The question nobody wants to answer...Why did the Mavs owner sign off on the trade?

[JustBuzzin]

I mean this is making Nico out to be this powerful individual. You telling me the Mavs owner didn't know their young international superstar was being traded for a aging injury prone AD.

I get the Nico slander, but ultimately the owner has to sign off on this trade. What the hell is the owner doing trading their young international superstar in the first place.


Why did the Mavs owner sign off on this trade is a bigger question?

[Woodsanity]

I mean this is making Nico out to be this powerful individual. You telling me the Mavs owner didn't know their young international superstar was being traded for a aging injury prone AD.

I get the Nico slander, but ultimately the owner has to sign off on this trade. What the hell is the owner doing trading their young international superstar in the first place.


Why did the Mavs owner sign off on this trade is a bigger question?

Most likely they wanted to cheap out and avoid the luxury tax at all costs.

I bet they don't mind pissing off fans either as I think they plan to move the team to Vegas if possible. They are casino owners after all.

[Grumpy Heat Fan]

According to Nico's own words :

The owners laughed at Nico when Nico first brought up the idea he and Pelinka were secretly talking about over coffees.

The owners laughed at him. It wasn't their idea.

Nico had to sell it to the owners. Probably bad mouthed Luka to the owners.

MAYBE it went something like this : "He drinks, I have to grab beers out of his hand after games! He doesn't condition, he gets out of shape, this is a problem. We should have a culture of hard work ethic!"....... and the owner, not knowing much basketball, and eager to build his own legacy with the Mavs... "hmm maybe you're right!"


I still think Pelinka finessed and took advantage of his old friend of 20+ years in Nico. Nico himself said, they were out for coffees one day, and Pelinka literally asks Nico... "Would you ever..?" (referring to trade Luka Doncic)...... and Nico said he asked himself, "Hmm would I??" and there you go. Seed planted.


Why else would you ask Nico that question. Then the brainwashing by Pelinka to keep this all a secret, lol. Listen, if you've already decided to trade Luka, then just announce you are shopping him and get the best possible return for him. You're about to trade him in secret anyway, might as well announce it and be done with it and start the biggest bidding war in NBA history.


This is all my opinion, but it looks like Pelinka took advantage of a long time friend who is not very bright.... Nico is the guy who botched the Curry Nike meeting too.

[nomansland]

The owners definitely knew. The recent interview with Adelson's son pretty much confirmed it.

Now, whether they were the drivers or the enablers/facilitators is another question.

Forget the conspiracy theories. They didn't like Luka's impact on the culture of the team, didn't like the idea of having to pay him that much when the contract comes up, and truly thought that AD was going to deliver an equally successful team.

I'm not defending them, I think they're totally wrong in a lot of ways and this move stinks of new owner syndrome, but it's not that complicated.

[Grumpy Heat Fan]

The owners definitely knew. The recent interview with Adelson's son pretty much confirmed it.

Now, whether they were the drivers or the enablers/facilitators is another question.

Forget the conspiracy theories. They didn't like Luka's impact on the culture of the team, didn't like the idea of having to pay him that much when the contract comes up, and truly thought that AD was going to deliver an equally successful team.

I'm not defending them, I think they're totally wrong in a lot of ways and this move stinks of new owner syndrome, but it's not that complicated.

He's not their son.

He married their daughter.

He married into money lol. Well played I guess

[Roco14]

Some ESPN talking head mentioned a few days ago that the new owners have basically zero basketball knowledge and have 100% confidence in whatever Nico Harrison decides

[LakersSoul]

I mean this is making Nico out to be this powerful individual. You telling me the Mavs owner didn't know their young international superstar was being traded for a aging injury prone AD.

I get the Nico slander, but ultimately the owner has to sign off on this trade. What the hell is the owner doing trading their young international superstar in the first place.


Why did the Mavs owner sign off on this trade is a bigger question?

Culture, over-weight...

All talk of hiding the fact the new owners were too cheap to pay Super Max and pay luxury tax.

[thamadkant]

According to Nico's own words :

The owners laughed at Nico when Nico first brought up the idea he and Pelinka were secretly talking about over coffees.

The owners laughed at him. It wasn't their idea.

Nico had to sell it to the owners. Probably bad mouthed Luka to the owners.

MAYBE it went something like this : "He drinks, I have to grab beers out of his hand after games! He doesn't condition, he gets out of shape, this is a problem. We should have a culture of hard work ethic!"....... and the owner, not knowing much basketball, and eager to build his own legacy with the Mavs... "hmm maybe you're right!"


I still think Pelinka finessed and took advantage of his old friend of 20+ years in Nico. Nico himself said, they were out for coffees one day, and Pelinka literally asks Nico... "Would you ever..?" (referring to trade Luka Doncic)...... and Nico said he asked himself, "Hmm would I??" and there you go. Seed planted.


Why else would you ask Nico that question. Then the brainwashing by Pelinka to keep this all a secret, lol. Listen, if you've already decided to trade Luka, then just announce you are shopping him and get the best possible return for him. You're about to trade him in secret anyway, might as well announce it and be done with it and start the biggest bidding war in NBA history.


This is all my opinion, but it looks like Pelinka took advantage of a long time friend who is not very bright.... Nico is the guy who botched the Curry Nike meeting too.

Nico lied to cover his Bosses butts.

[trickshot]

This deal makes a lot of sense if you're coming from the perspective of tax savings. The Mavs owner probably feels like they made out like bandits. AD/Max, 1st and he also gets to buy a new yacht.

[HadAnEffectHere]

Dumont and the Adelsons are freaks who were furious at Luka "disrespecting them" for drinking and smoking and playing for the national team and decided that players that "respected them" were worth more than winning.

[Pointgod]

I mean this is making Nico out to be this powerful individual. You telling me the Mavs owner didn't know their young international superstar was being traded for a aging injury prone AD.

I get the Nico slander, but ultimately the owner has to sign off on this trade. What the hell is the owner doing trading their young international superstar in the first place.


Why did the Mavs owner sign off on this trade is a bigger question?

Culture, over-weight...

All talk of hiding the fact the new owners were too cheap to pay Super Max and pay luxury tax.

Yeah it’s pretty obvious. No conspiracy needed. Probably didn’t want to foot the bill plus lack of knowledge about the sport and trusting what the GM says about Luka. Kind of the reverse Ishbia but both lead to poor results.

[HotRocks34]

Nico scammed them, like Nico scammed everyone else. Except for Pelinka.

Tough way to learn a lesson for the new ownership group.

Cuban is not the brightest bulb. For example, he hired Nico. But he is smarter than Dumont because he never would have let Nico talk him into trading Luka as Dumont allowed Nico to do.

Feel awful for Dallas fans. Cuban was bad, but now things appear to be a total disaster.
+
+

[CraftylikeaFox]

I'm going to go to my grave thinking this trade was done to boost league ratings. Don't know what the Mavs ownership or Nico were promised, don't care about any of the intel leaking that it was Nico that approached the Lakers GM, don't care about their reasoning for defense, etc etc. Adam Silver orchestrated this.

[LakersSoul]

According to Nico's own words :

The owners laughed at Nico when Nico first brought up the idea he and Pelinka were secretly talking about over coffees.

The owners laughed at him. It wasn't their idea.

Nico had to sell it to the owners. Probably bad mouthed Luka to the owners.

MAYBE it went something like this : "He drinks, I have to grab beers out of his hand after games! He doesn't condition, he gets out of shape, this is a problem. We should have a culture of hard work ethic!"....... and the owner, not knowing much basketball, and eager to build his own legacy with the Mavs... "hmm maybe you're right!"


I still think Pelinka finessed and took advantage of his old friend of 20+ years in Nico. Nico himself said, they were out for coffees one day, and Pelinka literally asks Nico... "Would you ever..?" (referring to trade Luka Doncic)...... and Nico said he asked himself, "Hmm would I??" and there you go. Seed planted.


Why else would you ask Nico that question. Then the brainwashing by Pelinka to keep this all a secret, lol. Listen, if you've already decided to trade Luka, then just announce you are shopping him and get the best possible return for him. You're about to trade him in secret anyway, might as well announce it and be done with it and start the biggest bidding war in NBA history.


This is all my opinion, but it looks like Pelinka took advantage of a long time friend who is not very bright.... Nico is the guy who botched the Curry Nike meeting too.

Nico lied to cover his Bosses butts.

THIS!!

Nico was so uncomfortable in the press conference.

He didnt want to trade Luka but prob got the instructions from owners. Cheap AFs didnt want to pay the luxury tax.

[Slink]

Looks to me like the owners are cheap. Cuban said they are not basketball people, so they got no reason to win, just make profit. We'll see in the future if they start cheaping out on players, it could be this Dumont guy is the new Sarver

[hph6203]

According to Nico's own words :

The owners laughed at Nico when Nico first brought up the idea he and Pelinka were secretly talking about over coffees.

The owners laughed at him. It wasn't their idea.

Nico had to sell it to the owners. Probably bad mouthed Luka to the owners.

MAYBE it went something like this : "He drinks, I have to grab beers out of his hand after games! He doesn't condition, he gets out of shape, this is a problem. We should have a culture of hard work ethic!"....... and the owner, not knowing much basketball, and eager to build his own legacy with the Mavs... "hmm maybe you're right!"


I still think Pelinka finessed and took advantage of his old friend of 20+ years in Nico. Nico himself said, they were out for coffees one day, and Pelinka literally asks Nico... "Would you ever..?" (referring to trade Luka Doncic)...... and Nico said he asked himself, "Hmm would I??" and there you go. Seed planted.


Why else would you ask Nico that question. Then the brainwashing by Pelinka to keep this all a secret, lol. Listen, if you've already decided to trade Luka, then just announce you are shopping him and get the best possible return for him. You're about to trade him in secret anyway, might as well announce it and be done with it and start the biggest bidding war in NBA history.


This is all my opinion, but it looks like Pelinka took advantage of a long time friend who is not very bright.... Nico is the guy who botched the Curry Nike meeting too.

Nico lied to cover his Bosses butts.

THIS!!

Nico was so uncomfortable in the press conference.

He didnt want to trade Luka but prob got the instructions from owners. Cheap AFs didnt want to pay the luxury tax.

They have deeper pockets than basically 95% of owners. They have aims at maximizing the Mavericks as a center piece to a major casino in Texas.

Sometimes the simplest answer is the correct one. Nico idolized Kobe, Doncic is not like Kobe (not obsessive worker, actually gets along with his teammates, enjoys himself) and Nico views that as weakness/not championship material.

Combined with the fact that the owner is a doofus that when asked “Do you like basketball?” He responds with how his family loves playing it rather than any reference in his life to watching professional basketball. When asked to explain why they traded Doncic he said it was because they wanted a culture of singularly focused hard workers focused on winning and referenced Shaq of all people while omitting the hometown guy known for working hard.


The owners know nothing about basketball, relied on Nico and Nico has a huge ego thinking he can force the culture into what he wants when the majority of the league isn’t what he desires personality wise. Kobe and Jordan are extreme outliers.

[CraftylikeaFox]

Looks to me like the owners are cheap. Cuban said they are not basketball people, so they got no reason to win, just make profit. We'll see in the future if they start cheaping out on players, it could be this Dumont guy is the new Sarver

If the owners are cheap shouldn't they have traded Luka for draft picks and young players instead of a guy who makes $55 mill a year for the next 3 years?

[Sealab2024]

Stupid is as stupid does.

Or so I've heard.

[ryguy613]

I mean this is making Nico out to be this powerful individual. You telling me the Mavs owner didn't know their young international superstar was being traded for a aging injury prone AD.

I get the Nico slander, but ultimately the owner has to sign off on this trade. What the hell is the owner doing trading their young international superstar in the first place.


Why did the Mavs owner sign off on this trade is a bigger question?

I'm not sure its fair to say nobody wants to answer this. I think a lot of people on the outside looking in do want answers, some pretty desperately. Now as to whether or not Dumont will ever give us an honest answer? Not sure.

To me it seems pretty clear that the owner is in over his head, doesnt really understand much about how the NBA operates, and just saw the price tag to keep Luka and stupidly thought it was somehow out of the norm for players of his caliber. It sounds too stupid to be real, but that sounds like the most likely explanation...

[Nate505]

His work ethic, he's an an alcoholic, overweight, not being a true champion...did I miss anything there?

Now if they traded him because he's a whining crying baby that would have been respectable.