Knicks Morning News (2025.02.02)

Well, that is a bombshell. Did not see that coming.

Wow

I see the late crew had it covered. At least we have something to talk about other than a bad loss.

https://x.com/shamscharania/status/1885919297832169918?s=46&t=0wqff4cNt-sCGcDs-uMExw

WHAT

I’m sorry CDiggy. Lakers win and get Luka. Maybe take a day or 2 off work…

Cuban just Dolaned the Mavs!! It’d be great to see, but only if the other team was not named Lakers or Celtics!

Well, at least no one will be talking about our L. 😛

Cuban just Dolaned the Mavs!!

I understand that Cuban does not have control over the Mavs anymore. And maybe that was the issue, that Luka was Cuban’s boy?

People will be talking about the Max Christie deal for years I fear

Vecenie is saying that his FO contacts didn’t know this was coming. Dallas, in honor of the 6th anniversary of the KP trade, moved Luka without talking to anyone else. I fully expect a sexual harassment suit against Luka to be announced and then never mentioned again.

Miriam Adelson owns the Mavs, but I believe Cuban retained the right to run the team after its sale. If he was a trustee, this would be a blatant breach of fiduciary duty. Cannot wait for Silver’s spin on how the league allowed this.
I guess Rob Pelinka leaps frogs Leon and maybe even the boy wonder in POBO rankings.

Yeah Cuban is probably sick right now. Miriam Adelson owns the Mavs, but I think her son in law is the one involved

When shams has to do two follow ups to the trade announcement to tell people it’s real it’s probably not a good sign that you made a smart trade

this would be a lot more fun if it didn’t happen in the lisfranc waiting room. maybe not the most pressing question, but i am dying to know how the mavericks avoided getting the lakers 31 first in this deal.

Good morning, fellow Knickerbloggers!!!

Re OG: This is simple. Meet your new starting power forward, Precious Achiuwa! (He really *did* have an outstanding game last night.)

What, me worry? :-S

Theories:

(1) Dallas has a proprietary algorithm that declares AD the best player in the league and this guarantees them a championship

(2) Luka Doncic is secretly time-traveling baby Hitler and this prevents WWII

(3) Nico Harrison has been stuck in a time loop and it did not expect it to end immediately after this trade

(4) Dallas really likes Kameron Mercer, projected 2029 first round pick. I mean really likes, because the chances a Luka led team is the #1 overall pick seem not great and they want literally any boost to get the middle schooler.

This is all about ratings. Ratings are down and the NBA is a soap opera. Putting Luka on the most famous team in the NBA equals views. The NBA has not found it’s current post LeBron and Curry young star that will get them the viewership they need. The Mavs were used as a sacrifice to please Adam Silver. The fact that the Mavs didn’t open it up and field more offers makes it more obvious. Silver said Lakers or Bust.

Miriam Adelson is worth 33 Billion so the noise that she didn’t wait to play Lukas supermax is non sense. The NBA reporters and Nico have to lie about the trade to make it look less obvious.

I love the Dallas’ spin–defense wins championships (they won with Dirk) and Luka’s conditioning (and you get AD?). What’s next–Victor for Cam Reddish?

OK; we get it. 🙂

Also lol at the Mavs quietly calling the Lakers about Luka like he is a bad contract and nobody would want him.. nothing weird going on here

I might listen to Bill Simmons this week.

Luka in LA makes sense. Not sure about the rest of the deal though.

everyone knows that luka is pretty annoying as demigods go. but nobody really gives a fuck about annoying if it doesn’t get in the way of being a demigod. that’s a key perk.

the mavs have a magnifying glass. magnifying glasses can be distorting if it makes the annoying part look big and the demigod part look small. you see the whining, the negative vo2max, the recidivist calf, but you see it in technicolor and then some. probably it blinds you to the simple truth and makes you do dumb shit. but also maybe sometimes it is actually scary enough up close that it’s less crazy than it seems to fade the table. still would have expected them to get more.

“Yeah, Babe Ruth? Big time conditioning issues. Real headache in the clubhouse. Addition by subtraction, I say. The 1920 Red Sox will be better without the fatso.”

Does this mean that Daniel Gafford, P. J. Washington, or Derck Lively now become available?

Lakers sure could use a Jericho Sims right about now

Lively is injured

It’s just so bizarre the Mavs made the Finals last year and got some foolish owners to blow it up. The Mavs matched up well against OKC

https://x.com/adryanashton/status/1885944969808011574

I’m probably in the minority, but I think the trade wasn’t good for either team, at least in the short term. For the long term it could be good for the Lakers. Luka has a long history of not fitting well with other stars. It will be surprising if he suddenly fits well with LeBron. AD fit well with LeBron but didn’t want to play center even though it’s his best position. Now he can play the four and the Mavs are a better fitting team. But they went down in talent level long term.

It make a wee bit more sense when you look at the current top-10 in BPM, PER, and WS/48 and realize Davis might the best player available. I’m assuming Giannis, SGA, Jokic, Tatum, Wemby are not. And maybe Dallas wouldn’t be satisfied with Franz Wagner or Sabonis.

Kyrie, Christie/Klay, PJ Washington, AD, and Gafford is a very nice core too.

Still, WOW.

How does Mikal fetch 5 first round picks and Luka one, even allowing for the contracts each will fetch?

“Lively is injured”

So are Anthony Davis and Luka Doncic.

How does Mikal fetch 5 first round picks and Luka one, even allowing for the contracts each will fetch?

Davis is worth a couple 1st round picks by himself, but yeah this trade is a mess

This is not an arms-length transaction. To allow a deal like this to stand would be an admission that every other team in the NBA is operating at a competitive disadvantage. Why even have a salary cap and ridiculous apron rules if the Lakers can circumvent the marketplace.

WTF did I wake to to?! Anthony Davis is a great player but he’s about to turn 32 and he isn’t Doncic! Is this the worst trade of All NBA players in NBA history?

My goodness this is a disastrous trade for the Mavs. The whole point is that a top 5 player is the most scarce asset in the game. Jesus.

That KD reaction is amazing. Long term meme worthy. Just wish the camera angle was slightly better.

I also think LeBron and Luka aren’t a great pair but who cares. Maybe LeBron can finish his career in NY. He clearly loves it here.

And yeah, Mikal was overpriced, although not sure how it’s relevant. I think the issue likely was that the Lakers have no picks to trade anymore, right?

So let me get the timeline straight- last season the Mavs steamroll the Clips, Thunder and Wolves on their way to the NBA Finals, acquire Klay Thompson in the offseason and halfway through this season decide it’s just not working.

I mean, wtf???

Seems like the Lakers have 1st round picks in 2026, 27, 29[traded to Dallas], 30, 31

https://fanspo.com/nba/teams/los-angeles-lakers/14/draft-picks

“And yeah, Mikal was overpriced, although not sure how it’s relevant. I think the issue likely was that the Lakers have no picks to trade anymore, right?”

But that’s the point. There are likely at least a dozen teams that would happily include multiple picks in a trade for Luka.

They could have traded the ‘31 pick, but the others are already swapped and are constrained by the Stephen rule.

It’s weird bc as great as this trade is for LA it’s really hard to see them building around Luka with their depleted assets and lack of cap space. Is a LeAuction coming up?

And yeah, Mikal was overpriced, although not sure how it’s relevant. I think the issue likely was that the Lakers have no picks to trade anymore, right?

No! The Lakers do have additional picks they can trade. Plus, how did Dallas not even get Reaves back?

*Probably* wouldn’t have mattered, but this is Exhibit A for why you don’t spend all your powder for the Mikals of the world.

Silver needed LA to keep the ’31 pick so he can “convince” small market SA that they should accept it in exchange for Wemby.

The squinting would be easier if AD wasn’t himself always injured.

*Probably* wouldn’t have mattered, but this is Exhibit A for why you don’t spend all your powder for the Mikals of the world.

Just so we’re clear here:

1. There was no open bidding for Doncic. Dallas reached out to LA and no one else. So we couldn’t have beaten the LA offer even if we hadn’t traded for Bridges.

2. You’re never right about anything.

My goodness this is a disastrous trade for the Mavs. The whole point is that a top 5 player is the most scarce asset in the game. Jesus.

I believe the Mavs when they say that they wanted defense to win a championship. They got Christie instead of a worse defender, for example Reeves, and I think this year they may actually be better and a more coherent team. And Christie is twenty two and we just saw him play a sígnificant part in beating the Knicks. Kyrie can do more than he was doing. It’s a gamble on their part, but it could work for them.

As for Luka’s value in first round picks, AD is probably worth three by himself and Christie is worth one and they received the Lakers pick, so that is the equivalent of five. Not a killing but not nothing. In the past couple of years they have made some trades that weren’t rated well by pundits but worked out well for them. I don’t think they did well in the return, but I think the trade is probably not a disaster for them.

LeBron may be 40 something but he’s also exactly the kind of two-way big you want next to KAT, is he not?

OG and Mitch for LeBron and Jaxson Hayes seems like it would work with a little finagling if that is something the Lakers would be interested in.

This is exactly the kind of trade David Stern would have voided, but Silver is a puppet and TV ratings are dwindling, so the fucking Lakers need help.

Back to the Knicks,
I’m holding my breath about OG’s diagnosis & prognosis, he’s so important for our team, meanwhile Brunson laid a brutal egg on national TV and KAT’s hand is a real concern.
We shouldn’t have wasted a great Josh’s game, it’s a shame.

Anyway for teams like us the regular season is meaningless, only health matters, let’s hope OG will heal quickly (finger crossed emoji).

LeBron may be 40 something but he’s also exactly the kind of two-way big you want next to KAT, is he not?

LeBron doesn’t really play defense anymore

I am in no way defending this trade from Dallas’ POV. It’s a fiasco. But the Mikal/5 picks thing is a false equivalency to any other big NBA trade, because we essentially only traded picks for him. Everyone else in the deal was essentially matching salary. That’s why the number of picks was high.

But if you’re the Mavericks, how in the world do you not announce to the league that Luka is available? Even if you insist on doing it over the course of a few hours? Whatever negative blowback you had to deal with over the stretch where everyone knew you were shopping him would be far outweighed by getting a better return package than… this.

there is reporting they called one other team and offered a star swap two weeks ago but were rejected. dying to know who that was. giannis? ant?

There’s no reason to believe the spin that the Mavs only talked to the Lakers.(*)

In any event, not to be argumentative, but if we’re going with “essentially” with the Mikal trade, its essence was Grimes and five 1s for Mikal. It was an extremely high price.

But that’s a parlor game at this point; the fact of the matter is that even if it was a cosmic impossibility for NYK to be directly in the Luka race, there still may be some aftershocks and it would be nice to be poised better for those.

(*) We’ll accept it as the factual narrative for now, fully expecting it will eventually be undercut.

This is exactly the kind of trade David Stern would have voided, but Silver is a puppet and TV ratings are dwindling, so the fucking Lakers need help.

He absolutely could not and would not void this trade. When he voided the CP3 trade the NBA was actually running the Hornets/Pelicans. He voided the trade a acting owner of the team because trading 25 year old Chris Paul for 31 year old Gasol and Odom and no draft picks is a terrible return.

There’s no reason to believe the spin that the Mavs only talked to the Lakers.

Why? It’s not like this is the first time that’s happened. We were literally just talking about the anniversary of the KP trade where we only talked to Dallas about it. Also, if Dallas was shopping Doncic around then there would have been reports about it.

And again, you’re never right about anything.

Shipping Luka to Milwaukee would have been a real dick move if you were mad at him

LeBron doesn’t really play defense anymore

I think that’s a choice bc he has to carry his sorry ass team. With us he wouldn’t have to extend any energy on offense. Brunson and Towns could drive the bus.

Last year was Luka’s best statistically, which makes sense at 26. This is a strange, strange trade.

If the Lakers called about a trade of LeBron for OG and Mitch, I’d complete it before hanging up the phone. This would make us a 1st tier contender for this season, and the next. Not happening.

this would be a lot more fun if it didn’t happen in the lisfranc waiting room. maybe not the most pressing question, but i am dying to know how the mavericks avoided getting the lakers 31 first in this deal.

This is the most mind boggling aspect to me. If you’re the Mavs and you call the Lakers out of the blue and tell them Luka Doncic is available, to them and only them for some insane reason, how in god’s name is the price not “every single thing you have?” How was there any room for negotiation? The Lakers were never going to walk away from the biggest bailout any team have ever received.

The Mavs, if healthy (big, big “if” with Kyrie Irving and Anthony Davis involved, not to mention their already injured players like Lively), should actually be pretty good this season. But…that’s it. They traded Luka Doncic to be pretty good. This season. They were of course already good when fully healthy this season. You just can’t spin this shit at all.

There’s no reason to believe the spin that the Mavs only talked to the Lakers.(*)

(*) We’ll accept it as the factual narrative for now, fully expecting it will eventually be undercut.

This is not going to be undercut so just give us a timetable after which you’ll admit you’re wrong,

This will be Luka and LeBron after 5 games together: https://youtu.be/w1zGQrybWi0?si=syLt4m_47FSuBRTw

I cannot believe this shit. FIRST..the Lakers beat us. Disappointing, but not anger inducing for me because you can never truly count LeBron out. But then..THENNN…they trade for Luka?? WOW. I honestly can’t wait to see what Luka and LeBron look like together. I wonder who starts at the 5 for them now. If you ask me, thy got Luka for cheap as he is unequivocally the better star player, as awesome as a healthy AD is

OG and Mitch for LeBron and Jaxson Hayes seems like it would work with a little finagling if that is something the Lakers would be interested in.

Even if OG and Mitch were healthy, which they’re not, LA wouldn’t even consider it.

There has to be more to the story than this. Maybe Dallas has had enough of his poor conditioning causing incessant calf injuries and Luka told them trade me to LA or I go full Jimmy Butler on you for a year and a half and walk after next season.

Or maybe Cuban hates Trump so much he decided to screw his largest donor. 🙂

the only way this trade makes sense if it was signed with an enormous sharpie in the dead of night

There’s no reason to believe the spin that the Mavs only talked to the Lakers.(*)

In any event, not to be argumentative, but if we’re going with “essentially” with the Mikal trade, its essence was Grimes and five 1s for Mikal. It was an extremely high price.

But that’s a parlor game at this point; the fact of the matter is that even if it was a cosmic impossibility for NYK to be directly in the Luka race, there still may be some aftershocks and it would be nice to be poised better for those.

(*) We’ll accept it as the factual narrative for now, fully expecting it will eventually be undercut

I bet this shit works wonders on the 12 dumbest people you could put in a jurybox

I honestly can’t wait to see what Luka and LeBron look like together.

Luka and LeBron are definitely going to sell tickets. I don’t think they will be a better team though. As Strat says, it’s much harder to be a good defense with two week links than one. Do you really think they would have held us to 112 points last night with Luka and LeBron on the court together?

Shipping Luka to Milwaukee would have been a real dick move if you were mad at him

IDK. Beer capital of the world. NBA player most-often associated with beer…

There’s no reason to believe the spin that the Mavs only talked to the Lakers.(*)

What do we think Dallas could’ve gotten that they turned down or didn’t consider? I’m curious to hear others’ ideas.

Zach Lowe: “Sample texts from NBA team execs: ‘This is the first time I’ve been legitimately shocked and could not move’;’ What a terrible deal’ (no further clarification); and my favorite (among dozens in a similar vein) ‘What the f-ckity f-ck?????'”

Well, punksatawny Phil saw his fucking shadow. Happy Groundhog Day everybody.

Nico Harrison should be fired today, this is just malpractice. If Luka’s conditioning and effort pissed them off so much, just open it up to a bidding war, get 10 picks from the Thunder, anything. They would have received 29 offers in the span of a day and even if all they wanted was Davis, they could have extracted everything the Lakers have.

Now they have Kyrie and Davis, both oft injured stars, and no plan whatsoever for the future. It’s absurd in every way, the only way this is redeemable is if they win a title this season.

Well, the groundhog saw it’s fucking shadow. Happy Groundhog Day everybody.

+1

Unless Luka said “I’m not resigning with you, trade me to the Lakers, if you don’t my calf’s going to heal real slowly, it’s not feeling that great right now and I doubt it will even feel well by the time the playoffs start,” it’s massively implausible that you would limit yourself to a one-team market with an asset of that caliber.

As between believing “massively implausible” and “normal and sane,” go with the latter every time. Pushing back against that is pushback for the sake of the push.

Do you really think they would have held us to 112 points last night with Luka and LeBron on the court together?

Absolutely not. I’m still in shock they held us to that without AD. I mean..it was mostly due to shots not falling, but they did play hard on defense.

What do we think Dallas could’ve gotten that they turned down or didn’t consider? I’m curious to hear others’ ideas.

DS, I think if everyone knew Luka was available, you’ve likely got 25 teams looking to deal either for Luka or facilitate in a 3 way. (Can see Boston and Cleveland standing pat and obviously Dallas, LA, and Utah don’t count). So who knows what offers would be on the table…and even if they were really intent on a AD-centric return, as others have pointed out, the process should have at least given them greater leverage to snag the ’31 pick and maybe even more.

I do have legit questions though..

Who plays point?
Should they now move Reaves to the bench to accommodate 2 extremely high usage players?

I can see a lineup with DFS, Rui, and a low usage shooter like Vincent around LeBron and Luka working. Or maybe Reaves is the perfect 3rd option for them. But I like Reaves with the ball in his hands, so maybe 6th man is best for him now. Or..ORRRR..they can send him to the Knicks for Mitch and Payne LOL
I’m kidding

After the dust settles, I don’t hate Dallas’ team, but they’re really a big wing stopper away from having any shot in the West. Grimes/Klay gives them shooting but not enough size. Will be interesting to see what they do next.

Edit: I think LA trades Reaves for a good big now.

Not cleaning the Lakers out bespeaks a lack of leverage and therefore lends credence to the “Luka demanded a trade to LAL” theory.

The Mavs are 8/12 offense defense, largely without Luka, so short term this could make them better if AD can stay healthy but long term it’s just really really weird. And even if the team is better this year getting through Denver, Houston, Memphis and OKC is not going to be easy

As between believing “massively implausible” and “normal and sane,” go with the latter every time. Pushing back against that is pushback for the sake of the push.

And yet all of the reporting is that it’s actually all just as stupid as it looks. I know in the past you’ve entertained conspiracy theories like “every team’s beat reporter is falsely saying the team they cover wants OG Anunoby because they’re in cahoots with CAA” or whatever, so I guess this is another one of those, but there’s a reason no one is buying it.

About the game, and not even OG, not that the game even fucking matters, because nothing fucking matters anymore, but it seemed three things were going on: Most of the Knicks played with little energy (not looking at you, Josh!); LA played with vigor and had some really good defensive alignments against KAT and Jalen that neither could beat; and Thibs failed to figure out how to deal with that.

So outside of Josh and a few others, pretty much a failure top to bottom.

Wow so does this trade really rob Luka of 100 mil off his next max?

Yep, he loses his supermax. That would tend to militate *against* the trade me to the Lakers theory.

In any event, a world in which teams were “lining up” to trade four 1s for OG and sign him to a max contract really doesn’t line up with the actual world in which Luka Doncic was traded for AD and a long future 1.

I’m not shocked that there’s a basketball person (probably more than one) out there that thought it was good idea to trade Doncic. I’m shocked anyone had the balls to do it. If the trade goes bad, your reputation is absolutely ruined.

Basketball-wise I would not be shocked if Dallas is a better basketball team this year with AD if he’s healthy. He’s going to give them almost as must scoring at high efficieny, but they are moving from a negative defender to a huge plus defender and Kyrie can take over the ball handling and closing.

They have serious health issues with both Kyrie and AD, but healthy, they are still a very good team.

Doncic is an elite offensive talent, but he doesn’t play much defense, is always out of shape, imo ball dominant to the point it can become a negative at times, constantly whining to refs instead of gettig back etc.. IMO, he’s been a variation on James Harden. I wondered if he’d ever win as the #1 superstar. I’m not sure I love the fit with James, but James may get him into shape and mitigate some of his worst tendencies.

The Lakers have their star of the future.

The only problem I have with the deal is the price. Given the age difference, Dallas could have and should have gotten more even if they were determined that AD was the player they wanted. Had they opened up the bidding they may have gotten a lot more “value” if not the player they wanted.

So Houston was without Sengun, and Van Vleet for much of the game, while Minnie was without Ant, Julius, and DDV. So those losses almost make sense.

Just looking for anything that makes sense.

The trade absolutely reeks of malpractice on Dallas’ part, but I’m in the meager minority that thinks this time the Lakers won’t be that much better off (even if the price they paid is ridiculously low). Everything hinges on how much Luka will absorb from LeBron in terms of discipline, otherwise he’ll just become a bigger James Harden and that’s all.

Anyway yes, nothing makes sense.

Luka certainly comes with some traits that you would not include if you were allowed to reconstruct players in a lab. I just don’t take seriously for one second the idea that they rendered his value something in the ballpark of 15% what a player of with his accolades should fetch, since they haven’t stopped him from being one of the best NBA playoff performers of all time.

It’s also insane to think there’s no way he follows the typical adult male pattern in this regard and simply matures on his own sometime after being 25 years old. That’s a much safer bet than whatever the hell you’re betting on by building around a couple of 32 year-olds, albeit very good, though often injured and/or suspended-for-rank-anti-semitism themselves, 32 year-olds.

There’s just no way to spin this shit.

I randomly woke up at 2:30AM and saw that KB had blown up with news of this trade. My first thought was, well, that’s why you don’t trade 5 firsts for Mikal.

I then woke up at 10AM after a great long sleep and have had a chance to process things.

First, it seems like this was all about Luka’s next contract. The second apron is just a bitch. If that’s not going anywhere, the tax and flexibility consequences are paralyzing.

So superstars on actual or expected supermaxes seem to no longer be untouchable. Especially those with either age, attitude, or health issues. And there are a lot of those.

Still, it’s hard to imagine that Dallas couldn’t have gotten a better package for Luka if they waited to the offseason or shopped around more.

It just makes no sense for the Mavs. Terrible asset management.

The good thing is that this is a WC issue, so I don’t really care all that much, except to the extent that it annoys ny friend cdiggy.

And again, that’s why you don’t trade 5 firsts for Mikal.

Was shocked to see the Nets beat Houston. Looking at the box score it looks like FVV got hurt?

I disagree that the Lakers won’t be better if Luka returns and is healthy. As we saw last night, they now have a zillion defensive wings and bigs, and now have maybe the best offensive player in the game. LeBron certainly didn’t look anything close to washed up last night.

And maybe now that Luka is being smeared in the press, and with LeBron as his mentor, he gets a little angry and edgy and just destroys the out of shape narrative, along with the rest of the NBA.

The West just got 1000% more interesting.

The obvious problem with the trade is opportunity cost. If you’re going to trade a once in a lifetime asset like Doncic who is in his prime, you need to get a lot more than what they got. This is when you hit the reset button and have a fire sale and load up on assets. Send Kyrie out too, really do it right.

Their fans are livid. If I’m a fan of that team I could swallow a rebuild but not this.

Yeah, Dred. No Sengun and FVV went down in the second.

Fascinating lineup for the Lakers now.

C Jaxon-Hayes
PF Rui, DFS, Vanderbilt
SF LBJ, Knecht
SG Reaves
PG Luka, Vincent

They’re ass-deep in mediocre power forwards (also Kleber, Morris, Wood), no real SG backup (although Luka, LBJ or Knecht could fill in) and ZERO centers (Koloko??). That last bit isn’t a good look.

I’m sort of thinking they’re not done — I certainly wouldn’t be.

Mavs fall in Fanduel from +950 to +3500.

Lakers go from out of the top 8 in the West to sixth overall at +1900. Third to win the West at +900.

Wow so does this trade really rob Luka of 100 mil off his next max?

Yep… and he gets the added pleasure of paying the 13% CA state income tax v 0% in TX.

It looks like Dallas was fed up with Luka’s being out of shape and pulling the same calf 4 times in 3 seasons and not willing to risk 350M moving forward so went for AD a top player who is a top defender and Christie who is very young, shoots the 3 well and stuffed Brunson pretty well last night on the defensive end.

It could be that other than a very few markets/ownership groups, association ownership doesn’t want to be in the $70 million per year business plus attendant luxury taxes for any one player — and that could be the ultimate big picture takeaway from all this.(*)

Silver’s concoction and gimmicks may have outsmarted themselves.

(*) Bulls ownership didn’t want to be in its functional equivalent in The Last Dance Jordan era.

Dallas’s recent front office moves have worked out well for them, while the Lakers have been meh. We will see if this trade disrupts this pattern.

This is not going to be undercut so just give us a timetable after which you’ll admit you’re wrong,

Hasn’t it already been undercut by Milo’s suggestion that the Mavs offered him to at least one other team?

And again, that’s why you don’t trade 5 firsts for Mikal.

I don’t think having 5 picks would have mattered in this situation.

Nico did not want to start over.

I think he wants to continue contending now and for the next few years with AD and Kyrie. He wanted a specific star back and that’s it. AD was acceptable and I assume Giannis would have been acceptable, but after that it’s hard to imagine another defensive big that fits what he wanted. We didn’t have the player he wanted, neither did almost anyone else, and he did not want to blow it up and start over with a huge pile of picks.

I think he should have gotten back more picks from LA to compensate for the age difference, but basketball wise short term, I think this is less bad than people are making it out to be because “defense” is underrated.

Mavs fall in Fanduel from +950 to +3500.

IMO, that an over reaction

And maybe now that Luka is being smeared in the press, and with LeBron as his mentor, he gets a little angry and edgy and just destroys the out of shape narrative, along with the rest of the NBA.

This is what I was thinking. LA’s Erewhon lifestyle is a much easier place to stay fit than Dallas BBQ country. Plus the money Luka is losing should be offset by advertising/acting opportunities.

As stupid as I think this trade is from a value sense I actually like the Mavs a lot better this way. The Mavs’ run to the finals last year was pretty fluky IMO and I don’t think they were ever going to win a title with that team. As we know all too well, went your tentpole is the worst defensive player on the floor, the odds of getting through 4 rounds without that being exploited are pretty low. Plus they have this whole every other year thing going on due to Luka’s health & conditioning. So I probably find the idea of trading Luka more defensible than most.

But man, you gotta get a lot more from LA doing that deal. A lot more.

It looks like Dallas was fed up with Luka’s being out of shape and pulling the same calf 4 times in 3 seasons and not willing to risk 350M moving forward so went for AD a top player who is a top defender and Christie who is very young, shoots the 3 well and stuffed Brunson pretty well last night on the defensive end.

If you read the sporting press as I (*) do, you’ll often read a bunch of expressions by the sportswriters (and comment board commentators) in the vein of “Player X is worth every penny” — either of what he wants to be paid, is currently being paid, or is projected to be paid. To which I always think, “So, if he made $53 billion a year, or $133 billion per year, he’d be worth every penny? That somehow doesn’t seem quite right.” (**)

It’s just incredibly sloppy thinking — fanboy, really — and bespeaks an entirely delusional or naive way of thinking about money and about the way more well-adjusted people think about money. There’s also a heavy tinge of the ideological in it — “the players deserve it more than owners” — as well as the also-delusional “the owner’s value has doubled over the last 10 years!!!” as if people who’ve owned their home for 20 years go out and blow the appreciation on frivolities the second they see the neighbor two houses down sell their comparable for twice what they paid 20 years ago.

The other common theme is “Well, the owner is already a billionaire so he should pay his players even if the business loses money,” another naive delusion. People, especially people with money, don’t finance losing business out of their own pockets other than occasional very short interludes. There’s some indication that Stevie Cohen is doing so now. I wouldn’t expect that to last.

(*) For whatever bizarre reason I must have.

(**) Which doesn’t even get at the ultimate question of whether any athlete should be making that kind of coin and what it says about society.

E, not wanting to pay Luka isn’t about the amount of money the owner is losing, it’s about strategizing moving forward with the new aprons.

Although I agree Dallas didn’t get a large enough return, I can at least understand a team worrying about a player’s cap hit when he’s often injured, out of shape, and taking up close to 40% of the cap.

“I don’t think having 5 picks would have mattered in this situation.”

I hear you about this trade specifically, but the larger point is that the price and availability of superstars in the second-apron era is making it a buyer’s marker. We just took advantage of that with the KAT trade, and Luka is the much better player. These two trades suggest that there will be more opportunities for teams with trade assets, especially unprotected picks.

E, not wanting to pay Luka isn’t about the amount of money the owner is losing, it’s about strategizing moving forward with the new aprons.

Jerry Reindorf didn’t want to pay Michael Jordan and turfed a dynasty as a result. He wouldn’t have owed taxes on the overage, either. Never underestimate the desire of rich people to hang onto their own money.

There are some basketball concerns here as well, that’s true. We’ll probably never know. Most likely ownership told staff to trade the player. Or the player asked to be traded. Not really looking like pure basketball from any angle.

**BREAKING**
Mo Bamba released by Jazz
https://hoopshype.com/2025/02/02/jazz-waive-mo-bamba/

I’m joking about the breaking part, but I would definitely sign him to replace Jericho.

He’ll probably go to the Lakers too. Save the moving cost.

This whole thing reminds me of George’s incredulous reaction to hearing that Kramer went to a fantasy camp. The Lakers whole existence is a fantasy camp.

Is Mo better than Jericho?

Lakers desperately need a C too

there’s the competitive on court stuff, but there’s also the business entertainment aspect…Luka is one of the stars of the nba, AD is not…

yes, hard to imagine Luka asked to lose a bunch of money like he will…

maybe the lakers trade LeBron, why not?

LeBron and Curry are on the way out the league and it’s tanking in views. Sending him to some small market like the Bucks is off the table as it hurts the bottom line. NBA was well on it’s way to going dark very soon when both hung it up.

Also trading Lebron is off the table because this move was made to see them play together. The only way the NBA would allow a LeBron trade after this is to the Warriors to pair him with Curry.

Why wouldn’t they trade LeBron?

They just lucked into Luka. You can’t let LeBron fade away now. You have to turn him into something that fits Luka’s timeline.

But LeBron has a full NTC and he’s probably not going to waive it. Hence I don’t think OG and Mitch for LeBron is implausible. It might be all they can get.

Lakers desperately need a C too

They needed a C before this trade becauae AD does not want to play C. Now they deperately need one and he better play defense because they weren’t that great defensively even with AD.

It will interesting to see who they give up and who they have lined up.

Lakers go from out of the top 8 in the West to sixth overall at +1900. Third to win the West at +900.

Shows you how silly it is to use Vegas odds as a datapoint. Every time a big trade happens dumb money comes pouring in.

LeBron should go back to Cleveland. Cavs have the assets too.

I hear you about this trade specifically, but the larger point is that the price and availability of superstars in the second-apron era is making it a buyer’s marker. We just took advantage of that with the KAT trade, and Luka is the much better player. These two trades suggest that there will be more opportunities for teams with trade assets, especially unprotected picks.

I hear you.

I’m not sure the NBA is going to be happy with that. It may have been an unintended consequence. My guess is that there are enough issues with the current rules that something is going to be tweaked eventually.

AD has had durability issues for years, but the truth is, even when healthy he has largely been overlooked and underrated because of playing in LeBron’s massive shadow. When healthy, he is as good of a 2-way player as there is in the game.

One thing that should help him is that Dallas has a competent C in Gafford and Powell, and Lively may be back for the playoffs, so AD can return to PF, which might help him remain a bit healthier.

It doesn’t excuse the valuation miscalculation on Dallas’ part, but if AD and Lively are both healthy come playoff time, I sure as hell wouldn’t want to face them.

In the age of conspiracy theories, which one seems the most plausible out there?

I’m still reeling from the news of this trade and trying to make sense of it. If you have GMs and others telling journalists they were completely blindsided by this, what the hell happened????

This is what I was thinking. LA’s Erewhon lifestyle is a much easier place to stay fit than Dallas BBQ country

There is plenty of fine, rich food in LA. I don’t think the cultural influence of LA is going to turn him into a soy eater. LeBron might be able to influence him by giving him a Dickensonian “A Christmas Carol” view into what might and might not be with his career by changing his dietary/lifestyle focus, but LA Culture? Nah.

I dunno..I think the Lakers made those trade for the future, while the Mavs are clearly in win now mode. Which means this trade is an utter failure if AD & Kyrie don’t stay healthy and lead them to a chip. Right now, this balances Dallas’ roster. But it also means they’re putting everything in Kyrie’s hands. So he’s gonna have to play, and play well. Beyond this season, I don’t know what Dallas does, as AD & Klay are aging. Kyrie too, but he’s a smidge younger.

Meanwhile, the Lakers are set up tremendously well for LeBron’s retirement. They get to build around Luka..in LA! Are we sure George Steinbrenner hasn’t been reincarnated? The Lakers get EVERYBODY. I guess they’re trying to keep up with the Dodgers smh. I still can’t believe they paid such a low price to get Luka. No shade to AD, but at this stage- Luka’s the better player. The Lakers need to figure out this new dynamic quickly if they want to make real noise in the playoffs. Their problem is they don’t have anywhere near enough shooting to make the transition easier. Or wing defense. They’re still gonna be good though, just moreso next season than this season.

If you read the sporting press as I (*) do, you’ll often read a bunch of expressions by the sportswriters (and comment board commentators) in the vein of “Player X is worth every penny” — either of what he wants to be paid, is currently being paid, or is projected to be paid. To which I always think, “So, if he made $53 billion a year, or $133 billion per year, he’d be worth every penny? That somehow doesn’t seem quite right.” (**)

Most of these folks who own NBA teams got wealthy by being good, smart, shrewd business people. The entire Embiid experience (a supremely talented guy who is seldom fit and coincidentally has difficulty staying healthy) may have changed some management’s outlook in locking up such players for huge sums.

I can kind of see a hazy logic to how the Mavs must have thought about it. It might work out for a year or two. Just seems nuts though.

Luka is never making that money back between the cut and the taxes. No chance.

Maybe it will make his teams more competitive? I don’t know.

This is absolutely fucking shit. I am rageful. I get out to LA not nearly as much as I like and now I have to deal with my Laker friends who are interminably insufferable anyway. IRL. Like why? This is not fun.

And long story short, if the NBA wants its viewership back it needs to publicly bend the knee…

The Ringer on the deal. Pulls no punches.

https://www.theringer.com/2025/02/02/nba/luka-doncic-trade-anthony-davis-dallas-mavericks-los-angeles-lakers

AD has had durability issues for years, but the truth is, even when healthy he has largely been overlooked and underrated because of playing in LeBron’s massive shadow. When healthy, he is as good of a 2-way player as there is in the game.

Kyrie is perpetually overlooked and underrated, as well, from always playing in someone’s shadow. This is a big bet on him.

The Ringer on the deal. Pulls no punches.

That guy is in meltdown mode. 🙂

The Ringer on the deal. Pulls no punches.

To lead with the “trade makes zero basketball sense” is pretty silly. I can see wanting to get out of the Luka business in the apron era. I can also see (without squinting) how dominant an AD + Lively front court is going to be. And I think Kyrie has a lot of upside away from Luka, just like Kristaps Porzingis & Jalen Brunson did.

They just made an incredible valuation blunder. If the Mavs had gotten the Lakers ‘31 pick in the deal, I’d probably like the trade. As it stands, they can package Klay and picks for an upgrade at wing. But with that ‘31 pick the upgrade could have been a lot better.

The Mavs owners just shot a harpoon into that franchise’s brand. The name “Dallas Mavericks” is now toxic in that city. Whatever money they saved on Doncic’s contract seems to really not be worth it. They Florida Marlins’d themselves.

They had already traded away their 2027 and 2029 1RPs and owe OKC a 2028 pick swap, so dark times are ahead. Kyrie turns 33 in March and is now their only viable shot creator. They’re worse now and unfathomably worse in the future. I’m going to enjoy it immensely when they stink to high heaven a few years from now.

This brought me back to the KP trade where the Knicks just jumped at the first offer and didn’t scout the league for offers. KP wasn’t close to Luka as a talent though..

Luka is about to be in his prime. Some upcoming star player will not sign a long term contract extension and will go to LA to team up with him

Yeah, if it comes out that they really didn’t even approach other teams to see what they could get, that’s real confusing. They must really like AD and are crossing their fingers he can stay healthy in the playoffs. It’s a weird “all in” move.

However, if the rest of the season does not play out well, I suppose they could then tack to the rebuild course by offering Kyrie and AD to teams offering the best combinations of picks and young players. But, that would be an admission that the trade was stupid.

https://x.com/esidery/status/1886115775213146213

https://x.com/dallasmavs/status/1886073461509886051 yeah people in Dallas are pissed

Asked one NBA executive if he knew Luka Doncic was available, how much would he offer in a potential trade?“Everything.”The Mavericks appear to have missed a golden opportunity to create a historic bidding war ahead of the deadline. pic.twitter.com/rErs5D0OXM— Evan Sidery (@esidery) February 2, 2025

The Fake News knows no bounds!

Towns for Giannis?

I just logged on to say FUCK THE LAKERS as a franchise, institution, squad, brand and all of their fucking fandom!!!

In what fucking universe do you trade a generational talent at 25 yrs old for a 32 yr old former near generational talent?? I can barely put into cohesive words how fucking livid I am about this.

And E, as someone who’s lived out here for almost 9 years now, let me tell you this with 1000% confidence: The Knicks could’ve had 1000 first round draft picks and the Lakers would’ve still pulled this bullshit out of their ass. They’re the fucking Lakers – The universe will not allow them to be mid for like more than 4-5 years at any stretch of time, decade, or what the fuck ever. Laker fans tolerate LeBron; they don’t like him. Now, he can fucking do a soft hand-off to Luka and ride into the sunset after the season while his son “develops” for the next 3-4 years with them.

If any other fucking team had a 32-yr old AD to trade for a 25 yr old early-prime Luka, best believe they would’ve had to cough up at least 3 1RPs along with any other fodder they’d send.

Additionally… This is why the Lakers don’t give a shit about their 1RPs… because every few years they get an Author-Saving ass-pull that lands them a top-10 player for no other fucking reason than “everyone wants to don the purple n gold”. With LeBron’s age and their lack of draft capital, they were stuck in true purgatory. Now they can build around Luka while giving their fanbase someone to invest in, someone who maybe could have a shot to join their Kobe/Kareem/Magic pantheon.

Hey, Cdiggy, good to hear from you…

Nico just said Luka gave no indication he wanted out or wouldn’t sign an extension moving forward. He also said the Lakers were they only team he talked to.

Kyrie also out for their game today with a shoulder injury

amazing to hear harrison blithely acknowledge he called no other team about luka as if that were a perfectly reasonable approach to maximizing value. i find it a little foreboding that nothing mildly comforting has leaked about OG’s foot yet.

ha raven is right, I think we were all waiting to hear from you cdiggy 😊

hope you’re well sir…

i often think of just how awesome your job stuff is, the chance to be around, and enjoy their tremendous
energy and be a positive influence with young folks…are you involved in any team sport activities this time of year?

Thanks Raven! And thanks EB and Zman for thinking of me. Yesterday was my son’s bday party at Chuck E Cheese’s – he turned 2 last Monday. We got a house full of folks in here right now along with my goddaughter- in literally sneaking in and out of my bedroom to post lol.

Oh, and did I mention FUCK THE LAKERS!! Just in case anyone missed it.

P.S. the trolls are in shock that their beloved Lakers pulled off this heist of the millennium.

How are there are no pick swaps? More players from the Lakers? There’s such an imbalance on this trade… and it reeks of desperation from the NBA for a ratings push. What a joke

hey milo, is that new about nico…had heard he reached out to one other team prior, and was rebuked…

if true, I would guess it meant the bucks and giannis, if what nico said about his desire for team defense is also true…

literally sneaking in and out of my bedroom to post lol.

shoot, you’ll know it’s real crowded when the only option is the bathroom…

Nico Harrison says he didn’t talk to any other team besides the Lakers about dealing Dončić.— Christian Clark (@cclark_13) February 2, 2025

Cdiggy and Bloody-Nine, you have my heartfelt sympathies. I think Dallas fans are so mad and Lakers fans so insufferably delighted that Harrison could get fired because of public opinion even if his basketball judgement proves correct. This is what happened to what’s his name in Philadelphia when he traded the rookie of the year.

Pt I’m with you on OG’s foot. Even though the x-rays are negative, a non-contact lisfranc injury would be more of a ligament thing. It would all come down to the degree of the tear, a full tear is done for the year, a partial tear would be at the least 2 months, with much of that time in a boot. The way he reacted, I’m resigned to thinking it’s one of those two. The lack of news feels foreboding.

there was in fact reporting he reached out to another team two weeks ago, but he just sat up in the press conference and said the lakers were his only call. he also may or may not have admitted to being in a death cult with j kidd.

ramona shelbourne (laker diehard for sure), mentioned harrison and pelinka having a long and close history pre-gm’ing days…

like two regular folks together chilling, talking some shit, and then saying: yeah, why not…

financially, the only folks losing are Luka and his agent…

can’t imagine though the mavs will, or would have, ever sold/sell as many jerseys as his…

Hey geo how ya been?

I took a 3 1/2 week vacation over the holidays through mid-January. It’s the first time I’ve taken that long of a clean break ever, and it felt great, particularly because I really needed it mentally. Sports Information at this level can be rather thankless, either because nobody misses (or understands) what you do until they need it and you’re not around, or being pulled in other non-SI directions. Less than half of all the public Cali jucos have full-time SI personnel. Add to that the fact that the district I work in has ZERO clue how to utilize their colleges’ athletics program to promote their schools and help drive enrollment, and ZERO understanding of what it truly takes to competently run an athletics dept. And don’t get me started on how we tend to be a dumping ground for failure (failed admins who get hired, failed people who retain their positions bc they go over heads bc they have connects too high up). It can be really sickening.

I do buy what someone suggested upstream: the league has a lot of excellent young players and stars, but not enough of the kinds of LeBron/Durant/Dame/Curry guys that are household names even to people who don’t know what a basketball is. Because the LeBron/Durant/Dame/Curry tier is aging out. Kawaii could/should be in that tier but he’s been hurt so much.
Luka is one of the few young superstars who has that cache.

And you thought Texans despised Californians before this trade…

Nico Harrison says he didn’t talk to any other team besides the Lakers about dealing Dončić.— Christian Clark (@cclark_13) February 2, 2025

Yeah nothing weird here, a 25 year old generational player and you don’t field any other offers.

How are there are no pick swaps? More players from the Lakers? There’s such an imbalance on this trade… and it reeks of desperation from the NBA for a ratings push. What a joke

This is exactly what it is, the NBA doesn’t really have anything to sell right now so this gets the juices flowing again. A franchise people hate picks up a young generational star.. The Luka/LeBron Lakers will be the most watched team since the Curry/Durant Warriors

sadly our current health situation is not all that surprising…

jalen heading off to the locker room during the game just about every other game…

KAT is not right, if it’s a sprained thumb, that’s like at least a month or so to heal…who knows what that bone chip must feel like…

mitch, deuce, precious extended injuries…

I’m not god, so don’t know for sure if OG would not have gotten hurt this season playing less minutes, taking some games off…

probability though would seem to favor decreased court time leading to a decreased probability of injury risk…

it’s not like they are leading a sedentary lifestyle, rest/recovery should have positive effects…

and, if you don’t want to guess at this stuff, you can take the time to go through a few journal reports that examined the minutes effect on health/injury…

just reminds me how much i feel like thibs gotta go…

MFFL
@Mavs_FFL
Nico said the owner first laughed at Nico when he told him about the trade…

https://x.com/Mavs_FFL/status/1886134909141430754

Ummmm

smart break cdiggy, and great opportunity to focus on what matters, your health and family…

I never found the “terrible two’s” thing to be true…I found when they hit about 4 or so, things could get tough, especially if your dealing with multiple kids around the same age…yeah, that’s a real challenge…

ha still waiting for the: my life as a dad, donnie memoirs…

it’s tough to perform well in chaos…hard to plan…best thing to do usually is get as much shit in correspondence as you can, and try to keep that organized…

so, in your normal thing, do you get the chance to interact with the student/athletes?

although, sounds like you already have plenty of young family folks around 😊

https://x.com/McFarland_Shawn/status/1886120436666192105

What boggles my mind more than anything is how does Dallas at least not talk to OKC? Taking them at their word, they wanted a defensive player back. Why not at least kick the tires on Chet Holmgren, another player, and whatever draft picks you can get out of OKC?

This brought me back to the KP trade where the Knicks just jumped at the first offer and didn’t scout the league for offers. KP wasn’t close to Luka as a talent though..

That’s a pretty important distinction, though. KP’s value was largely unknown, so canvassing the league would have been prudent.

Do we really think Nico didn’t know what every team’s offer for Luka would be? I doubt he’s shocked to learn that another GM would have given him “everything”. He assumed as much, and didn’t want it.

There was nothing to gain from canvassing the league, especially after making the determination that he wanted to win now.

If you read the sporting press as I (*) do, you’ll often read a bunch of expressions by the sportswriters (and comment board commentators) in the vein of “Player X is worth every penny” — either of what he wants to be paid, is currently being paid, or is projected to be paid. To which I always think, “So, if he made $53 billion a year, or $133 billion per year, he’d be worth every penny? That somehow doesn’t seem quite right.” (**)

Fun jeremiad, but what is your position on the very real, zero percent hypothetical, question you’re implicitly raising? Are there more efficient ways for the 2025 Dallas Mavericks to spend $60-$70M AAV than on Luka Doncic’s age 27-31 seasons? Because my cold-hearted rationalist non-ideological take is “obviously not.”

I’d like to hear what ideas you have on this front that aren’t something along the lines of “I would simply force the Nuggets to trade me Nikola Jokic,” because from my vantage point a floor-and-ceiling raiser who is one of the best NBA playoff performers of all time is in fact worth the maximum amount of money he is allowed to be paid under the NBA’s CBA.

It’s not like this move gives them any material additional cap flexibility anyway. They gain some luxury tax breathing room, but their roster is still plenty expensive.

I have no ideological qualms with saying it’s not good business for a team to pay X player Y amount of money given the way the player’s quality interacts with the salary cap, aprons, etc. But I’m baffled that anyone would raise the proposition about 25 year-old Luka Doncic, not even a year removed from a run to the NBA finals in which he shouldered a 33.4% USG rate.

I hate to see the Lakers always getting star players handed to them, but I don’t think this pushes them past OKC short or long term. LA needs a defensive minded big in the worst way. Mitch for Reaves anyone?

Are there more efficient ways for the 2025 Dallas Mavericks to spend $60-$70M AAV than on Luka Doncic’s age 27-31 seasons?

Setting up a foundation to endow X number of full-ride college scholarships for Dallas’s academically underprivileged would be a better way to spend the money. By leaps and bounds.

Even if you limit it to the four corners of sports, if, let’s say, Michael Jordan or Julius Erving routinely hit game-winning shots and played lead role, championship winning NBA basketball for $X or $0.5X (*), how is Luka Doncic making $5X to do it now, “worth every penny”? Would he be “worth every penny” at $10X or $100X?

Or same example for Bart Starr/Joe Montana/Lamar Jackson. Etc., etc.

It’s fanboy on its face. Weird nomenclature for adults to use. The one thing I guess that would make it somewhat better is if the sportswriters and adults have to write in fanboy style for economic reasons; i.e., they need to engage fanboy eyeballs and interest and so rather than write adult, they write fanboy. That might be the case, not sure.

(*) All estimates adjusted for inflation.

Geo, my position isn’t what you would call “student-facing” from a staffer standpoint – I do a lot of behind-the-scenes stuff. But I do get to say wassup to the athletes here and there, and they like when I post graphics promoting their exploits and individual performances (when I get the time to do so). The sports information post was initially born as a statistician, but over the past few years it has evolved nationally more towards creative storytelling (social media + graphics creation) of student-athletes and teams. California jucos are… a bit behind in the curve because “statistician” and “content creation” are two entirely different skillsets that most places don’t understand. And many SI personnel can easily spend 60+ hours a week with work tasks. I don’t do that because – unlike many in this realm – my family isn’t intertwined with sports. So I need to maintain separation between to two.

I hate to see the Lakers always getting star players handed to them, but I don’t think this pushes them past OKC short or long term.

gk the trade ain’t really about this year for the Lakers, it’s the next 6-8 years. It’s about positioning Luka squarely as a household name l, to inherit the LeBron/Curry/Durant/Dame cache. It’s about getting the Laker fandom, many whom know LeBron is pimping the team, their next true guy to get into. And believe you me: they pulled this massive robbery off without bleeding draft picks (that they largely don’t have), they’ll eventually build a competent team around Luka and get him his Robin #2 guy with less resources than what most other teams would need to rebuild.

Fuck them to hell and back. There’s no fairness or virtue in this world. 🤬

Do we really think Nico didn’t know what every team’s offer for Luka would be? I doubt he’s shocked to learn that another GM would have given him “everything”. He assumed as much, and didn’t want it.

Exactly.

He had no interest in blowing up the team, getting loads of picks and starting over.

He was asking, “How can I possibly make this team better given I value defense over offense, am growing weary of Doncic’s lack of fitness (which probably contributed to the recurrring calf issues) and unwilliness to play consistent defense and get back instead of whining to refs?”

The answer was probably limited to Giannis and Davis.

He wasn’t interested in any other players or picks even if the overall value was greater. He didn’t want greater long term value. He wants to continue competing for a championship NOW.

Right or wrong, he must feel that Davis improves his probability of winning a title over the next 2-4 years relative to Doncic and he was willing to sacrifice the years after that to the next rebuild rather than potentially having an out of shape maxed out Luka heading towards his 30s.

It’s a monumental basketball and career gamble on the short term because Davis and Kyrie are both injury prone and even an out of shape Doncic is monster now. But he has his #1 and #2 option, a much better defense (Christie is also a pretty solid defender), playoff experience and plenty of role defensive role players. IMO, Dallas is still very good now when healthy.

For the Lakers this is a no brainer. Lebron is old and almost done. They still have a very good team for now (may have to make another trade or two for a C and defense) and they are set up for the next 10 years now trying to build around Luka omce Lebron retires.

Lil Penny is very sensitive to penny based remarks. Please consider that when you post.

What boggles my mind more than anything is how does Dallas at least not talk to OKC? Taking them at their word, they wanted a defensive player back. Why not at least kick the tires on Chet Holmgren, another player, and whatever draft picks you can get out of OKC?

If you’re trying to win a chip right now, AD is a much better option than Chet Holmgren.

If you’re trying to win a chip in the next 2 years, AD is a much better option than Chet Holmgren.

Maybe this year. But next? I dont think so, and beyond that is a no brainer.

OKC is at a point where they would value more Chet than Doncic because he is complimentary to SGA, though. SGA and Doncic is diminishing returns.

Right or wrong, he must feel that Davis improves his probability of winning a title over the next 2-4 years relative to Doncic and he was willing to sacrifice the years after that to the next rebuild rather than potentially having an out of shape maxed out Luka heading towards his 30s.

If Davis is healthy, the first part is probably true given Luka’s overlap with Kyrie and AD’s top ten talent.

In terms of Luka, on the one hand, he doesn’t really depend on explosiveness or athleticism that much so this might not be an issue. On the other hand, if you were to draw up a list of traits you’d be more likely to find in a guy who diminished significantly after 30, it would start with “doesn’t care about his body or conditioning and diet consists primarily of In-and-Out cheeseburgers.” They sat him earlier this year for a “sprained wrist” but ESPNs reporting say they just sat him because he was too fat.

It’s easy to see not wanting to deal with that and not wanting to throw $350M that way without thinking about alternatives.

That said, a big problem with the philosophical underpinnings is that AD is injury-prone. Make AD a Mikal-like iron man and the trade makes more than a little sense.

KAT is younger and on par with AD. Wouldn’t a Bridges and KAT for Luka deal have been better for the Mavs?

They want defense.

Los Angeles being able to rebuild overnight bodes well for the Palisades.

The absolute, indefensible blunder in this trade is not getting the 2031 pick. That just doesn’t make any sense.

The rest, I guess YMMV (I honestly don’t get it, just go around and ask for what you want, at worst you’ll be rebuffed, but ok, let’s say Harrison wanted AD and only AD).

If you have Doncic and Irving, you build around Doncic and not Irving. You want rim protection, you trade Irving to facilitate that.

Irving and Davis give you a nonexistent to tiny window to win a ring. That is not a good enough duo to bring you a title, and the supporting cast around them isn’t good enough either. It’s not a bona fide contender.

Doncic still has a TON of prime left. By trading him you go from probably like an eight year window to a two year window, and the window isn’t even all that wide for that two years.

Doncic was a freakin’ 10 BPM player just last year, a year when he led a thin Mavs team to a Finals appearance. He’s having an off year by his own standards this year and he’s a 7 BPM player. He’s on the all-NBA first team every year.

This is just a dumb if not corrupt trade, and I don’t see any reason to try to spin it otherwise. There is no need to be contrarian here. This is as dumb as it looks on its face and the fans in Dallas are correct to be saying “fuck this.”

Luka seems like a massive pain in the ass, frankly. The KP thing didn’t work out and you have to wonder now what Brunson thought of him and whether part of Cuban not paying JB was Luka behind the scenes pulling a Melo to JB’s Lin.

Lot of meh vibes there all around. We’ll probably never know the true story. If AD is healthy, he and Gafford will be a fantastic defensive front line and with PJ, very long. Potentially very tough out if Kyrie plays at his ceiling level. Odds might be worth paying some attention to.

And JK47 is absolutely correct in saying that this looks incredibly suspect if not outright corrupt.

You’re not getting Davis for Irving.

Fun fact, Nico Harrison was the Nike exec who failed to sign Steph to a shoe deal.

During his work at Nike, he botched a 2013 presentation to Stephen Curry, where according to Harrison he may have called him Seth, and the presentation used was made for Kevin Durant. This, along with not offering Curry a signature shoe, caused the superstar to switch from Nike and sign with Under Armor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nico_Harrison#cite_note-:0-4

So I was about to put my 50 room oceanfront mansion on the market, and then some guy texted me and offered $50 million and I said “Sure!”

These dumbass real estate agents said I could have started a bidding war and gotten way more, but what the hell do they know?

We may disagree on a lot of things, but it’s nice to know that KB can together as a community and hate on Nico Harrison

What’s the corruption?

Then you trade Irving for some lesser version of Davis. Kyrie is getting old and is clearly past his prime. Soon to be 33 year old Kyrie Irving is not the rare commodity here, the young guy capable of racking up a 10 BPM is.

Is there something about Luka that only Dallas knows? They are out on him for some reason.

Kyrie is getting old and is clearly past his prime.

He’s also quit on Cleveland, Boston, and Brooklyn. Who knows how long he’ll be willing to stay in Dallas?

Cleveland just put up a 91 point first half on Dallas…lol

Mavs appear to be load managing this one — no Gafford, no PJ, no Kyrie.

Is there something about Luka that only Dallas knows? They are out on him for some reason.

Rumor they were out on him due to his conditioning and attitude, but that isn’t a good enough reason to dump a 25 year old stud

Delta on the supermax versus what LAL can pay him is $116 million. Add in the $25 or so he’ll pay in California state taxes and we’re talking about roughly $140M light over five years. That’s … real money.

He presumably takes a short term deal, and then resigns at the 10 year max, so he probably doesn’t lose that much in the end.

“KAT is younger and on par with AD. ”

KAT is not in the same league with a “healthy” AD. They are close on offense, and the gap between them on defense could not be wider.

Luka seems like a massive pain in the ass,

How many of these guys aren’t?

A couple of thoughts here:

1. This trade shows the real flaw in our team building strategy, far overshadowing debates about hybrid method vs. asset accumulation. Our blunder is that we only hire the GM of the New York Knicks. As the Lakers and Celtics have shown, it’s far more important to have other teams’ GMs working for your organization. Imagine if the GMs for OKC or SAS worked for us? Boom, Wemby + salary ballast for KAT in 2027.

2. Every justification of this trade is utter nonsense for one simple reason: DAL left significant assets on the table that LAL had zero reason to hold out on. They traded the single most valuable asset in basketball — a 25yo generational superstar and MVP candidate for the next 10 seasons — and showed more concern for the Lakers’ future asset position than their own.

3. This is honestly worse than anything our FO has done in the history of our franchise and that’s saying something. We’ve been apoplectic about incinerating draft picks — imagine the mood around here if we instead incinerated the greatest player in the history of our franchise at the age of 25 so we could make our team worse in both the short and long term!

Even things like the Paul George trade and the KG/Pierce trades weren’t as bad as this at the time — they had to run bad for SGA and Tatum to become MVP candidates. This is like trading Michael Jordan for Moses Malone in 1989 so you can shore up your defense and rebounding.

It’s also so incredibly emblematic of the times. Miriam Adelson, a billionaire heiress to a fortune yielded from an entirely parasitic business runs a semi-public good into the ground to maybe save some cash from her $33B fortune, even though she could easily afford to bankroll President Evil to the tune of $200M. I guess the return on that is a lot better than investing into an asset that history has shown is guaranteed to multiply when you have superstar assets, or even when you don’t.

Winners: Lakers, Adam Silver, NBA media i guess
Losers: Mavericks , Luka Doncic, fans of all other teams

I guess it’s a nice distraction for us until the bad news on OG’s foot drops and we find out our season is really over with this lisfranc thing.

https://x.com/DrJesseMorse/status/1886107167092088935?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

This is a slightly less gloomy take on OG’s injury from an orthopedist.

I heard something from a non-reliable source about Luka maybe drinking a lot of beer.

Shuffling through my very, very thin folder of good news to report, I am glad to note that IQ is back (and apparently playing okay…).

questionable seems very good

It’s interesting (and a big benefit to KAT and Brunson) that Luka is now ineligible to continue his streak of making All-NBA first team. He can’t make All-NBA period, which helps Towns and Brunson.

Maybe the Knicks will get two second team All-NBA guys!

OG needs to sit through the All Star Break

questionable seems very good

It could mean it’s not that bad.

It could also mean he’s going to play through the injury, be limited, and increase the risk of further injury.

Knicks Culture suggests the latter is more likely than it should be.

I’m also listed as questionable to play for the Knicks tomorrow

no possible amount of overplaying og in the bush would be worse than an actual torn lisfranc in your foot. he’s not playing through that. so if they’ve already done the mri and it’s not that, it’s unabashedly good. if not, then tbd.

https://basketball.realgm.com/wiretap/279036/LeBron-James-To-Remain-With-Lakers-Past-Trade-Deadline no surprise here. Luka/LeBron Duo can now take the headlines

I’m glad he’s questionable but also worried he’s questionable

OG needs to sit through the All Star Break

Totally agree. He’s already played the 3rd most minutes of his career, get him some rest so he can be healthy the rest of the season. And honestly, I think we should sit KAT through the AllStar break as well. He has not looked right at all since injuring his thumb.

Every justification of this trade is utter nonsense

I wouldn’t justify the trade but I am willing to open the door to the idea that getting out of the Luka business before you have to supermax him might make more sense than it seems. Like if the Sixers had traded Embiid two years ago based on what they knew about how unserious he was about his fitness, they would have gotten skewered for trading the 28 year old MVP in his prime but obviously that would have been wise in hindsight.

I’m also open to the possibility that a Kyrie-AD team is better than a Kyrie-Luka one right now. Like Porzingis and Brunson before him, Kyrie might flourish without Luka, making their decision to want to win now defensible. And AD is awesome. Pairing him with Lively in the frontcourt is sick.

Now I’m a bigger fan of Kyrie than most but even I think counting on him is pretty stupid. Basketball just isn’t that important to him. He will let you down. If you wanted to get out of the Luka business, a full pivot would have been smarter. But if for some shocking reason they get the best version of Kyrie, I could see them lifting the trophy this year.

And having chosen this path, yeah, it’s indefensible to leave that pick on the table.

Lastly, I am not buying into the Lakers at all. I do not think they will be able to build around Luka effectively.

Today is very much Claude Von Strokes remix of Andy Caldwell’s Warrior. Fuck the Lakers.

I think that team is going to look a lot less impressive in the postseason given how much shot creation Kyrie is going to need to do. Spencer Dinwiddie is the secondary shot creator now. That is a steep dropoff from the God-level shot creation they were getting from Doncic. Defense matters, but having a 99th percentile shot creator also matters.

They’re worse now, way worse later.

Doesn’t Anthony Davis create shots? 30.1 USG playing with LeBron.

Honestly, Dallas at 35-1 looks like a nice undervalued play. I’m risk-averse, so I’d want to get through the trade deadline first and make sure Kyrie doesn’t pull some whack job shit but if that team’s intact, I’m not exactly seeing all these massive holes and it might be worth a shot. (Another risk is obviously health which I’m sure is baked into the offer. I probably trust the Mavs to get to the playoffs healthy than I trust Thibs.)

AD is a top ten player in the world. Probably silly for the Mavs to give up the six years age difference, no question, but it’s hard to justify this level of hysteria when you obtain an top ten player. It’s arguably three or four years later than you’d hope, but Kyrie Irving/Anthony Davis, if all works out, is a pretty awesome 1-2 punch.

Also, if they wanted to go in that direction and flip one of Gafford or Lively, they’d get a real nice return. I might just fully lean into the “massive front line/defense/48-minute-depth” idea, and just keep both, but that would depend on return.

AD has an assisted basket rate on two pointers around 60%, meaning somebody is creating the shot for him most of the time. Doncic’s assisted basket rate is usually under 20.

Doncic’s assisted basket rate on three pointers is also insanely low— only 28% over his career. Davis is assisted on 96% of his three point attempts. The main reason Doncic is so elite is that he can create his own shot at pretty much any time and maintain good efficiency. This isn’t even mentioning his career AST% of 42, which means he creates insane amounts of shots for others.

Usage and shot creation are not the same thing.

Interestingly AD & KAT have identical assisted rates on 2PAs and KAT has an even higher rate on 3PAs.

There’s a lot going on here, but nothing is more obvious to me than the massive underrating of a healthy Anthony Davis.

The guy has made 5 all-defense 1st and 2nd teams, including 1st team last year. He was 4th in DPoY voting last year. On top of that, he has had a TS% of above .600 on 28-30% usage for the last 3 years.

Luka is a savant on offense, one of the best the game has ever seen. But he is an absolute matador on D, and a 35% career 3pt shooter.

I think the notion that offense is immensely more important than D is highly questionable. Having a 2-way player who is an all-star (even dominant) on both ends, especially at the most important defensive position, and especially especially when you have a Kyrie Irving as your offensive engine, is not a bad place to be, if, if, if AD can stay reasonably healthy for the next 3-4 years.

It was an idiotic trade from a value perspective, but don’t expect the Mavs to go quietly into the night.

I am very relieved by the “questionable” designation for OG, but still not fully buying it until I hear something more definitive.

Needs an honest, unhedged response from the Knicks admitting he got an MRI and in layman’s terms what the MRI said.

Yeah I think it’s reasonable to cast some side eye at the “questionable” designation. Maybe we get some better information tomorrow.

People trying to convince themselves that this is a good trade in the short term because AD is a better fit for the Mavs than Luka, did they forget the Mavs made the Finals last year?

Kyrie is almost 33, he’s in his 14th NBA season, we’ve seen him play with all different sorts of teammates, he has no hidden level to ascend to without Luka.

Philly beating Boston by 11 at the end of the 3rd quarter.

the Lakers are going to be a really weird team for the rest of this season if they can’t figure out how to get a big though

“People trying to convince themselves that this is a good trade in the short term because AD is a better fit for the Mavs than Luka, did they forget the Mavs made the Finals last year?”

I, for one, am not saying that this was a good trade for Dallas in the short, medium, or long term. I am simply saying that we shouldn’t forget how fucking awesome AD is.

I am glad no one has asked why we didn’t package Jalen, Josh and Mitch for him

disgusting collapse from the Sixers

Never mind.

People trying to convince themselves that this is a good trade in the short term because AD is a better fit for the Mavs than Luka, did they forget the Mavs made the Finals last year?

They had a very good team, but they weren’t favored to get to that point. They were close enough that getting on a roll at the right time was good enough to win a few series. That’s kind of where they figured to be this year.

I don’t think Davis makes the Mavs better. They may need to make another move for a shot creator. But I do think people are underestimating the impact Davis has on both ends because defense is generally underrated. When he’s healthy he’s one of the best two way players in the league.

The real issue with this trade is the long term. They gave away a much younger player.

He’s probably “questionable to be able to play for the next or two”.

But I do think people are underestimating the impact Davis has on both ends because defense is generally underrated. When he’s healthy he’s one of the best two way players in the league.

I should add, that Doncic defends at times, but he’s generally a negative defender. So if you are going to use one of these AIO stats to compare him to AD, you have to realize those stats tend to underrate AD because his defense is elite and overrate Doncic because he’s a negative unless he’s in the mood, not arguing with refs and in shape.

It’s really funny to defend the Mavs selling out to put together a couple of notoriously flaky (for both injury related and…other reasons) 32-33 year-olds and then turn right around and say Leon Rose went scorched earth for a dud.

Shams bomb

Fox to Spurs

Lavine to Kings

It’s actually such a seismic trade it’s really hard to interpret. One can squint and see the Mavs doing quite well this year barring more injuries, but they’re now on a long slippery slope toward irrelevance.

Meanwhile the Lakers got their eye candy for the foreseeable future, which is really all they want with their current eye candy LeBron also sliding into irrelevance (acknowledging he dropped 33 and 12 on us last night), and likely sticking around much longer mostly to protect Bronny.

Whether this makes the Lakers better in the short term is really hard to say. But it makes them relevant.

Kyrie is almost 33, he’s in his 14th NBA season, we’ve seen him play with all different sorts of teammates, he has no hidden level to ascend to without Luka.

He doesn’t need one. He’s been a 7+ BPM player every time he hasn’t deferred to LeBron, Durant, or Luka.

The Bulls are about to tank to an incredible degree

the infamous protected charlotte pick is in the deal. it’s like forrest gump. the stories it could tell.

FROM SHAMS:

Full trade:

Spurs: De’Aaron Fox, Jordan McLaughlin

Kings: Zach LaVine, Sidy Cissoko, three first round picks (2025 CHA, 2027 SAS, 2031 MIN), three second round picks (2025 CHI, 2028 DEN, 2028 own back)

Bulls: Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter, their own 2025 pick via SAS

Well, no one can say that the lead-up to this trade deadline is boring…

Yea i don’t really like that deal for the Kings

2025 CHA is protected? That Spurs pick with Victor will be worthless.

They now have Zach lavine, Monk and Derozan..

It’s good for the Bulls. They can now tank

Annoying. I enjoy Fox and despise the Spurs. Good trade for them and shame Sac couldn’t extract Castle. Castle for Kings?? Come on.

Who is the Kings point guard? Sabonis?

Three first round picks and a good player on an awful contract isn’t bad for Sac, just a shame they couldn’t build on the excitement from a few years ago. That’s a true mezzanine squad.

Bulls are beyond irrelevant.

I don’t see Fox as the guy Wemby wins with long term. Doesn’t seem right. I’d be glad to be done with him if I were the Kings and he was due a Supermax.

Good player but not great

The Kings and the Bulls are just hopeless.

Bulls are beyond irrelevant.

Until they land Cooper Flagg

Due to my PhD in The Charlotte Pick Studies from Knickerblogger University I’m doing a great job informing all my group chats that the Kings really got two firsts (still a nice piece of business from them, IMO).

So I guess Sacto now has a lineup of Monk/LaVine/DeRozan/Murray/Sabonis? Defense is optional.

At least they have Devin Carter waiting in the wings I guess… could be worse.

FROM SHAMS:

Full trade:

Spurs: De’Aaron Fox, Jordan McLaughlin

Kings: Zach LaVine, Sidy Cissoko, three first round picks (2025 CHA, 2027 SAS, 2031 MIN), three second round picks (2025 CHI, 2028 DEN, 2028 own back)

Bulls: Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter, their own 2025 pick via SAS

Uh, hold on a second…

The Charlotte pick is converting to two 2nds this summer, so that means the Spurs got Fox for three first round picks, five seconds, and salary filler.

That’s less than what Leon gave up for Bridges 🤦🏻‍♂️

I don’t even like Fox that much but that’s a no brainer.

The Spurs have so many assets to play with, this barely made a dent. So it makes sense to get some high salary guys in the door while Wemby is still paid peanuts.

Fox has been a bit all over the place but I think he’s undoubtedly got skills that can help Wemby. His iffy shooting is much less of a problem on a team with a center who pulls up from the logo.

The Bulls…well, I continue to not really understand what they’re doing. If this platter of nothing was the best offer for LaVine I would’ve just kept him for another year.

Due to my PhD in The Charlotte Pick Studies from Knickerblogger University I’m doing a great job informing all my group chats that the Kings really got two firsts (still a nice piece of business from them, IMO).

What does Timmy C think about the deal?

That’s less than what Leon gave up for Bridges 🤦🏻‍♂️

I don’t even like Fox that much but that’s a no brainer.

…is it?

That’s a true mezzanine squad.

Technically they’re one of the ground floor squads that all the mezzanine squads are above.

That flip off the piano mid song was hot.

Not to go all 2024 Doogie but wtf are you talking about, Clarence?

Remains to be seen, but that Bulls pick [protections taken off] may end up a better asset than any pick the Knicks give to the Nets.

Fox makes $37M next year and Bridges makes $25M, so you have to factor that into the equation.

Still, there’s no question we paid WAAAAAY too much for Mikal. He’s not gonna be cheap forever.

Grammys Hubert.

Yeah, ETW, but what the Bulls do with it after the trade isn’t exactly its value when the Spurs give it up. Like if I give you a lump of coal and you turn it into a diamond, I still gave up a lump of coal.

We can quibble but it’s a very comparable price, and it really shouldn’t be.

The Kings should blow themselves up and start over ASAP. There’s no fixing that mess.

If Pop returns he will probably find ways to make Fox better. Plus, this is certainly a plus towards building a team around Wemby, but imo Fox is generally overrated.

People burying the lead — LaVine and DeRozan are reunited after all of 43 games.

Mediocrity incarnate has been revived.

Still, there’s no question we paid WAAAAAY too much for Mikal. He’s not gonna be cheap forever.

If they all stay healthy and we manage to win a title over the next 3-4 years he’ll look like a bargain. (I can still dream)

I’m a little worried about Towns for the rest of this season. He hasn’t looked like himself and I don’t understand enough about the injury to understand how much pain he’s in now or will be in a few weeks. Will it get better or stay the same? My guess is he has surgery at the end of the season. I asked a sports medicine doctor about it and he said the recovery from that surgery would probably be fairly quick. But I guess they decided that he play through it instead of being out for a couple of months.

I think Chicago is a big winner in that trade. I’ve never liked Lavine and he’s always hurt so getting off his contract without giving anything up and getting your own 1RP is great for them. And maybe they can salvage Huerter who’s fallen off a cliff the last few years.

Sacramento did about as good as they could hope.

I don’t really get this for SA. I like Fox but he’s already 27 and is good to very good but not great.

“If they all stay healthy and we manage to win a title over the next 3-4 years he’ll look like a bargain. (I can still dream)”

I mean, sure, Strat! But until we do, you have to look at it objectively and question whether he was worth what was paid for him, especially when it comes to opportunity cost.

We probably couldn’t have gotten Luka for those picks, but the larget point is that Luka could be had at a much lower price than anyone expected. Same with KAT.

The market has shifted. Supermaxes are going to be more and more limiting unless the CBA is dramatically altered. The best capital for making moves has shifted towards unprotected draft picks and matching salary. Hardly anyone is hoarding cap space anymore. As I said before, it’s not just the price we paid for Mikal, it’s how little was left after the trade. Unless you are relatively confident that the player is the last missing piece to the puzzle, you make that kind of deal when you have surplus picks left.

I’m not crying over the overpay or anything, Mikal is a dynamite player and I love rooting for him. It’s more about Leon’s negotiation skills than anything else. I feel very strongly that Leon negotiated against himself. No one else was paying that for Mikal. Even drawing the line at 4 picks would have made a big difference, and no one was matching that.

I mean, sure, Strat! But until we do, you have to look at it objectively and question whether he was worth what was paid for him, especially when it comes to opportunity cost.

You know my feeling about that.

I think early in a rebuild you should focus primarily on value oriented transactions (winning the trades 😉) trying to secure enough assets and cap flexibility to get the tough parts of the rebuild which are typically the #1 and #2 options. But once you reach a certain point, imo you are trying to secure the best possible player at each position even if you have to overpay. So I was fine with paying OG too much money and giving up more picks than ideal for Bridges, especially because without Bridges contract, I don’t see how we get Towns who is obviously a way better #2 than we had with Randle. I think we have an excellent starting 5. We’ve done the heavy lifting and will now start focusing on upgrading and deepening the bench. In the mean time, this team is damn good when healthy.

I think Mitch would probably look pretty good in a Lakers uniform. Not sure if we could get anything worthwhile back for him now, but they have to be looking for a player just like Mitch.

Trade only works for Dallas if Kyrie is right and the Earth actually is indeed flat. But I don’t think it is.

Trade works for LA mostly in terms of box office, but especially if the Lakers aren’t done yet. Next move?

Aren’t we looking for a player like Mitch?

Aren’t we looking for a player like Mitch?

Dingdingding! Especially with OG out for awhile. My dream is that OG misses a month or six weeks, Mitch is back in that time, and we have a few weeks for them to get some chemistry and Thibs to see what he has. And for KAT to heal and no one else to get hurt. We’d lose more games but be very tough in the playoffs.

I’m not crying over the overpay or anything, Mikal is a dynamite player and I love rooting for him. It’s more about Leon’s negotiation skills than anything else. I feel very strongly that Leon negotiated against himself. No one else was paying that for Mikal. Even drawing the line at 4 picks would have made a big difference, and no one was matching that.

Even giving 5 picks but not letting Brooklyn insist on the 5 best picks would have made a huge difference. Give them the two ‘24 picks, the Bucks ‘25, & our ‘26 & ‘28, for instance, and I’d probably have liked the trade.

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