MAVS NEWS:

[Reunion Mav]

I agree with this. And I felt like you do on going forward - "I was critical of Luka's habits BECAUSE he's great and I wanted the world to SEE his greatness in a Mavs jersey, not because I wanted him gone."

Having said that, I also admit I may have only seen the tip of the iceberg on Luka issues, and perhaps if I knew more I would feel differently. 

Was he ditching practices, refusing to work on anything (including teammate chemistry) except for his latest horse masterpiece, blowing off rehab and therapy and workout sessions? Were his teammates getting fed up behind the scenes, and was he a team leader that didn't take his role seriously? I'm not saying any of those are true, but the adamance with which Nico expressed his decision sure makes me wonder how deep it all went.

Thank you FGump for saying this. I have not been able to shake the thought that this trade might have avoided an impending drawn out loss of the wonderful years we have had with Luka as our new and maybe even improved Dirk. Barkley put me in that thought mode the very next morning with his long interview on ESPN. 

Either Luka looking more and more like his very large Dad soon or the salary cap he’ll of the Super Duper Max may have contributed or even worse the poor leadership you mention might have contributed. I wonder if Nico was so concerned he chose to escape whatever he thought was coming.

[Smitty]

Some really great stuff in here. I'm still not over the Luka trade. I do find myself more glued to X, discord, and this board - but it's probably part of the grieving process.

Reading some of the well thought out opinions of others here, I find myself agreeing with bits and pieces of most everyone. The biggest thing that would get to me was the media saying the Mavs are a better team now, this year, And I couldn't wrap my head around it. You can't trade a top 3 player for a top 15 player and get better, right? But I read and listened and researched here and there and see that there's something to it. Luka hasn't been "great" this year. Davis has been. There are several advanced stats that show Davis as a Top 5 player in the NBA this year. Luka somewhere in the mid 20's. And maybe Max Christie is legit.

Yes, I know injuries and fitness and different teams, different roles; they all factor into it and it's more complex than that. But maybe I won't call the retired NBA players in the media brain dead anymore when they say stuff like that because maybe, just maybe, they're right.

The trade on its own is crazy bad, the worst in all of sports even. The fact that they didn't get every positive asset they could from the Lakers is inexcusable. This is a team of hired guns now and will be while Nico is here. Those of us on this board are diehards, so we'll still watch. Time will pass and the wound will never fully heal but I bet most of us will be rooting for the Mavs in a Finals rematch, if that's where they find themselves again this year. For Kidd and Nico's sake, they better.

[DanSchwartzgan]

 
Either Luka looking more and more like his very large Dad soon or the salary cap he’ll of the Super Duper Max may have contributed or even worse the poor leadership you mention might have contributed. I wonder if Nico was so concerned he chose to escape whatever he thought was coming.

Welcome to the 'bargaining' stage of grief.  Unless you believe one of the conspiracy theories, then yes, this seems to be Nico's thinking.  It is a $350mm bet he didn't want to make.  Unfortunately for Nico, I don't think he can win over the fans still firmly entrenched in "anger".  If Dallas makes a long playoff run, fans will say "Luka could have done that".  If Luka balloons to some massive weight or continues to miss large swaths of time from injuries, fans will say "you can't prove it would have happened here".  And that doesn't even account for the scenarios where Luka plays well or AD suffers a serious injury.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

The Mavs lost to the Celtics because 1) Luka was finally worn all the way down after playing hurt for almost the entire playoffs (plays into the "He's never going to get his conditioning right" narrative, but what it shows about his determination belies it), and 2) Kyrie is allergic to leprechauns.

Mavs lost to the C's because they were flat-out the better team.  This year, however, they seem to be less dominant at this point. If they aren't hitting 3's, they can be had. But it's very seldom that occurs. Maybe they pick it up after the AS break, heading towards the stretch run.  That's when you'll see what teams are contenders for the title. I know Cleveland isn't going anywhere and they just picked up DeAndre Hunter.

[omahen]

Welcome to the 'bargaining' stage of grief.  Unless you believe one of the conspiracy theories, then yes, this seems to be Nico's thinking.  It is a $350mm bet he didn't want to make.  Unfortunately for Nico, I don't think he can win over the fans still firmly entrenched in "anger".  If Dallas makes a long playoff run, fans will say "Luka could have done that".  If Luka balloons to some massive weight or continues to miss large swaths of time from injuries, fans will say "you can't prove it would have happened here".  And that doesn't even account for the scenarios where Luka plays well or AD suffers a serious injury.

In my opinion, what Nico failed to understand, is the Dallas culture. Even myself I only got it with this trade (at least I think I understand it, please correct me if I am wrong). Dallas culture is about loyalty. The team and fans were loyal to Dirk for 21 years, in good and bad. Endlessly happy they won the title. Fans thought this will continue with Luka for another 20 years. Nico just went in and ignored that culture. Even saying at the press conference that Luka doesn't fit the culture. He didn't even try to explain to fans that he understands the current culture, but that he thinks it needs to be changed, because the new culture he is trying to install will lead to more success. 

Imho, Dallas will lose a lot of the "old" fans and it will take time (and good results) before new generation of fans will happen. One, that will follow "new" culture. Not sure Nico or the new owners will stay around long enough.

[mvossman]

Reading some of the well thought out opinions of others here, I find myself agreeing with bits and pieces of most everyone. The biggest thing that would get to me was the media saying the Mavs are a better team now, this year, And I couldn't wrap my head around it. You can't trade a top 3 player for a top 15 player and get better, right? But I read and listened and researched here and there and see that there's something to it. Luka hasn't been "great" this year. Davis has been. There are several advanced stats that show Davis as a Top 5 player in the NBA this year. Luka somewhere in the mid 20's. And maybe Max Christie is legit.

I guess I'm not seeing the same advanced stats you are.

AD is +.5 net rating and 10th on the team.
Luka is +10 net rating and 1st on the team.

AD EPM of 4.0
Luka EPM 5.5

From what I am seeing, Luka playing well below his standard is still significantly better than AD.  

Then you add in current fit.  We have three starting centers and no pure point guards.  We have seen Kyrie struggle when asked to play the point and run the team.  Call me wildly skeptical we are going to put two non shooting centers on the floor and not have issues on both sides of the ball.

Then you add in continuity.  Making big changes to the lineup generally takes a long time for players to learn how to jell.  PJ and Gafford worked in so quickly because they were perfect fits for what we were already doing.  Going from Luka to AD is a massive change to everything.  Its going to take significant time to figure out how all of the pieces fit together, and we haven't even started yet (not to mention one of the most important pieces wont even be available until end of the season).

Given all of that, I have no idea how someone can think this team has a better chance now than it did.  From what I have read, the high quality analysts think the ceiling has been lowered, and I agree.

[vfromlmf]

Inscribed on the base of Dirks statue are words that Nowitzki says encapsulates everything that his career and time in Dallas embodies.

“I’m going to leave you guys with the motto it says right there on the side under my name, on the side of the base,” Nowitzki said, pointing to his bronze likeness. “It is actually 21 letters for 21 years, and I think it sums up my career here for the Dallas Mavericks perfectly. It says, ‘Loyalty never fades away.’”

[mvossman]

Welcome to the 'bargaining' stage of grief.  Unless you believe one of the conspiracy theories, then yes, this seems to be Nico's thinking.  It is a $350mm bet he didn't want to make.  Unfortunately for Nico, I don't think he can win over the fans still firmly entrenched in "anger".  If Dallas makes a long playoff run, fans will say "Luka could have done that".  If Luka balloons to some massive weight or continues to miss large swaths of time from injuries, fans will say "you can't prove it would have happened here".  And that doesn't even account for the scenarios where Luka plays well or AD suffers a serious injury.

Its not unfortunate for Nico.  He made this bed.  He could have played the season out and then offer Luka up to highest bidder in the offseason.  That would have given us a better chance this season (as I just posted above) and would have greatly improved the return.  Instead, he chose to do secret meetings with an old buddy, got a wildly under market return and sent Luka to a hated rival in the middle of the night.  Its hard to imagine how he could antagonize the fan base more if he tried.

[DanSchwartzgan]

In my opinion, what Nico failed to understand, is the Dallas culture. Even myself I only got it with this trade (at least I think I understand it, please correct me if I am wrong). Dallas culture is about loyalty. The team and fans were loyal to Dirk for 21 years, in good and bad. Endlessly happy they won the title. Fans thought this will continue with Luka for another 20 years. Nico just went in and ignored that culture. Even saying at the press conference that Luka doesn't fit the culture. He didn't even try to explain to fans that he understands the current culture, but that he thinks it needs to be changed, because the new culture he is trying to install will lead to more success. 

Imho, Dallas will lose a lot of the "old" fans and it will take time (and good results) before new generation of fans will happen. One, that will follow "new" culture. Not sure Nico or the new owners will stay around long enough.

I'm not sure you are talking about culture here.  You are talking about loyalty and specifically loyalty to your 'face of the franchise' superstar.  Outside of Dirk we've always flipped players just as aggressively as anyone else.  But, loyalty is a two-way street and it includes more than just contractual loyalty.  Dirk wasn't a prima-donna in any way.  He worked harder than anyone most of his career.  There were times he made financial sacrifices for the good of the team.  No matter the details that either eventually come out (or don't), I don't think we can argue that Luka lived in the same neighborhood as Dirk in these other cultural elements.

[michaeltex]

Welcome to the 'bargaining' stage of grief.  Unless you believe one of the conspiracy theories, then yes, this seems to be Nico's thinking.  It is a $350mm bet he didn't want to make.  Unfortunately for Nico, I don't think he can win over the fans still firmly entrenched in "anger".  If Dallas makes a long playoff run, fans will say "Luka could have done that".  If Luka balloons to some massive weight or continues to miss large swaths of time from injuries, fans will say "you can't prove it would have happened here".  And that doesn't even account for the scenarios where Luka plays well or AD suffers a serious injury.

FWIW, I think the $350M extension is the crux of the whole deal. Luka (rightly?) wasn't going to agree to anything less than the max DAL could offer, so the idea of signing on to a lesser value for the extension is a non-starter. However, the trade makes the supermax go away for the next contract, bad for Luka but it takes the problem off the table for DAL.

Throw in the basketful of conditioning/injury/play style issues discussed here and other places, then I can see how the MBT felt cornered if they didn't make a move now. Perlinka read the tea leaves and correctly deduced Nico's dilemma whereupon he used the leverage to reduce the return to DAL. Then was an a$$hole to discuss it publicly. If I was Nico, I'd take him off my christmas card list, but waiting until the offseason was just going to make it worse. 

Look, we had our unicorn in Luka, but AD was considered a unicorn when he came into the league as well. He still has a lot of that cachet, it's just been hard to see with the LBJ spotlight in LA.

[Smitty]

I guess I'm not seeing the same advanced stats you are.

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.

[omahen]

I'm not sure you are talking about culture here.  You are talking about loyalty and specifically loyalty to your 'face of the franchise' superstar.  Outside of Dirk we've always flipped players just as aggressively as anyone else.  But, loyalty is a two-way street and it includes more than just contractual loyalty.  Dirk wasn't a prima-donna in any way.  He worked harder than anyone most of his career.  There were times he made financial sacrifices for the good of the team.  No matter the details that either eventually come out (or don't), I don't think we can argue that Luka lived in the same neighborhood as Dirk in these other cultural elements.

I think Dallas is more unique in their loyalty to their franchise player than most of franchises. That is why I think it is more than just loyalty, it is the culture. I mean most of complaints around here and on social media are exactly about this. Fans reaction can tell you, that he was highly regarded. I never compared him to Dirk the person, you did. 

Not sure why you brough your subjective opinion of Luka in the discussion, I spoke about what I think Nico miscalculated, which is evident based on fans reaction, at least what seems like a large share of them. Some things need to be countered. This prima-donna as you called him fought through injuries whole playoff run, never once complaining or seeking excuses. While he was limited, he delivered in crucial games in all three West series. As others have pointed out, Mavs as a team were just worse than that Boston superteam in the finals. Redick mentioned in one of his podcasts that Luka, unlike most other stars, never demanded special treatment. He is also mostly loved by teammates. The prima-donna never complained about the quality of roster he was given in his first four seasons with Mavs and the incompetence of the FO, unlike many other stars we regularly see around the league. I think he showed plenty of loyalty to the team and it hurts, the team finaly put a good team around him and then just robbed him of the chance to compete with it. Of course he is not perfect, no one is. But, he has a lot of success behind him. Unlike many other superstars, especially his peers. Tatum is the only one of his peers that is more successful, but he has a true superteam around him and he wasn't even the finals MVP. All other winners in past years were older when they did it. Zion never went past first round, Trae was in WCF once,... As I said many times before, I prefer to focus on the positive than the negative.

A fear of offering him a 350 mil contract is constantly mentioned. No one mentioned an option, that some safety measures could easily be proposed to be incorporated in the deal. Zion contract is not guaranteed if he doesn't play this and that many games and I think also linked to his weight. Mavs never tried to reflect this supposed issues contractually. Someone just decided at some point, he doesn't want to bother anymore - something totally unprecedented for such superstars. I mean, Memphis put up with way worse stuff with Morant, for example. Zion is a far worse case yet he is still with NO. Trae plays zero defense but Atlanta never considered dumping him. They will probably have to in the summer because he will demand it - something Mavs were never forced to do.

I think fans perception would be much different if Luka refused these kind of conditions and demanded max deal without any of them in the summer. All of that would be possible if there was a will to work together. But, Nico obviously didn't want to give the chance to him, because he was either affraid to "give control" to Luka in the summer (like it is possible he would get a worse deal in the summer) or simply just never really wanted to bother with Luka.

[SleepingHero]

@sixfivelando
Only three mics for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and Caleb Martin….

Nico Harrison is not scheduled as a speaker with the new Mavs players.

[SleepingHero]

@sixfivelando
Only three mics for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and Caleb Martin….

Nico Harrison is not scheduled as a speaker with the new Mavs players.

What a wuss.

At least stand up and face the music of your choice. The last presser was so unbelievably bad that it poured gasoline onto this forest fire, Nico must be afraid of yet another bad presser.

[Moviemavguy]

@sixfivelando
Only three mics for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and Caleb Martin….

Nico Harrison is not scheduled as a speaker with the new Mavs players.

What a total weasel.  That guy can't be fired soon enough.  

It is hard to fully disengage from being a Mavs fan, but they won't get another penny from me until he is gone.  Unbelievable.

[SleepingHero]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRz8fvL8LHo


Link for the introductory press conference Nico is too good to show up for

[omahen]

It is hard to fully disengage from being a Mavs fan, but they won't get another penny from me until he is gone.  Unbelievable.

This part is difficult to understand. We can assume owners are here for the money and Luka was Mavs money cow. Someone on slovenian social media posted how much Mavs revenue increased when they got Luka compared to other franchises. Luka was #6 in jersey sales last season. AD was not in top 15 last season despite being in a much better market. Luka had huge international following and these fans will not buy other Mavs jerseys. I just read today that Phillipines are third biggest market for NBA after USA and China and Luka was supposed to be #1 player there. Mavs social media took a huge hit with the trade. I would really like to see the numbers showing how this loss of revenue will be compensated. Durant was #8 in jersey sales, but he is not a Mav (yet). Do owners really don't care about Mavs revenue, because it is all about casinos? Mavs value will likely continue to grow, as there is limited number of franchises and many more reach people who would like to be in the business.

[U_L]

Nico needs his own press conference where he can be booed mercilessly for an hour or so. I'm glad he won't be appearing with the players, who shouldn't be catching the crap that should be thrown at him.

[SleepingHero]

Tim macmahon asked probably one of the most disrespectful questions to AD to start off this press conference.

If I can find a clip I will post it.

[WildArkieBoy]

https://twitter.com/_TradeDeadline/statu...6676999168

https://twitter.com/All_Things_Mavs/stat...3768224770

https://twitter.com/All_Things_Mavs/stat...9553780736

https://twitter.com/_TradeDeadline/statu...1088144385

I'd like to deal with one aspect; the $345M Supermax: This was the opportunity for Nico to utilize the salesmanship skills he developed at Nike.

You explain that this is provision, agreed upon by the owners, is part of the contract and that, in this case, the player meeting all of the criteria prescribed in the contract has earned the bonus.  It's a "cost of doing business" just like buying the land to build an arena, you explain.

If Ms. Adelson or young Mr. Dumont ask if there's any way to get around paying the Supermax, the answer is "not if you want to be an owner respected by the players, fans and other owners."

It appears that Nico involved himself in a discussion of whether on not to pay the Supermax or, possibly, even how to get around paying it, thus he saw storm clouds ahead in dealing with the Mavs star player.