Luka Dealt to Lakers: Nico Harrison is a Basketball Terrorist

[DallasMaverick]

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.

It's a significant risk on Pelinka's part. Can he salvage Luka?

One could argue that his career was more at risk than Nico's, prior to the trade.

There's a couple of things that might change Luka's path.  I'm guessing these were discussed between Pelinka and Nico:

1. The ongoing mentorship of uber-disciplined LeBron, and

2. The shock value of being traded away by a franchise that has lost faith in you.

BTW, when I read reports about Luka's conditioning being a primary factor in Dallas' willingness to trade him, my initial thought was that Dallas had leaked that in order to placate their fan base.  Now, I'm wondering if Pelinka was the one, primarily as a motivator to Luka to start taking his personal discipline seriously.