MAVS NEWS:

[KillerLeft]

15

I think the thesis that Nico doesn't expect or plan to be here very long is a complete misread of what Nico said, and that misread is skewing the conversation into ideas that don't exist. 

The NBA  is a world where NO ONE has an extended shelf life in any particular job. BUT admitting that (which is all Nico did, for both himself and Kidd), isn't an expression of WANTING or even EXPECTING to leave. 

Nico took a big chance, no doubt. He put his neck on the line in this one. It has to make the Mavs better. But I don't get any sense he's wanting to be elsewhere, and think he's saying to himself, 'You all hate me now, but you'll thank me later.' And whether he's made the right call will determine his own future.

I agree with your interpretation, and at the time took it that way with a slightly bad taste in mouth about how that joke was delivered and when, but not so much about what he meant. 

But the next day, there was a report (can't remember from where or how credible, sorry) that people around the league have come to believe that Harrison doesn't plan to stay in Dallas very long. My interpretation of THAT nugget pushed me to retroactively see the press conference comments in a different light, and to be honest, part of me thinks it makes a ton of sense. I just can't find any other justification for placing Kyrie's timeline on a higher pedestal than Luka's. NOW, post trade, you MUST get on a shorter timeline, due to Kyrie AND AD, but that's a hurdle he imposed on himself, so to me, the thought that he's thinking short term about even having the job (whether on his own terms or because GM's get "buried" quickly, per his joke) tracks. 

But, I also think your interpretation (which matched my own at the time) could be correct, and that he really, really just thinks Luka is a dead end as an investment at the SuperMax level.