Luka traded to the Lakers

[HMFFL]

Lakers will have a an emotional back and fourth with trying to trade Austin Reeves. Zero defense played between him and Luka makes him the one expendable.

It will take a couple of seasons before the Lakers figure out a good lineup for Luka there. In those years Lebron retires as well and they have to find a 2nd star again to pair with Luka. You're looking at a potential 5 year rebuild.

Will it take a couple of seasons for them to figure it out? I expect them to become very good this offseason.

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They need the perfect center and an Austin Reeves replacement. If Pelinka manages to find both in one summer then that's great.

The "perfect" center doesn't just grow on trees. Then you have a ticking bomb with Lebron nearing retirement. Common knowledge to say that Luka needs a 2nd and maybe 3rd star. You will eventually need another star when Lebron retires. Unless that's handed to Pelinka on a silver platter like Nico did, I don't see that happening all in one summer. For me, best case for Luka is to leave LA for a team that's already pre-built with him coming in at the right time. You waste a few years with Pelinka dabbing around looking for the right pieces, before you know it, 26 year old Luka is now a 30 year old Luka and that's all she wrote.

Brook Lopez, Al Horford, Bobby Portis

These three are available this off-season and the Lakers can benefit from them.

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[arkuo]

Will it take a couple of seasons for them to figure it out? I expect them to become very good this offseason.

Sent from my SM-S928U1 using RealGM Forums mobile app

They need the perfect center and an Austin Reeves replacement. If Pelinka manages to find both in one summer then that's great.

The "perfect" center doesn't just grow on trees. Then you have a ticking bomb with Lebron nearing retirement. Common knowledge to say that Luka needs a 2nd and maybe 3rd star. You will eventually need another star when Lebron retires. Unless that's handed to Pelinka on a silver platter like Nico did, I don't see that happening all in one summer. For me, best case for Luka is to leave LA for a team that's already pre-built with him coming in at the right time. You waste a few years with Pelinka dabbing around looking for the right pieces, before you know it, 26 year old Luka is now a 30 year old Luka and that's all she wrote.

Brook Lopez, Al Horford, Bobby Portis

These three are available this off-season and the Lakers can benefit from them.

Sent from my SM-S928U1 using RealGM Forums mobile app

I think the Lakers should try to trade for Bam Adebayo. Miami looks done.

[41Dirk41]

Thank you Minny.

[arkuo]

Man. Nico sure wasted everyone's time. Lakers lost, Mavs lost. Could have just got a better return package for Luka and that would have been a nice story. Now we have 2 F'd up franchises.

Luka will be 27 years old next season and Lebron will be 41. They will need a 2nd star soon after Lebron finishes chasing whatever records he can chase.

Like I said, the real team building for LA starts after Lebron retires. I remember back in March when Laker fans were saying DFS was way better than Ron Artest. Fast forward to today, DFS is crucified for being a useless one dimensional player.

[Mavrelous]

Man. Nico sure wasted everyone's time. Lakers lost, Mavs lost. Could have just got a better return package for Luka and that would have been a nice story. Now we have 2 F'd up franchises.

Luka will be 27 years old next season and Lebron will be 41. They will need a 2nd star soon after Lebron finishes chasing whatever records he can chase.

Like I said, the real team building for LA starts after Lebron retires. I remember back in March when Laker fans were saying DFS was way better than Ron Artest. Fast forward to today, DFS is crucified for being a useless one dimensional player.

Lakers are the only winners, Mavs got screwed and Luka got screwed.
Lakers are in no way F'ed, they will extend Luka on a 2+1, and try to build a team with him, though it's going to be hard, if/when they fail, they'll trade him for King's ransom.

[arkuo]

Man. Nico sure wasted everyone's time. Lakers lost, Mavs lost. Could have just got a better return package for Luka and that would have been a nice story. Now we have 2 F'd up franchises.

Luka will be 27 years old next season and Lebron will be 41. They will need a 2nd star soon after Lebron finishes chasing whatever records he can chase.

Like I said, the real team building for LA starts after Lebron retires. I remember back in March when Laker fans were saying DFS was way better than Ron Artest. Fast forward to today, DFS is crucified for being a useless one dimensional player.

Lakers are the only winners, Mavs got screwed and Luka got screwed.
Lakers are in no way F'ed, they will extend Luka on a 2+1, and try to build a team with him, though it's going to be hard, if/when they fail, they'll trade him for King's ransom.

Building a Luka team around Luka takes time. Pelinka can prove me wrong by doing it all in one summer. It takes a lot of trial and error to get that perfect rim rolling big. Lebron is still chasing records. Luka's needs becomes secondary until he retires IMO.

Lakers will need to accept that the ball has to be 99% in Luka's hands. Without that acceptance, it's going to be Harrison Barnes and Dennis Smith Jr. taking turns running the offense. Lakers are going through the same process. We've seen this movie before. It takes time.

Like I said, best thing Luka can do for himself is go to a team that is already pre-built for him. Waiting in a Laker uniform is just allowing Nico and Pelinka's collusion to win. He's the superstar, not those 2. He gets to say where he plays.

[Mavrelous]

Man. Nico sure wasted everyone's time. Lakers lost, Mavs lost. Could have just got a better return package for Luka and that would have been a nice story. Now we have 2 F'd up franchises.

Luka will be 27 years old next season and Lebron will be 41. They will need a 2nd star soon after Lebron finishes chasing whatever records he can chase.

Like I said, the real team building for LA starts after Lebron retires. I remember back in March when Laker fans were saying DFS was way better than Ron Artest. Fast forward to today, DFS is crucified for being a useless one dimensional player.

Lakers are the only winners, Mavs got screwed and Luka got screwed.
Lakers are in no way F'ed, they will extend Luka on a 2+1, and try to build a team with him, though it's going to be hard, if/when they fail, they'll trade him for King's ransom.

Building a Luka team around Luka takes time. Pelinka can prove me wrong by doing it all in one summer. It takes a lot of trial and error to get that perfect rim rolling big. Lebron is still chasing records. Luka's needs becomes secondary until he retires IMO.

Lakers will need to accept that the ball has to be 99% in Luka's hands. Without that acceptance, it's going to be Harrison Barnes and Dennis Smith Jr. taking turns running the offense. Lakers are going through the same process. We've seen this movie before. It takes time.

Yeah, I'm not optimistic either, Pelinka has been generally a bad GM and has mismanaged LeBron's Lakers stint.

[arkuo]

Lakers are the only winners, Mavs got screwed and Luka got screwed.
Lakers are in no way F'ed, they will extend Luka on a 2+1, and try to build a team with him, though it's going to be hard, if/when they fail, they'll trade him for King's ransom.

Building a Luka team around Luka takes time. Pelinka can prove me wrong by doing it all in one summer. It takes a lot of trial and error to get that perfect rim rolling big. Lebron is still chasing records. Luka's needs becomes secondary until he retires IMO.

Lakers will need to accept that the ball has to be 99% in Luka's hands. Without that acceptance, it's going to be Harrison Barnes and Dennis Smith Jr. taking turns running the offense. Lakers are going through the same process. We've seen this movie before. It takes time.

Yeah, I'm not optimistic either, Pelinka has been generally a bad GM and has mismanaged LeBron's Lakers stint.

If I were Luka, Orlando makes sense. But if I remember correctly, he's had some run-ins with Wagner before. So I'm not sure if he likes to be teammates.

Milwaukee makes a lot of sense. Smaller market, lesser pressure to perform but you have Giannis there (and a lot of beer)

Luka can take control of his story, his narrative and not let Nico and Pelinka's collusion win out. Yes, executives and owners do get a say where one plays, but he's the superstar here. Since the supermax is out, he can sign the same max contract anywhere he likes. States that have lesser taxes still exist. It's the same money all around. I bet Luka gets a no-trade clause in his next offer.

[arkuo]

In Anthony Edwards' post game interview, he was asked how much it meant to beat "Lebron and the Lakers". Notice how it's still not referenced as Luka and the Lakers even though he was 3rd in MVP voting last season. It is and still will be Lebron's team until he retires. This part is prolonging the rebuild.

[Archx]

Man. Nico sure wasted everyone's time. Lakers lost, Mavs lost. Could have just got a better return package for Luka and that would have been a nice story. Now we have 2 F'd up franchises.

Luka will be 27 years old next season and Lebron will be 41. They will need a 2nd star soon after Lebron finishes chasing whatever records he can chase.

Like I said, the real team building for LA starts after Lebron retires. I remember back in March when Laker fans were saying DFS was way better than Ron Artest. Fast forward to today, DFS is crucified for being a useless one dimensional player.

Nicely said. Nico screwed both teams. Funny thing is, even if Lakers kept AD, i would have loved to play them with Mavs in playoffs because Mavs would sweep them. I'm not sure that people even comprehend how good "pre-trade" and a healthy Mavs would actually be. It's ridiculous how much size and depth they had. Even if Nico didn't go full idiot and somehow managed to keep Grimes, this team would still be insanely strong.

Now Mavs better hope AD can stay healthy and Kyrie doesn't rapidly decline and Lakers better hope Pelinka does some magic with that roster.

[arkuo]

Greenie said it on his show best. Championships are the only thing that matter in LA. There is no middle ground for fans. There is no consolation prize. I understand the part that "this team was not built to win in 2025". The moment that trade went down, Pelinka was on the clock (same as Nico). There is very little chance that Lebron plays all the way to 45 years old. You will need stars to realign to have another star be gift wrapped and sent to LA. Having Luka there means you are too good to tank. We know this. For years now. And Laker fans who think Luka will play until he's 36, might be disappointed.

Ant is coming up. OKC is coming up. Houston is coming up. Wemby and the spurs are coming up. If Pelinka dabs around and takes a long time to build a strong roster, 26 year old Luka becomes 30 year old Luka real quick. I'd forget about the Mavs. This team as it is just has 2 to 3 years left. By the time Ant, SGA, Wemby are ruling the west, Mavs are in the lottery. That's the outlook of the landscape of the west.

[fuller4379]

Nice to see the Lakers lose in 5.

[Mavrelous]

Good episode, highly recommended
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3o8tDs8D3UjgbauR4Z4h4Q?si=LcfjGCjsQXGRI2Ek5XuHdg

[Archx]

Good episode, highly recommended
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3o8tDs8D3UjgbauR4Z4h4Q?si=LcfjGCjsQXGRI2Ek5XuHdg

Do you have TLDR for this or?

[Mavrelous]

Good episode, highly recommended
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3o8tDs8D3UjgbauR4Z4h4Q?si=LcfjGCjsQXGRI2Ek5XuHdg

Do you have TLDR for this or?

1. Insinuating Nico was right is asinine, he shouldn't have given on Luka this quick, and if he does, the return is unacceptable.
2. Luka is displaying very concerning levels of physical deterioration at a very young age, he is the type of player that will get numbers anyway, but still look terrible, and Luka must turn around this trend this off season.

[arkuo]

Good episode, highly recommended
https://open.spotify.com/episode/3o8tDs8D3UjgbauR4Z4h4Q?si=LcfjGCjsQXGRI2Ek5XuHdg

Do you have TLDR for this or?

1. Insinuating Nico was right is asinine, he shouldn't have given on Luka this quick, and if he does, the return is unacceptable.
2. Luka is displaying very concerning levels of physical deterioration at a very young age, he is the type of player that will get numbers anyway, but still look terrible, and Luka must turn around this trend this off season.

I wonder if playing pro ball early in life contributed to early "deterioration". I watched something on youtube saying that since he started playing pro ball at 14, then he's actually been pushing his body for more than a decade now. Not sure how true. But Lebron fans and Luka stans going at it on Twitter now. A lot of blame to go around but both sides feel their respective stars are not to blame. It's gonna be a long summer for the Laker fans.

So basically it's Lebron fans from Cleveland who followed him to LA versus like 7 Slovenians on Twitter who have multiple accounts saying the same thing

[Mavrelous]

Do you have TLDR for this or?

1. Insinuating Nico was right is asinine, he shouldn't have given on Luka this quick, and if he does, the return is unacceptable.
2. Luka is displaying very concerning levels of physical deterioration at a very young age, he is the type of player that will get numbers anyway, but still look terrible, and Luka must turn around this trend this off season.

I wonder if playing pro ball early in life contributed to early "deterioration". I watched something on youtube saying that since he started playing pro ball at 14, then he's actually been pushing his body for more than a decade now. Not sure how true. But Lebron fans and Luka stans going at it on Twitter now. A lot of blame to go around but both sides feel their respective stars are not to blame. It's gonna be a long summer for the Laker fans.

So basically it's Lebron fans from Cleveland who followed him to LA versus like 7 Slovenians on Twitter who have multiple accounts saying the same thing

Maybe? he's efffectively a 9 year pro, so he's not the normal one and done, easy 1st 2 seasons American athlere.
He needs to pace himself, playing in the pre Olympics was stupid, he did the right thing with the calf injury, he took his time to recover, now he needs to rest for 2 months, work on cadrio and get back less than 250 pounds.

[41Dirk41]

It's not the problem here, Nico may also be right about Luka but if he trade him in that way you are a **** sold man.

[arkuo]

1. Insinuating Nico was right is asinine, he shouldn't have given on Luka this quick, and if he does, the return is unacceptable.
2. Luka is displaying very concerning levels of physical deterioration at a very young age, he is the type of player that will get numbers anyway, but still look terrible, and Luka must turn around this trend this off season.

I wonder if playing pro ball early in life contributed to early "deterioration". I watched something on youtube saying that since he started playing pro ball at 14, then he's actually been pushing his body for more than a decade now. Not sure how true. But Lebron fans and Luka stans going at it on Twitter now. A lot of blame to go around but both sides feel their respective stars are not to blame. It's gonna be a long summer for the Laker fans.

So basically it's Lebron fans from Cleveland who followed him to LA versus like 7 Slovenians on Twitter who have multiple accounts saying the same thing

Maybe? he's efffectively a 9 year pro, so he's not the normal one and done, easy 1st 2 seasons American athlere.
He needs to pace himself, playing in the pre Olympics was stupid, he did the right thing with the calf injury, he took his time to recover, now he needs to rest for 2 months, work on cadrio and get back less than 250 pounds.

ESPN said Luka missed 2 training camps - 2 years in a row to take the time to rest before the NBA season. That's why he came into the season out of shape. Don't know how true but missing 2 training camps is sloppy work.

[Archx]

I wonder if playing pro ball early in life contributed to early "deterioration". I watched something on youtube saying that since he started playing pro ball at 14, then he's actually been pushing his body for more than a decade now. Not sure how true. But Lebron fans and Luka stans going at it on Twitter now. A lot of blame to go around but both sides feel their respective stars are not to blame. It's gonna be a long summer for the Laker fans.

So basically it's Lebron fans from Cleveland who followed him to LA versus like 7 Slovenians on Twitter who have multiple accounts saying the same thing

Maybe? he's efffectively a 9 year pro, so he's not the normal one and done, easy 1st 2 seasons American athlere.
He needs to pace himself, playing in the pre Olympics was stupid, he did the right thing with the calf injury, he took his time to recover, now he needs to rest for 2 months, work on cadrio and get back less than 250 pounds.

ESPN said Luka missed 2 training camps - 2 years in a row to take the time to rest before the NBA season. That's why he came into the season out of shape. Don't know how true but missing 2 training camps is sloppy work.

You already forgot what kind of crazy year he's had last year? Most agreed he should have been the MVP? You also forgot the finals run? Obviously ESPN is full of ****, they always are. Listen to Perkins, blaming Doncic's defense for Lakers being eliminated, like that is the biggest reason why they failed lol. That's suppose to be a "pro" analyst.

That year when Mavs missed the playoffs, when Luka was on vacation, his personal trainer (Anze Macek) went with him and they were running almost every day. He worked out a ton and came into the season in best shape since bubble. He averaged basically 37/10/10 for 2 straight months when Kyrie was out and other starters. Mavs had huge injury problems already last season but he kept them around .500 mark and in playoff hunt. Then PJ/Gafford trade happened and the team got healthy again and finished the season as 2nd best team with 2nd best defense after the all star break.

Nico at the start of this season fired his personal trainer and his staff because he was already cooking something. Luka made a mistake for playing for our NT and didn't heal properly, so injuries carried into the season. Then the "famous" wrist injury when Mavs were spying on him working out instead of resting, so Nico and Dumont thought Luka is just taking vacations. Therefore Dumont's stupid comment in public to the media.

All in all, Luka is to blame for some shortcomings, sure agree with that, but still, Nico played Dumont like a fiddle and Dumont later on discovered the same but can't fire Nico because he would look even more stupid than he already did.