Adam Loewy and Chris Krotovil are morons. That chain of facts is so unbelievably nonsensical I'm shocked that anyone has given it any sort of credibility.

If you watched the press conference, and read the tea leaves it's clear this is a case of a narcissist GM being wholly locked-in on one goal, combined with an ownership group that doesn't have anyone "in the room" to challenge the GM's judgment. Also, people don't seem to realize that the fact Nico comes from a corporate background more than a sports background probably says a lot about why this decision got made.

He seems like an account director or business development guy through and through.

M.C. Swag said:

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CoachRTM said:

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Dallas fans will say things to cope, but there is no way to spin that this doesn't gut the franchise.

If you started all over and made every team draft, Luka is anywhere from the 2nd-4th pick regardless of what fast food he eats. He's literally the guy you build the next decade+ of your franchise around.

He's also the only reason why free agents were interested in going to Dallas - because he can make you a championship contender by himself if you have any sort of supporting cast.

To only get back an aging Anthony Davis (who is a good player but not the superstar that will win you a championship) and a fairly useless 2029 pick……. that's just pitiful.

The Mavs had a title window the next 10 years that just disappeared overnight. Now the Lakers have the perfect setup going into the post-Lebron era.

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Who in Dallas is coping? There's active protests at the AAC and a literal shrine to Luka.

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Where you been man? Hope all is well, other than what went down over the past couple of days.

I think there are multiple basketball-related reasons that tie together why this happened:

1) Harrison and Pelinka go back 20ish years to when Kobe changed agents, left Adidas and signed with Nike. These two helped secure that deal for Kobe. They are tight. He knew he could trust Rob to keep it quiet if he went searching for a piece he thought could get the Mavs over the top.

2) I know it might sound crazy to Mav fans but Harrison really thinks AD is the missing link to winning right now. AD is getting dragged like hell right but the SOB is as good as anyone this side of Joker when healthy. He completely changes the game on the defensive end when he is dialed in. His injuries are the only reason he's not a multiple time defensive MVP by now. This is getting lost in conversation. And yes, I know the key is him staying healthy. He'd actually been very healthy the last two years until last week. This trade conversation definitely started before his latest injury happened. The fact that he got hurt recently definitely takes some shine off.

3) There has to be some love lost between Luka and multiple others in the Dallas organization. I don't know enough about the Mavs but you don't ship this guy out if everything is peachy keen. There's more to the story here somewhere.

Scientific said:

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I've hated the Lakers so much, as a kid I didn't even appreciate Kobe lol. I don't think the NBA is always looking out for L.A., because if that's the case, they'd much rather have a great Knicks team.

But this has LeBron written all over to me. That's the consistent factor, LeGM.

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As Jason Whitlock said on his podcast today, the premier East Coast team is Boston, not NY.

JDCAG (NOT Colin) said:

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Ol Jock 99 said:

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Quote:

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the fact Nico comes from a corporate background more than a sports background probably says a lot about why this decision got made

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You don't sell your biggest asset for cheap in the corporate world. You might sell it, but you darn well better get market value or better.

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That's the frustrating part.

I don't think you should get rid of Luka, but ok - let's say you've decided you have to.

How do you not shop him around and make it a known option?

This is like having an insanely rare classic car, deciding you're done dealing with upkeep, and just trading it to your neighbor Craig for his 5 year old Honda Accord

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AD is more like a 120k mile C5 Corvette

The URL "lasvegasmavericks.com" Has been registered already.

Conspiracy or coincidence?

Actually so are a lot of other combos of "Las Vegas" and NBA teams…surely just a smokescreen for the Mavericks theft that's in the early stages!

GM's sucking, a Dallas tradition...

jeffdjohnson said:

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"Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence".

I think this is what I've settled on -> Cuban sold to Adelson/Dumont 14 months ago -> Adelson/Dumont don't know anything about basketball -> They are uber-rich casino people who bought a toy and have a political agenda in Texas, nothing more -> Nico was hired to be the "basketball guy" and empowered as such -> Nico has a longstanding relationship with Pelinka and AD -> Nico doesn't like Luka -> Nico thinks AD is better -> Therefore Nico targeted his guy AD specifically -> Pelinka (obviously shocked) obviously kept it quiet -> Nico (dumbass shoe salesman) called Dumont and talked him into it -> Dumont doesn't know enough to push back, they don't even live here or understand the fan's connection to Luka -> Franchise now detonated due to not enough people in the chain of command, Mavericks organization and fandom over for at least 5-10 years.

I don't see how Nico or Adelson/Dumont can ever sit courtside at a game in the AAC without being booed or worse. I wonder how the owners feel about this now, there is no way they understood the repercussions to this. They just wanted a toy, now they've created the most toxic environment possible in American professional sports

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Don't forget Grey's Law "Any sufficiently advanced incompetence is indistinguishable from malice"

Also, that's Bob Sturms take on his. His substack article on this is free

https://bobsturm.substack.com/p/the-case-against-eternal-binding

He basically says that neither Nico nor the owners probably had any idea how badly this would blow up, Nico was laser focused on AD specifically, and that Nico was willing to give up anything including Luka to get AD. They thought it was a short term basketball move and nothing else, and not franchise suicide

They seriously can never attend another game again. I'm not sure I'd trust myself to not do something stupid if I was next to Nico or the owners at a game, and I'm much more calm/rational than most of the people at the AAC lol.

They literally can never show their face again in public in Dallas again. I guess they didn't realize that when the deal was made but how stupid can you be? I'm fascinated to see the reaction if they ever attend another game and are shown on the big screen.

I'm also fascinated to see what the crowd is like on Saturday. There will really be no one to boo bc there is no way Nico or the owners are in the building. And it's not fair to boo AD, so I hope the crowd doesn't attack him. But I'm not sure what they do.

Quote:

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They literally can never show their face again in public in Dallas again

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I'd wager a not insignificant amount of money that the average Mavs fan, much less the average Dallasitte, has no clue what any of these people look like.

Knecht was supposed to be apart of the deal but Nico got talked down and out of it. Wow. Reports are slowly coming out

They are also reporting that Doncic is currently weighing a big mac less than 270.

So my Question for Mavs fans is this had the Mavs/Lakers agreed to a deal involving Luka for AD/Knecht/1st rd pick, how would you feel about it?

No way in hell. Luka is generational. No major injuries. I don't trade a guy like that unless he's an absolute cancer in the room, but his teammates seem to love him. Really bonded with Kyrie

knoxtom said:

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They are also reporting that Doncic is currently weighing a big mac less than 270.

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Even if that's true. He looks like the same guy that played for a NBA Championship less than a year ago. The "he drinks too much and eats like crap" is nothing more than a distraction piece. They're protecting people and using Luka as the escape goat

knoxtom said:

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They are also reporting that Doncic is currently weighing a big mac less than 270.

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Doesn't look different. And all logic is voided when they traded him for what they are afraid of him becoming

Trucker 96 said:

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knoxtom said:

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They are also reporting that Doncic is currently weighing a big mac less than 270.

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Doesn't look different. And all logic is voided when they traded him for what they are afraid of him becoming

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Here's the thing, Anthony Davis has been regarded as an athlete that doesn't like to work out or take care of his body, right? Am I just imagining that? The guy is always injured and I swore that was the take on him years ago.

Trading for AD is crazy. While he's really good, he's much older than Luka and can never stay healthy for an entire season

Aggie Dad 26 said:

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Trucker 96 said:

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knoxtom said:

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They are also reporting that Doncic is currently weighing a big mac less than 270.

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Doesn't look different. And all logic is voided when they traded him for what they are afraid of him becoming

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Here's the thing, Anthony Davis has been regarded as an athlete that doesn't like to work out or take care of his body, right? Am I just imagining that? The guy is always injured and I swore that was the take on him years ago.

Trading for AD is crazy. While he's really good, he's much older than Luka and can never stay healthy for an entire season

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Maybe you are thinking of Zion. AD started working out with Kobe when he was a teenager

Guitarsoup said:

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Aggie Dad 26 said:

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Trucker 96 said:

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knoxtom said:

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They are also reporting that Doncic is currently weighing a big mac less than 270.

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Doesn't look different. And all logic is voided when they traded him for what they are afraid of him becoming

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Here's the thing, Anthony Davis has been regarded as an athlete that doesn't like to work out or take care of his body, right? Am I just imagining that? The guy is always injured and I swore that was the take on him years ago.

Trading for AD is crazy. While he's really good, he's much older than Luka and can never stay healthy for an entire season

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Maybe you are thinking of Zion. AD started working out with Kobe when he was a teenager

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Zion is definitely lazy and has issues with working out/diet. I know it was reported before the season started that he lost a bunch of weight so maybe he's gotten on track?

But years ago, around the time AD went to the Lakers or shortly after, I swore it was being talked about (t.v) that AD didn't like working out.

Guitarsoup said:

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Aggie Dad 26 said:

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Trucker 96 said:

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knoxtom said:

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They are also reporting that Doncic is currently weighing a big mac less than 270.

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Doesn't look different. And all logic is voided when they traded him for what they are afraid of him becoming

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Here's the thing, Anthony Davis has been regarded as an athlete that doesn't like to work out or take care of his body, right? Am I just imagining that? The guy is always injured and I swore that was the take on him years ago.

Trading for AD is crazy. While he's really good, he's much older than Luka and can never stay healthy for an entire season

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Maybe you are thinking of Zion. AD started working out with Kobe when he was a teenager

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I just did a search and there are articles that support the idea that AD likes working out and takes care of his body.

On Reddit (4 years ago) there's a post where someone discussed that there's a rumor he doesn't like to work out and uses the early part of the season to get in shape. That's what I remember hearing. He basically comes in out of shape and plays NBA games to get into shape.

Who knows...

Would any of you give that supermax contract to Zion? Zions also has top ten in the NBA talent but nobody would ever give him 345 million. Zion choose fat and happy over legend. Doncic seems to be following that path as well.

I'm not saying I completely agree with the Luka trade, but I do understand it. Luka refused to do what is required of a professional nba player and is regressing fast. He absolutely REFUSED to play defense and he simply wasn't in sufficient shape to play at speed..

Did the mavs panic sell? Yeah probably. But they couldn't get him serious and were about to have to give him 70 million a year.

Yall remember Finley taking Luka's beer during the WCF celebration? Wondering if they've been upset with his drinking habits for a while.

The Shank Ag said:

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Yall remember Finley taking Luka's beer during the WCF celebration? Wondering if they've been upset with his drinking habits for a while.

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Legit question, could he be an alcoholic?

It's wild that someone that has to play basketball that much carries that much fat. His metabolism can't be that slow.

This is a really great take-down of the moronic Loewy/Kratovil conspiracy theory.

I've seen a lot of people saying the Mavericks traded Luka so that the new ownership group could move the team to Las Vegas, but that's not going to happen.

1. If the new ownership group wanted to crush the fanbase and kill all interest, they would have traded for a laundry list… https://t.co/E2a1aKc2kx

— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) February 4, 2025

Also, this goes to support my point that Nico sees no personal risk to himself because he never intended to be a GM again after this job.

"There has been belief, which multiple team and league sources expressed to me over the past months long before this trade, that Harrison does not have a long-term desire to remain in his current role as general manager."

Seems like a pertinent thing for an owner to know! https://t.co/rJWPbpuJI2

— Mike Piellucci (@mikelikessports) February 4, 2025