Ag1188 said:Welcome to California Luka Doncic. In-N-Out is better than Whataburger.
— In-N-Out Burger ᶠᵃⁿ (@innoutburger_) February 2, 2025
txagman1998 said:
I know this has already been said many times, but the Mavs have to know something (or think they know something) regarding Luka's long-term health and conditioning. Nico has done a good job upgrading this roster since he got here, and now he pulls this move out of nowhere, seemingly getting the minimum trade assets for Luka??? Something else that hasn't been said yet has to be at play here.
I certainly don't buy the "Mavs to Vegas" idea, Dallas is too big of a market to move the team. Of course I believe the Adelsons main goal is to get gambling approved in Texas so they can build a casino/arena, and that goal supersedes winning a championship. But I don't think the league would allow them to move the team out of a big market like Dallas to Vegas when they simply could have awarded them an expansion team in Vegas.
Assuming the league doesn't veto this trade, I guess the roster will be as follows:
Starters - Kyrie, Klay, PJ, AD, Gafford
Bench - Dinwiddie, Hardy, Exum, Christie, Grimes, Marshall, O-Max, Lively, Powell
Short Term Injury Replacements/2-way - Gortman, Williams, Edwards, Kelley
As much as I hate that we traded Luka, the roster in the short term seems solid (to be clear, I would rather have Luka in the long term). I still feel like more information is needed as to what happened in the background, because on it's face, this is just a very odd move to make, even if it creates a solid roster in the short term.
If this were the case, you would leak the **** out of it and let it drag on for months until the fans said "well it looks like that's all they could get at this point".Proposition Joe said:
I think it has to be some combination of Luka being more hurt more than we are aware, and that Luka wasn't really blind-sided by this and there was a watershed "I'm not re-signing here" that accelerated things.
I can see Nico's hand being forced by ownership or Luka saying he doesn't plan on hanging around... but as others have said, to not actually shop the deal and get more than what Dallas got simply doesn't make sense unless there was a bigger production issue at play that Lakers were made aware of but other teams weren't yet privy to.
mavsfan4ever said:
The worst part is no hope for the future. The team will be good this year. But we now have no superstar and absolutely no way to get one bc we are too good to tank and don't get a haul of picks in return. So there is literally no hope to getting a great player. We will be in the terrible position of being decent for years to come.
Seven Costanza said:
I would resign if I were a GM asked to toe the line on something as ridiculous as this. He would do fine professionally and financially....not if he's dumb enough to make a move like this on his own.
Not that it matters but I will be curious if this was 100% Nico and the owners just went along with it or if this was dictated by the owners. Either way it bodes very poorly for the future of this organization, but it would be worse coming from the new owners. As you can see with the Dallas Cowboys, that stink stays around forever.Seven Costanza said:
I would resign if I were a GM asked to toe the line on something as ridiculous as this. He would do fine professionally and financially.
94chem said:Ag1188 said:Welcome to California Luka Doncic. In-N-Out is better than Whataburger.
— In-N-Out Burger ᶠᵃⁿ (@innoutburger_) February 2, 2025
Speaking of other companies I don't care about...and they're right.
Nico Harrison told The News that he and Lakers counterpart Rob Pelinka began having "basketball" conversations more than a month ago.
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) February 2, 2025
“Then all of a sudden we’re like, ‘Would you ever do this?’
‘Nah, you’re joking, right?’
‘Hmm. Interesting. Maybe I would.’ https://t.co/2gPtgNqLNf
TheRatt87 said:
The 25 yr old generational talent gets traded for scraps to the largest market to replace the soon-to-be retiring 40 yr old generational talent. And people actually think the NBA isn't just rigged entertainment.
TheRatt87 said:
The 25 yr old generational talent gets traded for scraps to the largest market to replace the soon-to-be retiring 40 yr old generational talent. And people actually think the NBA isn't just rigged entertainment.
"Nah, you're joking" - PelinkaSpaceship said:Nico Harrison told The News that he and Lakers counterpart Rob Pelinka began having "basketball" conversations more than a month ago.
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) February 2, 2025
“Then all of a sudden we’re like, ‘Would you ever do this?’
‘Nah, you’re joking, right?’
‘Hmm. Interesting. Maybe I would.’ https://t.co/2gPtgNqLNf
Proposition Joe said:TheRatt87 said:
The 25 yr old generational talent gets traded for scraps to the largest market to replace the soon-to-be retiring 40 yr old generational talent. And people actually think the NBA isn't just rigged entertainment.
So who is doing the rigging? Who with the Mavs is being compensated?
Man, what just happened… This was a real quote from Mark Cuban. pic.twitter.com/XmBFEVFDZl
— Drew Hanlen (@DrewHanlen) February 2, 2025
Head Ninja In Charge said:Proposition Joe said:TheRatt87 said:
The 25 yr old generational talent gets traded for scraps to the largest market to replace the soon-to-be retiring 40 yr old generational talent. And people actually think the NBA isn't just rigged entertainment.
So who is doing the rigging? Who with the Mavs is being compensated?
The conspiracy theorist in me says it would be Nico. Ex-Nike exec, LeBron retiring soon, massive market, Luka's a Jordan athlete, etc.
DannyDuberstein said:
The odd part of "body breaking down" is that basically none of this stuff he's had has been that serious. Mostly muscle strains and bs. Yeah, he needs to get his **** in gear, but it's not like he's already ruined it in any way or suffered something that can be expected to plague him
rsf0626 said:
Nico must have inklings that Luka wasnt going to re-sign here. This is the only thing that makes sense at the moment
Nico Harrison, the Dallas Mavericks GM has said he left Luka Doncic a text message and voicemail but Luka hasn’t replied:
— NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) February 2, 2025
“My guess is he probably doesn’t want to talk to me.” 😬
via @townbrad pic.twitter.com/ErbfapoDmj
Kind of wild to think he would just walk away from a 5-year $345 million super-max deal.rsf0626 said:
Nico must have inklings that Luka wasnt going to re-sign here. This is the only thing that makes sense at the moment
Jerry Jones today pic.twitter.com/Yqd8el17mY
— [Official] P1Domo (@P1Domo) February 2, 2025
I don't think Luka would have walked away, though. I think he would have signed it and just kept half assing his conditioning like he has been. There isn't really a history of European stars forcing their way out like there is with American stars (Kawhi, AD, Durant, Harden, etc)Zachary Klement said:Kind of wild to think he would just walk away from a 5-year $345 million super-max deal.rsf0626 said:
Nico must have inklings that Luka wasnt going to re-sign here. This is the only thing that makes sense at the moment
Honestly, I think Nico was just being a complete dumbass here...the return makes no sense. They should have gotten way more for Luka.
This feels like a type of deal in fantasy football that one of your buddies texts you about and you are so shocked they'd even propose the idea that you have to try and act like you aren't too excited so they will actually propose it in the app.
Was ready to watch this dude smoke 3 packs and beer belly 40 wins for a decade.
— Texas Aggie Meltdown Show (@MeltdownAgs) February 2, 2025
This is bullsh** of the highest order @dallasmavs #EAD https://t.co/ssWulUv6fA
