DS and KL, thank you for sharing your thoughts. I find it interesting that you don't exactly see eye to eye, agreeing in some ways and disagreeing in others, and I am in the same boat - partially agreeing with each of you on how you see things -- but what I find interesting is that for me too the quick PO loss by the stupid Lakers really doesn't change my pov on anything with the Mavs. It doesn't validate Nico at all for me, or change the Mavs trajectory, or Luka's either, imo.
1 RE LUKA PERSONALLY
I would be really surprised if he changes his way, because I don't think this outcome was any more motivating than where he's been before. I had thought off-season 2024 was THE time we would see an amazing change - he had full motivation to mend his ways, after getting so close to a title. Yet nope, it was same ole same ole -- what he opted for was obviously nothing different. I think he has learned over MANY years that he can spend his summers playing national games, which lets him work on shots with competition, and then relax, and work his way into shape during the NBA season. If he does that, he has learned from repeated experience he can still give you something like 28-9-9 and be All-NBA and make spectacular shots and have absurdly dazzling games, and then he also can play hoops like he likes, and have fun, and do crazy things on the court.
When he first came to the NBA, he was worlds ahead of other 18 year olds, with an incredible set of skills in such a big player, which teased the idea that over time, he would work to eliminate his weaknesses (defense and conditioning and shooting efficiency). But he really hasn't, and I am getting convinced he's happy with where he is. I hope I'm wrong, because he had such promise to be the Best of All Time -- but I'm just afraid he's not driven for that.
2 RE NICO
He's gotta go. There is no way he can be trusted to get the BEST deal for the Mavs, ever. You can't put him in charge of negotiations or player evaluation. It's not an issue of punishing him for being a dolt (which he is) or trading the face of the franchise (which he did) but rather that he doesn't have the skills to fix what he's broken.
That he moved on from Luka is not the issue. So if Luka is lousy or his teams don't win, that's not a plus for Nico. Instead, it's HOW he did it, how he sees the fanbase, and how little he was able to get for a 26-year-old 5-time 1st Team All-NBA player. It was horrendous work and sets the Mavs up for 29 other teams to prey on them.
As for the idea he was skilled before, no way. That was all Lindsey, I am firmly convinced. Nico's negotiating style this spring showed a complete lack of the finesse needed to play poker with the big boys. There's no redemption possible to change that lack of skill.
3 RE THE MAVS
I believe they have a massive amount of talent, and that fact is not really recognized. IMO a fire sale would be a massive mistake. But Nico is in the way right now (who will be working hard to validate Nico and His Vision), and until he's gone, there's no hope for better days.
I do agree they badly need offense creators (Nico's go-to mantra that all it takes is better defense is very myopic, and stupid). They also need better medical staff (again, Nico is too stupid to even recognize how badly that was messed up). But imo they have enough talent in the abstract, so that they could (in theory) fix whatever they need to fix if they had an EXPERT in charge with much better skills and a better vision of how to get there. The problem with Nico being in charge of trades like that is that he will see the flaws in the player he is trading away and trade him at his lowest value, and see the highest upside for the player being traded for (ignoring the warts) - there's no way to win.
1 RE LUKA PERSONALLY
I would be really surprised if he changes his way, because I don't think this outcome was any more motivating than where he's been before. I had thought off-season 2024 was THE time we would see an amazing change - he had full motivation to mend his ways, after getting so close to a title. Yet nope, it was same ole same ole -- what he opted for was obviously nothing different. I think he has learned over MANY years that he can spend his summers playing national games, which lets him work on shots with competition, and then relax, and work his way into shape during the NBA season. If he does that, he has learned from repeated experience he can still give you something like 28-9-9 and be All-NBA and make spectacular shots and have absurdly dazzling games, and then he also can play hoops like he likes, and have fun, and do crazy things on the court.
When he first came to the NBA, he was worlds ahead of other 18 year olds, with an incredible set of skills in such a big player, which teased the idea that over time, he would work to eliminate his weaknesses (defense and conditioning and shooting efficiency). But he really hasn't, and I am getting convinced he's happy with where he is. I hope I'm wrong, because he had such promise to be the Best of All Time -- but I'm just afraid he's not driven for that.
2 RE NICO
He's gotta go. There is no way he can be trusted to get the BEST deal for the Mavs, ever. You can't put him in charge of negotiations or player evaluation. It's not an issue of punishing him for being a dolt (which he is) or trading the face of the franchise (which he did) but rather that he doesn't have the skills to fix what he's broken.
That he moved on from Luka is not the issue. So if Luka is lousy or his teams don't win, that's not a plus for Nico. Instead, it's HOW he did it, how he sees the fanbase, and how little he was able to get for a 26-year-old 5-time 1st Team All-NBA player. It was horrendous work and sets the Mavs up for 29 other teams to prey on them.
As for the idea he was skilled before, no way. That was all Lindsey, I am firmly convinced. Nico's negotiating style this spring showed a complete lack of the finesse needed to play poker with the big boys. There's no redemption possible to change that lack of skill.
3 RE THE MAVS
I believe they have a massive amount of talent, and that fact is not really recognized. IMO a fire sale would be a massive mistake. But Nico is in the way right now (who will be working hard to validate Nico and His Vision), and until he's gone, there's no hope for better days.
I do agree they badly need offense creators (Nico's go-to mantra that all it takes is better defense is very myopic, and stupid). They also need better medical staff (again, Nico is too stupid to even recognize how badly that was messed up). But imo they have enough talent in the abstract, so that they could (in theory) fix whatever they need to fix if they had an EXPERT in charge with much better skills and a better vision of how to get there. The problem with Nico being in charge of trades like that is that he will see the flaws in the player he is trading away and trade him at his lowest value, and see the highest upside for the player being traded for (ignoring the warts) - there's no way to win.
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