the supermax to a top5 guy is NEVER the problem, it's never what takes away the flexibility.

With the 2nd apron and the onerous restrictions that come with it, I think this changes to some degree depending on where you're at in the team build. I can only assume the Mavericks' FO/ownership decided 1) the Mavs' were luckier than good in their Finals run and 2) Irving + Doncic on a supermax was going to lock them in financially.

Paying a player ~$70M/year is going to be ~40% of your cap. If you have a second player making another ~$35-$45M, you've got ~60-70% of your cap eaten up by 2 guys.

Phoenix is about to get here with Devin Booker. Leaving aside whether he is worth a supermax or not, Phoenix seems set to give it to him. Does this make sense given 1) Phoenix's lack of draft capital 2) Phoenix's Beal no-trade clause problem and 3) the problem of likely needing to prioritize cap flexibility over maximizing a return for Durant?

Or would it make more sense for Phoenix to trade Booker to recover draft capital and get as much financial flexibility when Beal comes off the books and use the next 2-3 years building for that?

I think we're going to see more and more teams facing this kind of decision. (We saw this play out to a degree with Dame Lillard in Portland.)

Re: 1-2 player are not the problem, if good, how you overpay the rest of the roster is.
Moreover, part of it it's a feature: to compete you must find good value, make decisions. Hit on your picks, start reclaiming projects, find the underrated guys.

What you're largely talking about here is something only a handful of teams have done consistently well in the last 20 years: Miami, San Antonio, the Lakers, OKC, and Golden St. Team building is hard. Not committing money to mediocre players is hard. Maximizing value from late 1sts/2nd round picks is hard.

Miami is about to find itself in a position where it is paying Bam Adebayo ~$52, $56, and $60M/year from 26/27-28/29. Tyler Herro is going to be eligible for an extension in October for 3-years, $150M, so $50/year. So Miami is looking at paying Adebayo and (potentially) Herro the following:

25/26: $85M
26/27: ~$100M
27/28: ~$106M
28/29: ~$115M

So does Miami commit to paying 2 borderline all-stars/non-All-NBA guys that kind of money or do they start trying to unwind? Miami already chose to let its best player, Jimmy Butler, walk understanding the aforementioned. And Miami is a team that owes a couple of picks in the next 2-3 years and already has a solid group of young players that may or may not pan out.

We're going to see a lot of teams in this type of position over the next few years until teams get adjusted to the new rules on aprons.

Nobody is getting paid 40% of the cap, the limit is 35%. What you hear is the average over 5 years, starting in 2027. But each of those year will be on a different cap, and the yearly salary will be around that 35%.
If that player is MVP level, it's a bargain.
The issue is when you give this money to guys that are one or two tiers below, like all the other guys you mentioned.
Again, if you think Luka is overrated ok. I disagree but I understand the logic. But if you think he's top5 is a bargain at 35%, just like Jokic or Giannis are.

And I know that team building is hard, because you must hit on several good value contracts, on top of having the star. And to stay on top, you must be able to cycle.on those contracts.
Funny enough, the Nuggets, for instance, have a few of them. Braun, Watson and even Russ are grossly overperforming their salary. But they are stuck because Murray and Porter are not.

I don't think Doncic is overrated. As I said earlier in the thread, I would have quit rather than be the guy who traded Doncic. FWIW, I think Doncic is the 2nd best player in the league only behind Jokic.

Only the Mavs know why they felt Doncic wasn't worth the super max, and we haven't gotten any other explanation other than "defense wins championships" and Harrison suggesting Doncic might not have signed the supermax deal. But, this trade didn't happen without Mavs ownership's consent, and they went along with this for some reason or a few reasons.

[sp6r=underrated]

It's not that complicated people. They didn't want to pay the Supermax and they're saying everything they can to justify it. There's no move to Vegas happening. The trade wasn't orchestrated by Adam Silver. It's just money. Turned out to be a bad calculation with the value they've lost, but the trade was driven by money.

If this trade is about $$$ you go for a super vision of the Paul George-OKC package. But your larger point is right that there is no conspiracy. The GM sincerely believes AD >>> Luka.

[sp6r=underrated]

Imagine alienating the greatest player in your franchise's history. Wild.

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I was amazed when Kyrie got hurt and Nico praised him by comparing him to Kobe.

I honestly get the impression if you injected Nico with truth syrum he would say Dirk ==> overrated.

[sp6r=underrated]

I'm curious what do people think AD's trade value is. The pros of AD is his per game stats as always are very, very strong and he's locked up for at least 2 full seasons.

The con is he's 32 year old who has averaged 52 games per year since 2021.

[dirkdiggler4177]

He was a bum compared to Luka. Luka is projecting to be better than Jokic, Giannis, Shai and a bunch of guys we consider all time greats. He's positioning himself for top 5 all time and this guy compares him to Barkley???

If you think Charles Barkley was a bum compared to Luka, then I can't take you seriously. Luka can easily end up never making the finals again, and if he doesn't, he will end up in the Barkley, Malone, Iverson category.

Incredibly unlikely. That's like saying that a player of Lebron, or Jordans, or Jokic's caliber may never make the finals, let alone win a ring. The gap between Luka/Jokic and everyone else is as big as between Lebron and everyone else in his prime. He's clearly on pace to win a ring, and probably multiple. There's a reason he's Lebrons favorite player. He is the first one at his level since Lebron himself.

You would think so, but the Lakers are in a bad position as far as team construction. The team is hitting the cap, and LeBron is not getting any younger. The picks they own don't have much value because the team is solid. They don't have any young potential players.

I don't see this roster making the finals just because it lacks size, and it's hard to improve it without jeopardizing the future. The Mavs made the finals last year with a much better team imo.

If you look at Giannis and Jokic, they don't seem to be returning to the finals anytime soon. It's just very hard to win a ring without the right team.

[MrGoat]

Just when you think it can't get any ridiculous:

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Nico is actually doing a pretty good job of keeping the heat off of the Adelscums who want you to believe that they were just ignorant, his PR background is paying dividends for them

[jmo21]

If it was defense they wanted, why didn't they try to get Giannis?

Posibly gettable, as their roster is going nowhere and there is a chance Giannis might want to leave anyway.

An earlier comment here about nico being overally impressed with aau americans rings true

[sp6r=underrated]

Just when you think it can't get any ridiculous:

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Nico is actually doing a pretty good job of keeping the heat off of the Adelscums who want you to believe that they were just ignorant, his PR background is paying dividends for them

People are too cynical.

Why would Nico want to destroy his public reputation?

Public figures care about how they are viewed as it determines their next job.

[MrGoat]

Just when you think it can't get any ridiculous:

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Nico is actually doing a pretty good job of keeping the heat off of the Adelscums who want you to believe that they were just ignorant, his PR background is paying dividends for them

People are too cynical.

Why would Nico want to destroy his public reputation?

Public figures care about how they are viewed as it determines their next job.

Next job? Do you know how much Nico is already worth? This is his retirement plan and the Adelscums will compensate him

[sp6r=underrated]

Nico is actually doing a pretty good job of keeping the heat off of the Adelscums who want you to believe that they were just ignorant, his PR background is paying dividends for them

People are too cynical.

Why would Nico want to destroy his public reputation?

Public figures care about how they are viewed as it determines their next job.

Next job? Do you know how much Nico is already worth? This is his retirement plan and the Adelscums will compensate him

Powerful people like having power.

[MrGoat]

People are too cynical.

Why would Nico want to destroy his public reputation?

Public figures care about how they are viewed as it determines their next job.

Next job? Do you know how much Nico is already worth? This is his retirement plan and the Adelscums will compensate him

Powerful people like having power.

Agreed. That's why I bring it back to the Adelscums instead of blaming Nico for cashing in on it

[sp6r=underrated]

Next job? Do you know how much Nico is already worth? This is his retirement plan and the Adelscums will compensate him

Powerful people like having power.

Agreed. That's why I bring it back to the Adelscums instead of blaming Nico for cashing in on it

Respectfully, I think you really overestimate people's willingness to be punching bags in public. And I think you really overestimate the ability of organization's to keep things secret.

If this came from ownership, there would have been a lot more leaking to that effect now.

[Damkac]

If it was defense they wanted, why didn't they try to get Giannis?

Posibly gettable, as their roster is going nowhere and there is a chance Giannis might want to leave anyway.

An earlier comment here about nico being overally impressed with aau americans rings true

Because for some reason they wanted to help the Lakers.
Maybe some day we will find out what this trade was really about because it surely wasn't just "Luka fat".

[zshawn10]

Congrats Nico; you got your buddy paid!

The Los Angeles Lakers have signed Rob Pelinka to a contract extension, with his new title as president of basketball operations along with general manager, sources tell ESPN. Lakers leadership is now signed long-term with Pelinka and coach JJ Redick.

Pelinka hired Redick as the Lakers new coach last offseason, and made the signature Luka Doncic acquisition in February. The Lakers are set up with a face of the franchise for the next 10 years, flexibility and assets this upcoming offseason, and organizational alignment.

https://bsky.app/profile/shamsbot.bsky.social/post/3ln4dge4hl22d

[JXL]

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