Luka Dealt to Lakers: Nico Harrison is a Basketball Terrorist

[Winter]

Being rich doesn’t make you smart. Some things are better left unsaid.

Reading all this and thinking about it.....

Clearly, the Front Office felt like Luka was not invested in what they were asking of him. What was it? We can be certain conditioning was a big part of it, but what else? It did not appear to be his competitive nature on the court was an issue (other than the minor issue of grousing at the refs).

Those comments by Dumont suggest something larger than what the fan base could see. I have no idea what it was, and it's nearly impossible to imagine that Luka's behavior could rise to the occasion of "problem" player. Butler was a problem player (with a culture-first GM like Riley) and everyone could see it. Luka didn't project anything like Butler. 

So what was it? Whatever it was, my guess is that it's cumulative and has been happening for several years. This upcoming contract would be Nico's only opportunity to fix the issue with a new and compliant owner, and using the solid argument that once he was paid with an extension, it would be impossible to go back. This trade would not have been possible under Cuban. I think we mostly agree on that. But without hard reporting, it's hard to imagine that Luka's issue was invisible to everyone except a select few in the front office.