MAVS NEWS:

[mvossman]

LEBRON: AD 4 | Luka 5 
VORP: AD 8 | Luka 36
WS: AD 11 | Luka 90
PIPM: AD 5 | Luka 26 
PER: AD 4 | Luka 10


I'm not saying that AD is better than Luka. No stat is perfect, actually all of them are flawed. Just that I can squint and see some evidence that suggest the media talking heads aren't brain dead. Factor in what Christie can be and who knows. I personally would much rather have Luka for several reasons and think that this trade will backfire in more ways than one.

Is this ranking?  A lot of those stats are win estimations, so of course Luka is going to be lower because he has missed a lot of time.  Most of them are also box score stats, which are generally inferior.  The best of those is VORP but that is a win prediction.  VORP is based on BPM (estimated plus/minus) where AD is 5.8 and Luka is 7.

Even if you could squint and see that they are equal players (I can't) there is still the issue that the trade created a gaping hole in offensive creation, which Nico did nothing to address before the TDL.  Add to this the difficulty in making they play style changes necessary to accommodate the change in personnel in such a short time, and I think all evidence suggests the media talking heads saying Mavs have a better chance this year after the trade are completely brain dead.  Hell, just look at Vegas.  The Mavs odds to win the West completely tanked after that trade.