Categories
Uncategorized

Knicks Morning News (2025.02.02)

  • NBA rumors: Knicks eyeing Guerschon Yabusele? – Hoops Hype
    02/02/2025 11:07:29
     
  • NBA roundup: LeBron James? triple-double carries Lakers past Knicks – Hawaii Tribune-Herald
    02/02/2025 10:05:00
     
  • Knicks? OG Anunoby exits early in loss with right foot sprain; X-rays negative – NewsBreak
    02/02/2025 09:58:52
     
  • Knicks may finally have a reason to regret trading for Karl-Anthony Towns – Daily Knicks
    02/02/2025 09:58:47
     
  • Knicks’ OG Anunoby leaves loss to Lakers with sprained foot – Reuters.com
    02/02/2025 09:01:11
     
  • Knicks? OG Anunoby exits early in loss with right foot sprain; X-rays negative – New York Post
    02/02/2025 08:05:37
     
  • OG Anunoby?s latest injury could wreck Knicks? dreams if it?s serious – New York Post
    02/02/2025 07:13:00
     
  • NBA Insider reacts to OG Anunoby injury in Knicks’ loss to Lakers | SportsNite – sny.tv
    02/02/2025 06:35:02
     
  • LeBron’s Lakers Trade for Luka Doncic As They Beat Knicks – Athlon Sports
    02/02/2025 05:54:49
     
  • LeBron James triple-doubles in huge win over Knicks at MSG – Hoops Hype
    02/02/2025 06:33:45
     
  • LeBron triple-double leads Lakers over Knicks 128-112 – The Bakersfield Californian
    02/02/2025 05:53:30
     
  • Tom Thibodeau, Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart on Knicks’ defensive breakdowns in loss to Lakers, concern for OG Anunoby’s foot injury – sny.tv
    02/02/2025 06:18:51
     
  • LeBron James creates NBA history during Knicks-Lakers game – The Playoffs
    02/02/2025 05:09:08
     
  • A 2,500th 3-pointer, a triple-double, Bronny’s basket give LeBron James another memorable MSG game – The Associated Press
    02/02/2025 05:18:00
     
  • LeBron James, Lakers make ?Statement? in win over Knicks – OCRegister
    02/02/2025 05:04:53
     
  • LeBron triple-double leads Lakers over Knicks 128-112 – Manistee News Advocate
    02/02/2025 04:46:41
     
  • LA Lakers vs New York Knicks Player Stats and Box Score (Feb. 1) | 2024-25 NBA season – Sportskeeda
    02/02/2025 05:23:15
     
  • Lakers player grades: L.A. shocks the Knicks at the Garden – LeBron Wire
    02/02/2025 04:58:05
     
  • LeBron?s triple-double lifts Lakers past Knicks, 128-112, on the road – The Sporting Tribune
    02/02/2025 05:38:26
     
  • Knicks? Anunoby leaves game against Lakers with sprained right foot – The Associated Press
    02/02/2025 05:22:00
     
  • 102 replies on “Knicks Morning News (2025.02.02)”

    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!

    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?

    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?

    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.

    ā€œYeah, 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.ā€

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

    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

    Iā€™m probably in the minority, but I think the trade wasnā€™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 didnā€™t want to play center even though itā€™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?

    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 arenā€™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 itā€™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 itā€™s just not working.

    I mean, wtf???

    “And yeah, Mikal was overpriced, although not sure how itā€™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 ā€˜31 pick, but the others are already swapped and are constrained by the Stephen rule.

    Itā€™s weird bc as great as this trade is for LA itā€™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 itā€™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.

    *Probably* wouldnā€™t have mattered, but this is Exhibit A for why you donā€™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 sĆ­gnificant part in beating the Knicks. Kyrie can do more than he was doing. Itā€™s a gamble on their part, but it could work for them.

    As for Lukaā€™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 werenā€™t rated well by pundits but worked out well for them. I donā€™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 heā€™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 heā€™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.

    Thereā€™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.

    LeBron doesnā€™t really play defense anymore

    I think thatā€™s a choice bc he has to carry his sorry ass team. With us he wouldnā€™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 didnā€™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.

    Thereā€™s no reason to believe the spin that the Mavs only talked to the Lakers.(*)

    (*) Weā€™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,

    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. šŸ™‚

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

    Thereā€™s no reason to believe the spin that the Mavs only talked to the Lakers.(*)

    In any event, not to be argumentative, but if weā€™re going with ā€œessentiallyā€ with the Mikal trade, its essence was Grimes and five 1s for Mikal. It was an extremely high price.

    But thatā€™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.

    (*) Weā€™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 canā€™t wait to see what Luka and LeBron look like together.

    Luka and LeBron are definitely going to sell tickets. I donā€™t think they will be a better team though. As Strat says, itā€™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…

    Thereā€™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 itā€™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 couldā€™ve gotten that they turned down or didnā€™t consider? Iā€™m curious to hear othersā€™ 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 donā€™t hate Dallasā€™ team, but theyā€™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 ā€œmassively implausibleā€ and ā€œnormal and sane,ā€ 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.

    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 Dallasā€™ part, but Iā€™m in the meager minority that thinks this time the Lakers wonā€™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 heā€™ll just become a bigger James Harden and thatā€™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 youā€™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 Iā€™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.

    Dallasā€™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 youā€™ll admit youā€™re wrong,

    Hasnā€™t it already been undercut by Miloā€™s suggestion that the Mavs offered him to at least one other team?

    And again, thatā€™s why you donā€™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.

    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. LAā€™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 Mavsā€™ run to the finals last year was pretty fluky IMO and I donā€™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 Lukaā€™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 Lukaā€™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.

    (*) 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.

    Leave a Reply

    This site uses User Verification plugin to reduce spam. See how your comment data is processed.