Trade & FA 2025-26: Free Agency Starts 5pm CST/6pm EST

[Jmaciscool]

I really haven't paid attention.   Plus Ainge is pretty vengeful.   Probably holds a grudge with us getting the first pick and being a spare part in the Luka trade.   Probably not too happy with the Mavs lately.   He has been waiting for a star for 3 years.  Only to see one gifted to the Lakers (with him taking a small piece) and the Mavs lucking out with the first pick.

I've been thinking this too - imagine stockpiling your assets to eventually trade for a player like Luka (or actually Luka) only to unknowingly help facilitate that exact same trade for fewer assets than you had stockpiled.  Then you watch as your stockpiled losses, intended to hopefully grab the elite prospect you've been "working" towards, amount to nothing as that same dumb GM that screwed you in the first trade gets rewarded by sheer dumb luck.  At this point Ainge might hate Nico almost as much as Mavs fans.

(Also, the Luka trade is the first time I recall another team helping facilitate a trade without knowing what was actually being facilitated.  Maybe that's way more common than I know, but I'm wondering if that Luka trade makes it less common - why risk helping another team spend less than you would to get a player you would want?)