Revisiting the worst trade in NBA history.

[WestbrookGOATed]

Okay now that things have settled down we need to once more revisit the Luka trade and what transpired after. The absolute worst trade in NBA history sends one of the NBAs biggest stars to the Lakers, the Mavericks then with asinine odds somehow magically win the #1 pick. Do you think it was orchestrated by the NBA brass or do you think the Dallas Mavericks are just THAT lucky?

[Capn'O]

It's mindboggling from today's standpoint given the money an athlete would stand to lose but there was a very real chance that Kareem would holdout and never play for them again that they had to honor at the time. Still just a franchise crippling move for them. Elmore Smith? Come on, man. Them Lakers always have teams over a barrel and it's always been that way.

Honorary Mentions:

https://theonion.com/fact-checking-the-first-presidential-debate-1819594041/

“[NAFTA] is the single worst trade deal ever approved in this country.” -Donald Trump

This is false. The worst trade deal in this country’s history was when the SuperSonics dealt Scottie Pippen to the Bulls for Olden Polynice.

[Slacktard]

I opened this expecting to see Billy King. Luka for AD trade is not the worst in NBA history.

[okboomer]

What would have happened if Kyrie doesnt tear his ACL? They wouldnt have been in the lottery. How does the NBA fix it for the Mavericks then?

[dkb964]

Should have researched the worst trades and made a poll.

[manlisten]

The Clippers still owe 3 more 1st round picks to OKC.

[Tyrone Messby]

Still thankful for the Suns being dumb enough to take the Beal contract off the Wiz hands

[bkkrh]

It is by far not the worst trade in history. It doesn´t even come close to be one of the 10 worst trades in history. And it is way to early to evaluate it. And no the NBA didn´t orchestrate it. It involved 2 big market teams.

If anything it would have made way more sense that Giannis, Joker or Ant wind up on the Lakers than Luka, if the NBA was pushing for that trade. The Mavs made the finals the year before, are one of the biggest markets, the town is booming and they have a 2nd legitimate star player in Kyrie. Every player I just mentioned is in a smaller market and 2 of those 3 players already brought a title to their city.

The narrative back then was that the Mavs owners were getting bad on purpose to move Dallas to Las Vegas, which was a dumb take back then, now they are supposed to get the best player in the draft to be immediatelly good again, so the exact opposite of what was supposedly happening before.

It was just a trade that is pretty uncommon in today´s league, but would have been viewed as a bad but relatively normal trade in the 90s and early 2000s.

To give an opposite example, everybody viewed the Pau Gasol to the Lakers trade as an absolute joke back in the day. An All Star for a few bums on expiring contracts, his own little brother and some picks. This didn´t happen in that form back then, the expectation was that you get at least some talented young players back. Now if you look back, two 1st rounders, the rights for a player that was winning Spanish League MVP that season and a lot of free salary space does look way less worse and became pretty much the the norm for those kind of trades a few seasons later. If the Lakers would have sent another 1st or 2 additional 2nd rounders, it would look like a decent trade for both sides from today´s perspective.

[bkkrh]

What would have happened if Kyrie doesnt tear his ACL? They wouldnt have been in the lottery. How does the NBA fix it for the Mavericks then?

And Anthony Davis had played in 42 of 47 games at the point of the trade, averaging 26 points, 12 rebounds and 2 blocks. But I guess that was part of the NBA deal as well, they told him and Kyrie to make sure to get season ending injuries within a few games after the trade .

[rand]

I think "Yes", "No", and "Don't Know" are better poll options. I don't really get the point of the three that were offered.

Also the phrase "asinine odds" is a butchering of the English language.

[Effigy]

I opened this expecting to see Billy King. Luka for AD trade is not the worst in NBA history.

I think you only think that because you’re a Sixers fan. With just the information available at the time the trade was made, this is the worst trade of all time. What do you think is worse?

[slicedbread2]

Yes the lottery was rigged. The NBA is a business first and foremost and the massive backlash from fans led the brass to realize that they needed to give them Flagg in order to give whatever fans that remain a reason to stick around.

Honestly, as far as the ratings thing, yes it sucked and the conspiracy theories are strong. Ultimately, ownership doesn't care as long as money is made and it really boils down to Nico's ego. That dude and his team got scorched and rightfully so not because of the idea of trading Doncic, but ultimately trading him for Anthony Davis. You look at what the Thunder got for PG-13 (that trade is still paying dividends as the Clippers owe a 26 pick and 27 draft swap unpro.) and wonder "why the hell couldn't the Mavericks gotten that plus more for a generational superstar"?

I feel for Flagg because the idiot medical staff in Dallas nearly ended Lively's career when they tried to have him come back from an injury in 2 weeks that normally takes 8-10 weeks to rehab.

[Yoshun]

I can't believe there are still people who are trying to argue this trade wasn't that bad.

Luka was traded as a top 3-5 player in the NBA, a legit superstar who had just led his his team to the NBA finals and was only just entering his prime.

He was traded for a 32 year old AD and a late first.

[GiannisAnte34]

The deniers huffing copium "what if the Mavs made the playoffs tho"

Crying "you're just ignoring whatever doesn't fit the narrative"

Let's count the things that do fit the narrative

-Lakers sold their franchise right after clearly winning the trade with a long term superstar acquired
-Mavericks mysteriously win the #1 overall pick where a no brainer prospect is available
-Mavericks ownership trying to get a casino/resort built in Las Vegas
-The ever changing reasoning on why Luka wasn't valued and why AD is so amazing for their competitive timeline being spun by "journalists"
-All NBA owners stand to benefit by the valuation of the Lakers going up
-Mavericks only entertained other offers by speculation/rumor such as supposedly a Giannis swap

[picko]

I thought we'd be discussing the Bill Russell trade.

[Fencer reregistered]

I thought we'd be discussing the Bill Russell trade.

Good choice. But actually the Hawks went to the Finals a lot in the years after that deal, so they got something back of value.

Other candidates are probably Wilt deals (especially the first unforced one), Kareem deal (albeit forced), and the Warriors trading away both Robert Parish and the right to Kevin McHale for the rights to Joe Barry Carroll.

[whatisacenter]

[doogie_hauser]

Luke won't win a chip with the Lakers ands it's probable Cooper will win at least one with the Mavs.

The Lakers window with Luka is not as open as you may think, Luke has 2 seasons (max) left in his prime before his diet and lack of taking care of his body in the past starts catching up on him fast.

It wasn't a conspiracy, Mavs new owners didn't want to commit Max Money whose contract will stink within 4 years aka avoiding the same mistake Philly made with Embiid

[OxAndFox]

A) It was clearly orchestrated.
B) Some people, admittedly a small % of people, are actually putting #1 pick in the Luka trade, just to somehow in their own mind make it closer.

[dhsilv2]

The Clippers still owe 3 more 1st round picks to OKC.

But there was a logic to that at the time. You can't look backwards at a trade. Just the trade at the time it was made. That was a bad trade done to make Leonard sign there.