(05-12-2025, 03:25 PM)HoosierDaddyKid Wrote: https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2025/05/09/former-dallas-mayor-the-luka-trade-is-going-to-hurt-for-a-long-time/


Former Dallas Mayor says the Luka trade is going to hurt for a long time.

(05-13-2025, 01:43 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: Can't speak for the former Dallas Mayor, but recent events have potentially shortened the "hurt time" factor for me significantly.

(05-13-2025, 01:48 PM)cow Wrote: Fire Nico and we can talk.  Until that happens, I'm not sure we'll see Flagg in a Mavs uniform to open the season, if ever.

(05-13-2025, 01:55 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: They aren't firing Harrison this summer, obviously. It would've happened already if they were going to do it. 

You don't have to talk to me if you don't want, my dude!

(05-13-2025, 01:58 PM)cow Wrote: In order, no shit, no shit, no shit "my dude".  I'm just trying to save you another broken heart before Nico does what Nico does.

(05-13-2025, 02:06 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: The heart's gonna do what the heart's gonna do, my dude. I know the stakes, I'm an adult, and I'm back in! 

Straight up: if you'd given me the choice between keeping Luka and a chance at drafting Flagg, I'd have chosen this route. I know they lucked/backed/bumbled into it, but I PREFER where they are today than where they were a year ago. 

Is there a (high) chance they screw it up? Of course! That's sports fandom. At least there's a reason to tune in to find out now, which didn't seem possible a week ago. 

I have been feeling a hole in my life since February where Mavs fandom used to be. I am choosing to be hopeful and interested again. This miracle is what I needed.

(05-13-2025, 02:11 PM)cow Wrote: I'm fine with trading Luka and people being excited for Flagg, but if we had a competent GM we'd be in a much better position as we should have added another 3-4 FRPs in the Luka trade.  That negotiating deficiency will effect our ability to put a team around Flagg and the idiots who are responsible for that deficiency are still running the show.  I'm excited for the potential of Flagg, but we are very likely to flub roster building around him if we even keep the pick in the first place.  Don't fall into battered wife syndrome and at least wait until the kid suits up for us.  There is a long way to go.

(05-13-2025, 02:14 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: Agree with all the above, but choosing not to wait around for the next dumb shoe to drop. It feels like that's all I've been doing for months, and it's not hurting Harrison, who doesn't know we exist, it's hurting ME. 

If/when the next dumb thing happens, I'll deal with it then, with whatever amount of anger feels appropriate to me. 

For now, I'm grateful that something AMAZING happened to the team I've been following for decades, and that I have actual positive and possible things to consider for a nice change.

(05-13-2025, 02:27 PM)cow Wrote: Just don't be surprised when other fan reaction is equal parts joy and terror.  And the fumbling of Luka Doncic predates Nico, he's just the current obstacle to this team's success.

(05-13-2025, 02:06 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: The heart's gonna do what the heart's gonna do, my dude. I know the stakes, I'm an adult, and I'm back in! 

Straight up: if you'd given me the choice between keeping Luka and a chance at drafting Flagg, I'd have chosen this route. I know they lucked/backed/bumbled into it, but I PREFER where they are today than where they were a year ago. 

(05-13-2025, 02:33 PM)OBX Maverick Wrote: I made a comment similar to this yesterday. Would you rather have Luka and our prior core or the current roster (and a future 1st) + Flagg, realizing that we wouldn’t likely have been lottery bound if we kept Luka. We actually might be in a better long term situation now. Only time will tell if that is true.

(05-13-2025, 02:33 PM)OBX Maverick Wrote: I made a comment similar to this yesterday. Would you rather have Luka and our prior core or the current roster (and a future 1st) + Flagg, realizing that we wouldn’t likely have been lottery bound if we kept Luka. We actually might be in a better long term situation now. Only time will tell if that is true.

(05-13-2025, 02:46 PM)cow Wrote: Unless you buy into the conspiracy that the lottery was rigged, it's kind of a flawed comparison as you should be looking at more draft compensation from the Luka trade that landed you in the lottery.

(05-13-2025, 03:19 PM)OBX Maverick Wrote: I’m putting aside the assets we should have obtained. Just talking about the two rosters. Also, there’s a distinct possibility, if we had obtained further assets from the trade that we wouldnt have made the lottery either in that scenario

(05-13-2025, 02:41 PM)KillerLeft Wrote: For sure. 

We'll obviously never know what the future would've held with Luka staying in the mix, and the loss of that potential will always sting for many Mavs fans. I, myself, was growing increasingly skeptical that it was going to work, and finding it more and more difficult to like rooting for Luka, even with him on my favorite team. 

None of this excuses the execution of the deal, which was ridiculous, or the way in which communicating everything about it afterwards to the fans made it 100x worse, but the main reason for MY Mavs depression over the past few months was the loss of the NEXT TEN YEARS of hope, not because of Luka being gone, but because the maneuver was made in such a short-sighted, "the next two years are all that matters" way. This chance at Flagg feels to me like an opportunity, not only to right that particular wrong, but to come out AHEAD of where they were before they made the Luka trade. Flagg is 18, and Luka was already 25. With so much talent already here, it seems possible they can simply reshape their roster simply and subtly in order to bridge the gap between now and the days ahead when they start to control their own draft capital again. 

Will it be easy? Probably not, but POSSIBLE. Is Harrison the guy to do it? Probably not, but that's out of my control. Again, things are POSSIBLE again. If you're asking for more than that as a sports fan, I'm not sure you're going to be happy very often.

(05-13-2025, 04:31 PM)RasheedsBigWhiteSpot Wrote: Sources: Mavericks plan to draft Cooper Flagg, won't trade No. 1 pick

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/45130020/sources-mavericks-plan-draft-cooper-flagg-trade-no-1-pick

(05-13-2025, 04:56 PM)Winter Wrote: The owners need Cooper Flagg.... maybe even more than the team does. Flagg fills the stadium, put murals on downtown walls, and rings up jerseys at the cash register. No savvy owner trades this away... even if it was a trade for KD or Giannis.

And they likely won't have any of the concerns about conditioning or defense. CF really is the perfect cover for the GMs incompetence. 

But even though the Ademan's can hide, Nico probably can't. His exit though is likely delayed. I'm guessing fans will have to put the rope away for at least another year.

(05-13-2025, 03:21 PM)cow Wrote: More picks from the Lakers wouldn't have altered our lottery outcome though.