Luka Dealt to Lakers: Nico Harrison is a Basketball Terrorist

[KillerLeft]

@DallasMaverick

What would it have felt like in The Cave if someone had traded Dirk?

That guy was a Cave Pal???? What was his name?

[speedkilz88]

“I texted [Mark Cuban], and I said, 'I'm so confused.' He wrote back, 'That makes two of us.’”

— Chandler Parsons on the Mavs trading Luka

via Legion Hoops

[Dixon Cider]

@JoshEberly

1) This Luka trade
2) We Believe Warriors
3) Dez caught it
4) 06 Free Throws
5) Romo’s snap

Pain rankings.

Because it was in front of a lot of family who laughed at me, Leon Lett's Thanksgiving disaster stuck with me for a long time...but on your list #2 is probably the hardest for me.

Jackie Smith in the Super Bowl and the Dwight Clark catch ahead of the Romo blunder.  I’d almost put the catch #2 on my list.  As a young kid watching that unfold there was nothing more gut wrenching.

[DallasMaverick]

Jackie Smith in the Super Bowl and the Dwight Clark catch ahead of the Romo blunder.  I’d almost put the catch #2 on my list.  As a young kid watching that unfold there was nothing more gut wrenching.

No! Danny! No!

[Dixon Cider]

No! Danny! No!

That was tough, too.  Lots of frustrating moments during that time.

[fifteenth]

That guy was a Cave Pal???? What was his name?

He was one of the young guys that went with us on the BDL exodus. Can't remember his other handle at the moment. 

Yo, DM, who were you before? Other than a Mav's employee?  :-)

[greenhornSLO]

Nico was just an enforcer. Behind him stands the NBA top brass, who used the owners of the Lakers and Mavericks as tools. The basic goal was the NBA's marketing growth. And bringing a white European to LA means renewed marketing growth in the USA and Europe. The Lakers got theirs (very cheaply), but what the Adelsons get, we'll probably never know (Las Vegas things???)! Since after all this it's slowly necessary to remove the enforcers, Nico will also say goodbye soon!

[DallasMaverick]

He was one of the young guys that went with us on the BDL exodus. Can't remember his other handle at the moment. 

Yo, DM, who were you before? Other than a Mav's employee?  :-)

I was on the Fish board, but nothing before that.

[hakeemfaan]

It's honestly crazy to me that everyone in the NBA sphere has witnessed his behavior for years now and no one would call him out on it, other than Windhorst.  Everyone treats him like a child whole tantrums are cute, instead of as a professional.  I think of the vitriol James Harden got from 29 other fanbases and the national media as a guy not serious about winning.

That’s not true. Many here in the media and national media have been critical of certain aspects of Luka. 

The reason he didn’t get the same criticism as Harden is because he kept producing deep into the playoffs.  Plus he is 25. Are we sure 25 year old Harden got the same scrutiny as 28 year old Harden?  If Luka had kept this up the critical voices would have got louder.  However coming off a title push and playing a ton of minutes, why should he be blamed loudly right now? 

For those talking about Boston and his knee: a) Lou Dort was going at his knees that whole series. Are we sure it was just fatigue?  b) Boston lost to the Bucks.  Did they panic and make changes. For those just saying that showed Brown and Taytum were superior to Kyrie and Dirk, I say give Derek white on this team and we probably would have won. He is not their top 3 player. We lost easily but the margin in most games was not much. They were a deeper team and one Derek White switch would have made the difference. 

How anyone can look at that series, ignore the difference in team composition, and trade away Luka a year later is beyond me and something  I will never forgive this regime for.  For those feeling I might be biased and overlooking Luka’ s flaws, I have been critical of many aspects of his game. At the same time I have also marveled at how rare a talent this guy is and respected the dog in him to keep going at the other team. Win or lose, good game or bad, you never watched a Luka game and asked where he was hiding.  Plus his game was not dependent on elite athleticism and as long as his weight is reasonably in control, offensively he can play for a long time. Defensively you protect him with big defensive guards who can score a bit. Just like most teams with offensive studs protect them 

He should not have been traded at this point in his career. If the fear was 3 years later he would fall off a cliff, and we would get nothing for him, I would still have taken that chance every single day than what we eventually got back for him.  A 32 year old , less talented player doesn’t move the needle for me. If traded now, it shouldn’t have been for a win now move. Other than Jokic or Giannis or Curry, Luka still gives you the best chance to win right now.  If you wanted to trade him at 25 it shouldn’t have been have been for picks, young talent, and then proceed to trade Kyrie also and reset. The mive they did makes no sense. 

 I am weak and mostly always forgive folks who might have even badly hurt me.  I will never forgive either Nico or Dumant over what happened here.

[KillerLeft]

This could be BS, not sure. But, if true, the Mavs' problems could be even bigger than we thought. 

https://youtu.be/UzNxr7JCoz0?si=7McokemGamteYWL2

[SwisherPrice]

I haven't seen Luka crack a genuine smile all day...he looks miserable. He will probably end up liking playing for the Lakers on the court but I don't think he will like the extra spotlight and media attention that comes with being a Laker. Dallas was the perfect big-market team for his personality.

[SleepingHero]

https://x.com/GrantAfseth/status/1886978754301358241

Kyrie shares his thoughts on the Luka trade.

Dude is going through it like us.

[SleepingHero]

Luka on the Laker bench. Many comments online say he does not look happy at all.

[hakeemfaan]

This could be BS, not sure. But, if true, the Mavs' problems could be even bigger than we thought. 

https://youtu.be/UzNxr7JCoz0?si=7McokemGamteYWL2

None of us will ever know unless Nico talks. 

I am not doubting the Adelsons didn’t want to pay.  However was that based on Nico telling them that Luka was not worth it? What if the GM told the owners that this is exactly the type of player for whom the supermax was created?  This is the same GM who apparently fired all of Luka’s closest confidants. So it’s not like he was on great terms with Luka. 

If ownership were fully behind this then why not open the process to all teams. If they were fully aware then they knew the backlash they would get anyway.  Open it up and live with the risk that Luka doesn’t agree to anything and walks out and they get nothing.  The other side is they could have ended with a far better deal. 

How does this explain the leak that 100% came from the Lakers camp gloating how a better deal was in place but Pelinka negotiated it down after expressing concerns of Luka being a drunk and overweight?  

How does this explain the press conference where Nico seemed completely out of touch?  How does this explain him taking shots at Luka after trading him?  Did the owners force him to act like that?

Not giving a pass to the owners at all but Nico had a twinkle in his eye in that presser. Certainly didn’t seem like someone whose career reputation had gone down the drain because ownership forced his hand.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

never mind

[cow]

-Enrage the fanbase by trading away a superstar just entering his prime.
-Couch the move as win now by adding a player or players exiting their primes (which is why I wouldn't be surprised if the team sells off their depth for KD).
-Fail spectacularly in the short-term while leveraging your future given you no hope of putting out a competent product which further erodes the fanbase.
-When you've successfully dwindled your attendance, make demands of the city for new accommodations for a new arena which gets denied.
-Move the team to the owners preferred destination.

We've seen this playbook before in other sports. I'm not much of a conspiracy guy but when everyone (casual fans, hardcore, media, players, executives and team officials, etc.) know that the return on this trade made zero sense, you open yourself up to tinfoil hats. Maybe I need to stay off of YT.

[ThisIStheYear]

@JoshEberly

1) This Luka trade
2) We Believe Warriors
3) Dez caught it
4) 06 Free Throws
5) Romo’s snap

Pain rankings.

Awesome game for these end times. I’m a little older probably and will date myself, but here you go:

1) Luka trade by far (both pain and anger)
2) The Catch 
3) Colt McCoy injury against Alabama
4)  Lorenzo Charles (I got over this one and appreciate that Wolfpack team now but I was stunned at the time as a young fan of Phi Slamma Jamma
5) DWhistle (on second thought, this should be 3, so genuinely rigged).

[Radical Mavs]

there it is. 

Kill me. Please.

I don't know you guys, but this jersey looks awful. The 77 don't look good on those colors.

[Radical Mavs]

@JoshEberly

1) This Luka trade
2) We Believe Warriors
3) Dez caught it
4) 06 Free Throws
5) Romo’s snap

Pain rankings.

For me, I will put loyalty first... And that's Dirk's retiring from basketball.

[Radical Mavs]

One more thing from me. The way Nico handled that press conference, felt to me like when DW and LeBron were mucking Dirk.