TRADE: Davis, Hardy, DLO, Exum to WAS | Middleton, filler, 2 FRPs, 3 SRPs to DAL

[F Gump]

On the AD deal, I was surprised that the Mavs decided salary removal - just get AD off the books - was their priority. I thought WRONGLY they would be holding out for something of value in return, with the potential to be really good at some point, and they got none of that. The picks were mostly for show, imo, to make it look like they made a good deal, and frankly have very little potential to be very good players (based on their track record with such picks).

It's obvious why they did this - to turn the page and have room to navigate the future with some degree of what they are working from. Personally I think they would have been better off building around the AD-Kyrie-Flagg core, but that depended on whether AD can begin to suit up on a regular basis, and I can see the argument that he never will. (I have guessed he will turn out to be way more dependable going forward than he has over the last weird year here, but it would have been a gamble and only time will tell.) I was very glad to see they made sure to clear out much of the Nico-idiocy junk as they moved AD, rather than just move AD as the salary reduction. It's still hard to fathom how bad Nico was as a GM, with one terrible decision after another. Ugh.

I will add that I do feel a sense of relief that we can move forward and can put this "what do we do with AD" stuff in the rear view. And Nico's reign of terror is over and we can turn the page on that IDIOT. I appreciate all the opinions aired, even the ones I didn't agree with (and of course there were many!), but I am eager to discuss what can be ahead now.