MAVS NEWS:

[KillerLeft]

I don't think there's anything amiss with the thesis of how Nico sees on-court window (ie it not being that long), just the claims that Nico sees himself as a short timer by choice. 

And I actually agree with Nico on the window to win being relatively short. The CBA forces constant turnover, and teams prospects don't necessarily last very long. That was Cubans stupid thinking in 2012. He wasnt smart enough to know that if you can win a title, get it now, not down the road, because tomorrow can be eroded or other teams can rise and get in the way. 

For example, look at this season, which started with BOS the strong favorite, and OKC and maybe DAL also on the cusp. But who saw any real threat from CLE, HOU, MEM? 

To speak to Luka, we have worked with an assumption that one day he will win a title. He started out way ahead, at 19. But the league has kinda passed him -- yes, the STATS are still flashy, but the efficiency and lack of defense are as bad as ever. We see him as the source of unstoppable offense, but in the Finals the Mavs lost because Luka's heliocentric offense was not unstoppable after all.

I like Luka, but that style has NEVER been good enough. To be real, Harden was the same player with about the same everything, and same results -- Harden never got a title, and is no one anymore.

I agree with all of this. Every word. 

But, I still hate this. I know you're against cashing in with the mindset of going for draft capital as the primary goal, and I can see where you're coming from there, but...I can't shake the feeling that what they've done is the worst of the three choices in front of them. 

If they had chosen to continue trying to maximize this short window, but WITH Luka, I would have had hope of the next window in the back of my mind. There is always an other window with a 25 year old superstar. Heck, we were on his third window already, in a way.

If they had really, really thought it best to get out of the Luka business before giving him that Supermax, I'd have been ok with that, but would've preferred a young piece or two, along with as much draft capital as they could carry, probably followed by selling Kyrie and Thompson. Lively, Gafford, PJW, Exum, Grimes, Hardy, O-Max, etc, is not a bad place to start a rebuild, if you have enough draft capital to aggressively search for gap filling talent in the near future. It’s plausible that a few of those guys make it through to the next version of a competitive Mavs team.

But, the road they chose...artificially imposing Kyrie's window on themselves by mirroring it with Davis, just because they were in the finals last year (which never would've happened had Luka not been a catalyst for this entire reboot in the first place)...I don't know. I mean, it's not like I think they'll be a bad team without Luka, exactly, but I just don't feel like there's really a way to win a championship without that Luka-type piece, no matter how good the roster is. I get that Harrison thinks AD is that piece, and idk, maybe he's right. I know he's a heck of a player, but I just don't see it. 

Just seems like there's so little hope at a championship during that short window now, and before it felt like they were circling it, just needed a couple of things to break right. PLUS, it feels like there's little hope for them finding a way from this window to the next with any sort of efficiency due to emptying the coffers to build a team around Luka.