(01-18-2023, 03:17 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: [ -> ]It's possible. Hell, anything is possible in this player empowerment era.
But, my gut is with @"DanSchwartzgan" on this. I feel like he sticks it out to the end of this deal to get his super max contract and then finds an escape route.
And just so you don't think I'm trying to give the Mavs a break, I'm currently about 80% sure he's in another uniform a couple of seasons after signing that deal.
Luka is staying here in Dallas, as long as the team wants him. 99.999% sure about this, I followed him since the beginning of his career. Luka is not a player that runs away from trouble, nor is he the player that doesn't stand up to challenges. On the court and off the court, these things are connected. Everything in his past since the beginning of his career, points towards this being the clear answer.
That being said, he is not a passive player if I can use that expression. He is a player that wants and is impacting his teammates, as well as coaches. He looks as basketball in holistic manner, and that all is connected, from coaches to players etc. and to improve his game he also has inputs to the rest of the team, but same time hi is amenable to input to his game as well, he listens. We see it in many different ways, including body language and also verbally with coaches. And this is awesome. Watching the Netflix documentary about Jordan, this is exactly what Michael did as well. Not everyone like it, probably most players and coaches, and some fans may not like, but it is the absolute right thing to do. In any work place, organisation, not only sports, we need to improve one another top down and the other way around. The key is that the same person same time also needs to have the ability to take inputs also in the other direction, and also take advice and not only give advice. Which is exactly what Luka is doing. He improved so many parts of his game and took towards the suggestions how to improve his game. He is a leader, and will be vocal about when he sees where the team can improve.
Luka is staying a Maverick until the team trades him. But Mavs don't know this luckely. Luka will tell his opinions, when he feels that they may improve the team.
(01-18-2023, 06:19 PM)burekemde Wrote: [ -> ]Luka is staying here in Dallas, as long as the team wants him. 99.999% sure about this, I followed him since the beginning of his career. Luka is not a player that runs away from trouble, nor is he the player that doesn't stand up to challenges. On the court and off the court, these things are connected. Everything in his past since the beginning of his career, points towards this being the clear answer.
That being said, he is not a passive player if I can use that expression. He is a player that wants and is impacting his teammates, as well as coaches. He looks as basketball in holistic manner, and that all is connected, from coaches to players etc. and to improve his game he also has inputs to the rest of the team, but same time hi is amenable to input to his game as well, he listens. We see it in many different ways, including body language and also verbally with coaches. And this is awesome. Watching the Netflix documentary about Jordan, this is exactly what Michael did as well. Not everyone like it, probably most players and coaches, and some fans may not like, but it is the absolute right thing to do. In any work place, organisation, not only sports, we need to improve one another top down and the other way around. The key is that the same person same time also needs to have the ability to take inputs also in the other direction, and also take advice and not only give advice. Which is exactly what Luka is doing. He improved so many parts of his game and took towards the suggestions how to improve his game. He is a leader, and will be vocal about when he sees where the team can improve.
Luka is staying a Maverick until the team trades him. But Mavs don't know this luckely. Luka will tell his opinions, when he feels that they may improve the team.
I feel like that's the case as well. Euro players tend to be loyal to the team. Dallas just needs to look for upgrades. Don't make a move just to make it. They need a couple of trades like the ones that brought Lopez and Holiday to Milwaukee.
Murray was amazing tonight.
MacMahon's statement:
Quote:Sources said Doncic, who hasn't shown a desire to be involved in personnel matters in the past, has strongly indicated he wants the Mavs to upgrade before the Feb. 9 trade deadline.
Cuban's response:
Quote:Luka has never suggested, asked, demanded or discussed changes to the roster.
Luka's response:
Quote:Obviously, I know, the people who are next to me, who I talk to, they know that’s not true. I didn’t say nothing about that. I talk to Nico. I talk to Fin [assistant GM Michael Finley] more than I used to. But that’s just not the way I talk to them. We have great communication and that just stays between us.
This all feels like word games and semantics to me, politician stuff....like Clinton saying he didn't have "sex" with Ms Lewinsky.
1) Luka's body language on the court "strongly indicates" he wants the roster upgraded.
2) I bet Duffy knows what Luka wants. And Duffy communicates with Nico and Fin VERY differently than Luka chumming it up with them.
Cuban and Luka are trying to avoid negative press. But I have very little doubt MacMahon's report is accurate in its spirit. He has been spot on for quite a few years now and is very tight with Woj and all his connections.
More than negative press and pleasantries, and part of the reason Cuban was mad about the mural and Luka reached out to the artist, is the fact that all parties involved want to be mindful of all of the Mavs players not named Luka.
McMahon is spot on, unless he doesn't fit ones narrative. Brunsons dad story about him wanting to sign extension in January, which McMahon reported and repeats on every occasion is obviously a lie that the spot on reporter McMahon fell for like a rookie. I mean, it is clear Brunson was dead on set on Knicks a year before his FA. At least. No way Mavs FO could do anything about it.
(01-19-2023, 06:11 AM)omahen Wrote: [ -> ]No way Mavs FO could do anything about it.
offering less money certainly didn't help
(01-19-2023, 06:11 AM)omahen Wrote: [ -> ]McMahon is spot on, unless he doesn't fit ones narrative. Brunsons dad story about him wanting to sign extension in January, which McMahon reported and repeats on every occasion is obviously a lie that the spot on reporter McMahon fell for like a rookie. I mean, it is clear Brunson was dead on set on Knicks a year before his FA. At least. No way Mavs FO could do anything about it.
Seriously?
Do you get how reporting works?
There is a vast difference between quoting/interviewing someone whose name is out there versus putting forward an anonymous story of "sources." In the good reporting world, "sources" means you are fact checking your story against your own reputation as much as possible. When you quote/interview someone it is not your reputation on the line but THAT person.
Just because Rick Brunson chooses to lie on the record does not mean MacMahon is not reliable. That is Rick Brunson's reputation on the line, not MacMahon's. It would be like saying the reporter that shared Clinton's quote "I did not have sex with Ms Lewinsky" were liars. Ha! Nope, they just reported what some dude said who was lying.
Putting the pieces together (not 100% serious of course)
- Luka wants the Mavs to upgrade
- but not about changes to the "roster"
- talks to Nico and Finley
=> bye bye Mr. Kidd
(the coach is not part of the roster and Luka does not talk to him)
Some of this is incorrect in the "surface level" way that the national perspective looks at a local team, but some of is
more correct as a result of not being mired down in the accepted day-to-day narrative of those who know every detail of the situation. I think it's at least interesting.
https://youtu.be/RcL8JvJowGc
(01-19-2023, 08:40 AM)Kammrath Wrote: [ -> ]Do you get how reporting works?
Unfortunately, what Tim MacMahon does these days is not actual reporting. It's content marketing. Even when based on a plausible nugget of truth, it's thinly sourced, unnecessarily inflammatory, and always conveniently timed to drop on the same day that Dallas plays on ESPN. It appears to be a vertically integrated marketing plan for maximum attention on specific days, with little or no follow-up after it serves its primary purpose.
I used to respect MacMahon's reporting when he wrote for the DMN, but ever since he went to ESPN it went downhill fast. To be fair, though, ESPN ruins everything it touches. I'm just glad that Stein got out with his integrity intact.
Can we please stop turning every thread into a Brunson breakdown.
Also even if Luka didn't say anything to the FO, McMahaon deserves a beer for putting the pressure on Nico, Cubes, and Fin. It's ridiculous that Luka has to, at this point, drop a 40 point triple double in order to win comfortably.
Imagine if Murray was on this team? Why didn't we throw 3 firsts for that? I thought that trade was a massive overpay at the time, and to be honest, it still is a little, but the Mavs need a guy like that yesterday.
Dinwiddie ain't it.
(01-19-2023, 08:59 PM)SleepingHero Wrote: [ -> ]Can we please stop turning every thread into a Brunson breakdown.
You mean the Mavs' second best player who was allowed to walk with no way of replacing him? THAT Brunson?
I'm glad you brought him up, because man-oh-man do I have a lot to say about him!
(joking, in case it's not obvious. You're right, of course)
(01-19-2023, 08:59 PM)SleepingHero Wrote: [ -> ]Can we please stop turning every thread into a Brunson breakdown.
Also even if Luka didn't say anything to the FO, McMahaon deserves a beer for putting the pressure on Nico, Cubes, and Fin. It's ridiculous that Luka has to, at this point, drop a 40 point triple double in order to win comfortably.
Imagine if Murray was on this team? Why didn't we throw 3 firsts for that? I thought that trade was a massive overpay at the time, and to be honest, it still is a little, but the Mavs need a guy like that yesterday.
Dinwiddie ain't it.
3 FRPs seems like the going rate for anyone you want to be the second banana. The better bet would be for Cuban to try to pouch some of the better talent evaluators around the league and start drafting better. We don't have the assets to build a team via trades only and not only is there a salary cap but we have a cheap owner which probably makes that pouching idea out of bounds.
(01-19-2023, 10:22 PM)cow Wrote: [ -> ]3 FRPs seems like the going rate for anyone you want to be the second banana. The better bet would be for Cuban to try to pouch some of the better talent evaluators around the league and start drafting better. We don't have the assets to build a team via trades only and not only is there a salary cap but we have a cheap owner which probably makes that pouching idea out of bounds.
That would bring us back to the topic how the Mavs ended up with Harrison, Finley and Kidd. And I think a different hiring strategy when it comes to front office personal is even less likely than a change of strategy when it comes to roster building.
![[Image: FmzsTjSWIAACC4D?format=jpg&name=large]](https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FmzsTjSWIAACC4D?format=jpg&name=large)