(03-14-2025, 09:54 AM)Chicagojk Wrote: He looked great last night.  He generates so many open, good looks for teammates.  Seeing his low assist total shows you how bad they were making shots last night.

He still relies on power rather than quickness going to the rim.  That is something to monitor to see if that can be a part of his game again.

(03-14-2025, 06:25 PM)omahen Wrote: A tale of two games  Lakers role player were great against BKN while Luka and Reaves sucked. It was the other way around in the Milwaukee game. I can't believe how bad their back-up centers are. Never saw a more clumsy guy than Len, no idea what Lakers saw in him or how he can even be in the league. Moses Brown would be a 10 times better choice and I guess he would be all over the opportunity, as there could be plenty of minutes even without Hayes injured.

(03-14-2025, 07:43 PM)Scott41theMavs Wrote: They were idiots to rescind the Mark Williams trade. Glad the Mavs aren't the only ones.

(03-15-2025, 12:37 AM)myconsumerclub Wrote: I hope LA never wins another ring ever again

(03-15-2025, 02:19 AM)FireNicoHarrison Wrote: we're the only ones who think so here... hang on my friend.

(03-15-2025, 06:32 AM)WildArkieBoy Wrote: The Adelsons/Nico/JKidd brainfart did the deed, all doofuses to be sure.  Split-tooth Pat Dumont is now the face of the franchise.  DFW still has some nice hotels and Mexican eateries, but has no NFL or NBA presence in sports.  Still, we have the sixth floor of the School Book Depository for historical recognition. 

(03-15-2025, 06:57 AM)bubbler86 Wrote: NFL wise, the Cowboys are always the center of the NFL Universe due to the great disdain for them along with a substantial fan base.    They may not win, but talking heads and people will always watch.

(03-15-2025, 07:21 AM)WildArkieBoy Wrote: I'm among those who watch, but Jerry, from the Rose City area of North Little Rock, has been totally inept orchestrating the Cowboys.  He made the one good hire with Jimmy Johnson, but his ego destroyed the franchise when he wanted full recognition for three Super Bowls achieved without him calling a single play.  Dumbasses, especially those in their 80's, are a dime a dozen.

wab

F Gump Wrote:Whether their risk-reward evaluation on Luka was done wisely, we will learn in time. But it was not a general hesitance to spend but rather it was about Luka himself.

(03-15-2025, 09:11 AM)hakeemfaan Wrote: They have already lost. I said it the day he was traded that if Luka injured himself day 1 and never played again, the Mavs still lost because at the moment they traded him away they could have got much more than they did.  You can never make up for that. Also the Mavs have never been a free agent Mecca or a place where disgruntled stars forced their team’s hands to play.  Sure you might get an older KD, but even that is not guaranteed. He has better options now that Kyrie is hurt here. 

Also this board tends to lean a bit older fanbase. Serious question..Do kids these days really care about rings?  Even in the old days the kids who idolized AI and the Chuckster never thought less of them because they didn’t win a ring. Duncan had 4 titles and yet I doubt anyone in those days were pining to see him come to their town  Luka is one of the few guaranteed box office draws   Even rival city fans bought tickets to see him play. The Mavs have lost an entire generation of youngsters.  I see it in my household and kids of many of my friends. A mercenary bought title, if that even happens, is not bringing them back. How do you quantify alll that based on just contracts and cap flexibility?

Nico and Dumont are new here. They might have good intentions but their understanding of what matters to fans seems totally disconnected. Welts who should know how a fanbase is connected to a generational star saying he didn’t realize the backlash that would come? Seriously?   Also they all don’t have the historical knowledge of how this franchise is just another team and titles alone will never change that reality. Even if it tied their hands over the next 4 years, hitching on to the Luka bandwagon from age 26 to 30 would have kept this franchise relevant.  Titles or not. Even Booker said as much when he said how it felt with Luka here vs not.  

Anyway I see now that fans who were critical of Luka ( and I got criticized for countering them on this thread) are now promoting lakers fan forums here. Nice.

Accept that we have already lost this deal. That’s step one towards moving on. Step 2 would be Nico gone    I don’t get how anyone can discuss the draft or FA when the trust is gone ina GM.  One can call it as being negative. That’s fine.  Once someone shows their true self, I tend to believe them.  I will continue to root for this team. Not Luka. Not the Lakers.  However, until Nico and Welts are gone I am not spending any money on this franchise anymore. I know they don’t care and that’s fine too.

(03-15-2025, 09:30 AM)ThisIStheYear Wrote: The Cowboys will return to relevance before the Mavs for sure. Football teams turn around overnight all the time. Basketball takes a long time. You have to get lucky and find maybe the one player in the draft that comes around every three years or so on average that you can build a contender around. Then you need to wait about 3-4 years for them to mature. At the same time, you need a complimentary star (easier to find, but still difficult).  Finally, the others. It’s not a slam dunk that you can find the set of role players to fit perfectly around your superstar, but a competent organization should be able to navigate that challenge, though it might take a couple of years. This is all even more difficult, actually impossible to do, if you don’t control your draft picks for 4 years. The way I see it, if the Mavs don’t land a potential top 5 player in one of the next two drafts, the best case window to becoming a team worthy of fans won’t open for another 7-8 years, and probably longer. And we all know the Mavs can’t pull that off in the next two years. Get ready for a long period of irrelevance.

(03-15-2025, 09:11 AM)hakeemfaan Wrote: They have already lost. I said it the day he was traded that if Luka injured himself day 1 and never played again, the Mavs still lost because at the moment they traded him away they could have got much more than they did.  You can never make up for that. Also the Mavs have never been a free agent Mecca or a place where disgruntled stars forced their team’s hands to play.  Sure you might get an older KD, but even that is not guaranteed. He has better options now that Kyrie is hurt here. 

Also this board tends to lean a bit older fanbase. Serious question..Do kids these days really care about rings?  Even in the old days the kids who idolized AI and the Chuckster never thought less of them because they didn’t win a ring. Duncan had 4 titles and yet I doubt anyone in those days were pining to see him come to their town  Luka is one of the few guaranteed box office draws   Even rival city fans bought tickets to see him play. The Mavs have lost an entire generation of youngsters.  I see it in my household and kids of many of my friends. A mercenary bought title, if that even happens, is not bringing them back. How do you quantify alll that based on just contracts and cap flexibility?

Nico and Dumont are new here. They might have good intentions but their understanding of what matters to fans seems totally disconnected. Welts who should know how a fanbase is connected to a generational star saying he didn’t realize the backlash that would come? Seriously?   Also they all don’t have the historical knowledge of how this franchise is just another team and titles alone will never change that reality. Even if it tied their hands over the next 4 years, hitching on to the Luka bandwagon from age 26 to 30 would have kept this franchise relevant.  Titles or not. Even Booker said as much when he said how it felt with Luka here vs not.  

Anyway I see now that fans who were critical of Luka ( and I got criticized for countering them on this thread) are now promoting lakers fan forums here. Nice.

Accept that we have already lost this deal. That’s step one towards moving on. Step 2 would be Nico/Welts gone    I don’t get how anyone can discuss the draft or FA when the trust is gone ina GM.  One can call it as being negative. That’s fine.  Once someone shows their true self, I tend to believe them.  I will continue to root for this team. Not Luka. Not the Lakers.  However, until Nico and Welts are gone I am not spending any money on this franchise anymore. I know they don’t care and that’s fine too.

(03-14-2025, 07:43 PM)Scott41theMavs Wrote: They were idiots to rescind the Mark Williams trade. Glad the Mavs aren't the only ones.

(03-15-2025, 09:30 AM)ThisIStheYear Wrote: The Cowboys will return to relevance before the Mavs for sure. Football teams turn around overnight all the time. Basketball takes a long time. You have to get lucky and find maybe the one player in the draft that comes around every three years or so on average that you can build a contender around. Then you need to wait about 3-4 years for them to mature. At the same time, you need a complimentary star (easier to find, but still difficult).  Finally, the others. It’s not a slam dunk that you can find the set of role players to fit perfectly around your superstar, but a competent organization should be able to navigate that challenge, though it might take a couple of years. This is all even more difficult, actually impossible to do, if you don’t control your draft picks for 4 years. The way I see it, if the Mavs don’t land a potential top 5 player in one of the next two drafts, the best case window to becoming a team worthy of fans won’t open for another 7-8 years, and probably longer. And we all know the Mavs can’t pull that off in the next two years. Get ready for a long period of irrelevance.

(03-15-2025, 11:03 AM)mvossman Wrote: That guys injury history is super scary.  They were giving up most of their remaining assets for that trade.  If they found anything in that physical that made them second guess, I can see why they pulled out.

(03-15-2025, 11:35 AM)Scott41theMavs Wrote: The kicker to me is that they had really built the perfect team around Luka - if they just would have waited for him to come back from injury...

(03-15-2025, 11:55 AM)omahen Wrote: Totally agree. The cost for Mark Williams was a total all-in move. I was surprised they even did it in the first place due to his injury history, but thought that ok, perhaps he actually is healthy now. 

Knecht can be good. He had a rough period after the trade when I was wondering what is a big deal around him. But, once he got over the trade, he is awesome. Excellent shooter and much more athletic than he looks. I would only move him, if a great player is coming back. 

Reaves will be their big decision. His current contract is awesome, but only has one more year on it. He can really put up stats. Not that great facilitator, but still decent. I can easily see him playing next to Luka. On the other hand, he will be attacked in the playoffs. Playoffs this year will have a huge impact on their decision on him. 

Assuming Reaves proves to be a good piece moving forward. In the long term, Lakers need a center and an elite two-way wing, preferably a point of attack defender, who will replace LeBron. The likes of Bridges, Anunoby and similar. Problem is, they realistically only have assets for one of these player types. I would really go hard after Smart in the summer as a buy-low option.