I’ve been trying to figure out the football equivalent, maybe the chargers trading Justin Herbert for Saquon Barkley because Harbaugh wanted to build a great run game (ie trading a younger guy at a much more important position for an older, injury prone option because you fundamentally don’t understand what positions are most important to achieving your stated goal)
I don't follow the NBA at all and about the only basketball I watch is in March. I do live in DFW though and I have lots of friends who were blown away by this move (along with everyone else). I've really enjoyed hearing some of the conspiracy theories. Applying Occam's Razor, it would seem that: 1) The Mavs weren't interested in the pending supermax deal, and 2) Luka has something going on physically that kept him from being shopped around. Equally probable is that there were personality conflicts in the front office and this was a childish power move.
I'm with you, but if you try to make it make sense that's one of the only things that works. A healthy but chubby Luka being traded away for an aging "day to day" Davis doesn't compute. And it's more than that; Luka was the Mavs. The city embraced him, and he embraced the city. If you want to cut payroll, then you trade him for draft picks. Lots and lots of draft picks. The only thing that's logical is that he's got some underlying health issues that the Lakers are willing to gamble on. I dunno. It's bizarre.
Something malignant is always possible. But unlikely given the lack of buzz to anything like that.
I think the through line is the GM see’s Luka as 2003/2004 era Shaq - just not built to handle or worth giving full organizational leverage to. So he pulled the plug instead of trying to make it work with a 25/26 year old.
Man, I took in a good amount of trade content the last couple days. Would have loved to see where Jonathan’s reaction landed.
To the trade, legitimately one of the most shocking NBA moments. Choosing to not even offer Luka the max is borderline fireable on its own, and then to apparently get squeezed at the negotiating table is a mind boggling.
Somehow the new owners actual didn’t meddle enough! Quite a way to break a stereotype
He probably would have landed on something conspiratorial about Harrison trying to maintain power within the Mavericks and he would have been clued in enough to know.
Also, even if Dallas succeeded in building a top D, the entire history of the sport tells us it won’t matter because you aren’t winning a title without “the guy” — meaning a top 5 player and shot creator— and Kyrie Irving most definitely ain’t that
I’ve been trying to figure out the football equivalent, maybe the chargers trading Justin Herbert for Saquon Barkley because Harbaugh wanted to build a great run game (ie trading a younger guy at a much more important position for an older, injury prone option because you fundamentally don’t understand what positions are most important to achieving your stated goal)
I also saw an overweight Josh Allen (who huffed and puffed his way to a playoff loss to the chiefs) for Myles Garrett
Trading Joe Burrow for Lamar Jackson maybe.
I don't follow the NBA at all and about the only basketball I watch is in March. I do live in DFW though and I have lots of friends who were blown away by this move (along with everyone else). I've really enjoyed hearing some of the conspiracy theories. Applying Occam's Razor, it would seem that: 1) The Mavs weren't interested in the pending supermax deal, and 2) Luka has something going on physically that kept him from being shopped around. Equally probable is that there were personality conflicts in the front office and this was a childish power move.
It’s hard to imagine a physical ailment that would justify this. He’s 25 and has a lot of options, presumably, for getting to a healthier point.
I'm with you, but if you try to make it make sense that's one of the only things that works. A healthy but chubby Luka being traded away for an aging "day to day" Davis doesn't compute. And it's more than that; Luka was the Mavs. The city embraced him, and he embraced the city. If you want to cut payroll, then you trade him for draft picks. Lots and lots of draft picks. The only thing that's logical is that he's got some underlying health issues that the Lakers are willing to gamble on. I dunno. It's bizarre.
Something malignant is always possible. But unlikely given the lack of buzz to anything like that.
I think the through line is the GM see’s Luka as 2003/2004 era Shaq - just not built to handle or worth giving full organizational leverage to. So he pulled the plug instead of trying to make it work with a 25/26 year old.
Sheer incompetence and vendetta from Nico is the best theory on offense right now.
Man, I took in a good amount of trade content the last couple days. Would have loved to see where Jonathan’s reaction landed.
To the trade, legitimately one of the most shocking NBA moments. Choosing to not even offer Luka the max is borderline fireable on its own, and then to apparently get squeezed at the negotiating table is a mind boggling.
Somehow the new owners actual didn’t meddle enough! Quite a way to break a stereotype
He probably would have landed on something conspiratorial about Harrison trying to maintain power within the Mavericks and he would have been clued in enough to know.
Also, even if Dallas succeeded in building a top D, the entire history of the sport tells us it won’t matter because you aren’t winning a title without “the guy” — meaning a top 5 player and shot creator— and Kyrie Irving most definitely ain’t that