Luka Dealt to Lakers: Nico Harrison is a Basketball Terrorist

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

Interesting. Why not with Kyrie? 

Kyrie has the Mavs by the balls now, with Luka gone.

Maybe he'll do them a favor because they resurrected his career...but if he has a ruthless agent, he can demand everything.

[KillerLeft]

Kyrie has the Mavs by the balls now, with Luka gone.

Maybe he'll do them a favor because they resurrected his career...but if he has a ruthless agent, he can demand everything.

I mean, I guess, but I don't really see how it's different with AD than with Luka, from his perspective, I really don't. I think the motivation on his part to help the team still exists.

I think Luka was probably NOT the guy Kyrie would've chosen to play with originally, had he controlled his destiny more coming out of Brooklyn. I think his career was on the ropes a little back then and he smartly grabbed the lifeline the Mavs offered and made lemonade. I'm sure he'd have much rather gone somewhere and partnered with someone his own age, in a perfect world. If so, this is probably going to seem like a welcome change to him at some point, if it's not already.

I get what you're saying - they're both creators, and now there's only one left, which gives him leverage. But, where's he going to go that's going to be better than this? I say again: Do we not think Kyrie might be excited to have the ball more? We know Brunson sure was.

None of this meant as support for the trade, I just don't think this particular part of the sky is as likely to fall as some.

[F Gump]

One of the underreported aspects of this from LA's perspective is they don't really have a financial advantage over anyone now that the Super Max is off the table.  Luka won't sign a five year extension.  He'll sign for long enough to get to 10 years of service with a PO after that.  So, the PO year plus two gets him to 10 and he'll take another year after that for protection purposes only.

So, LA's ability to go five years with larger raises is meaningless.  I'm not saying Luka isn't likely to stay with LA.  But, it isn't guaranteed and they have almost no advantage over other teams.  That is why they were able to remove the 2031 pick from the deal.

To take this further...
1 Luka is most likely to opt out of his PO, making him a FA in summer 2026. His current PO is 49M, and his max would be 51M. Easy choice.
2 At that point, summer 2026, he'd then sign a 2+1 (with the intent to opt out and be a FA in summer 2028).
3 Any team could sign him in summer 2026 to that deal, starting at 51M, with the ability to give him a 35% supermax in summer 2028 (starting at 72M/5y418M). Luka would presumably pick the team in 2026 that he would be staying with in 2028.
4 The difference in signing in 2026, playing 2 years on that deal, then opting out and signing a supermax with that same team in 2028 between LA and other teams would only be 1.5M. Big money for me, but relative peanuts to Luka.
5 IOW -- Luka will be a FA in 2026, choose his destination, and the right team has between now and then to clear cap room to offer him that deal. Not impossible at all, like Paul George did. The cap that year would be 170M, so they would have to have 120M or less committed to other players (and however many empty roster slots, if less than 12 players).
6 LA has the inside track since they don't have to clear cap room, but Lebron's salary and presence in 2026 is a big unknown that can alter everything for LA and Luka's desire to be there.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

It's about negotiating power.

When Kyrie came here, no one wanted his crazy ass. Now, the Mavs need Kyrie more than Kyrie needs the Mavs. I'm not suggesting he won't stay. But let's just say if he took the Dak Prescott approach to negotiations, he has the upper hand to extract what he wants from the tema.

[Jym]

Interesting. Why not with Kyrie? 

You don't think he'll be as willing to make room for AD as he was with Luka? You might be right about that, but, idk...I can kind of imagine he'll like playing with AD much MORE, honestly. I obviously have no idea whether or not that's true, it just wouldn't surprise me. Not sure what's changed in terms of Kyrie's desire to help the FO put a competitive roster together. I get why FANS might feel that's hopeless, but I doubt Kyrie feels that way. To him, a top 10 guy went out and another one came in. He might even be thrilled at the idea of touching the ball more, nay?

I mean it certainly matters how he talked to Kidd and Nico about Luka behind the scenes and how blindsided he was by the deal. 
I'm looking at it from the view that he was blindsided and he no longer trusts that he would remain here longterm himself if he stuck around on a discount. 
Maybe he has a better relationship and trusts them still. He shouldn't if he does

[KillerLeft]

I'm looking at it from the view that he was blindsided and he no longer trusts that would remain here longterm himself if he stuck around on a discount. 

Ok, fair enough. For the record, I'm a little skeptical he was as shocked as he's pretending to be, and I'm VERY skeptical he'd choose to play with Luka over AD, if given the choice in a vacuum. That's where I'm coming from, but I'm having to really try to think like I feel like he'd think, which is not at all how I see this past week's events, so I could be way off.

[vfromlmf]

The Mavs are a business. Loyalty is not a part of their calculation so it won't be a part of Kyrie's.

[KillerLeft]

It's about negotiating power.

When Kyrie came here, no one wanted his crazy ass.  Now, the Mavs need Kyrie more than Kyrie needs the Mavs.  I'm not suggesting he won't stay.  But let's just say if he took the Dak Prescott approach to negotiations, he has the upper hand to extract what he wants from the tema.

I agree, to an extent.

[F Gump]

You don’t hold any hope out that Davis will be amenable to a team friendly extension this summer, similar to what we just saw Kyrie Irving sign?

AD is nowhere near being extension eligible in a similar way as Ky did. He has 2+1 years after this one. Check back in the summer of 2027 for something like that.

Technically he can be extended once we get to Aug, but if it's so early, I don't think it's even talked about unless it's a max/max situation.

[KillerLeft]

AD is nowhere near being extension eligible. He has 2+1 years after this one. Check back in the summer of 2027.

Ok, that's where I went wrong then, thanks. I could've sworn I read that he was. Thanks for the correction.

[F Gump]

Ok, that's where I went wrong then, thanks. I could've sworn I read that he was. Thanks for the correction.

*see edited note in orig post to make things more clear

[KillerLeft]

The Mavs are a business. Loyalty is not a part of their calculation so it won't be a part of Kyrie's.

Maybe this is super naive of me, but I don't know that much has changed with the players on the team's perception of things - they seem to be in really high spirits, and they knew this was business the whole time. I think the shattering glass sound is this realization landing home in a new way for fans, sure, but I'll say again: players don't think like we do, and I'm sure at least some of them are thrilled to get the chance to play with AD. 

I doubt their personal relationships with Harrison or Kidd have changed all that much this week, and two weeks ago we'd have all listed those relationships in the "pros" column. I think we're hurting much, much more than they are.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

Is fatass playing tonight? I might have to tune in.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

[Trevor Lane] Lakers say Luka Dončić (left calf strain) and LeBron James (left ankle soreness) have been upgraded to PROBABLE for tonight’s game vs. Utah.
Marc Stein : After a morning workout, Luka Dončić (sidelined since Christmas by a left calf strain) has been upgraded to probable tonight against Utah … as has LeBron James (left ankle soreness).

Looks like Luka Doncic will make his much anticipated Lakers debut tonight

Source : https://bsky.app/profile/trevorlanenba.b...tuekd24c2s

[F Gump]

I agree with KL on the money possibilities, in a general sense. I think Ky (and any other 35% eligible player) will be worked with, and going forward a blind demand and acceptance of 35% will not be automatic whenever a 10 yr player who is good is getting paid.

As for Ky specifically this summer, let's be real, Ky doesn't have massive leverage in the same way someone like Jokic, Giannis, Shai, etc have, (and in this hard cap world, who has a spare 54M cap room laying around). But I also think Ky has found a comfort spot in Dallas where he is a leader and is respected, AND he wants to win (there is a hard cap, so more money for Ky truly means less talent elsewhere).

He's seen trades before of big names.

Ky liked Luka, but he is not blind -- he saw what the FO saw -- and he's a grownup who may not have liked what he saw. He may like playing with AD even more, who knows?

[Jym]

I agree with KL on the money possibilities, in a general sense. I think Ky (and any other 35% eligible player) will be worked with, and going forward a blind demand and acceptance of 35% will not be automatic whenever a 10 yr player who is good is getting paid.

As for Ky specifically this summer, let's be real, Ky doesn't have massive leverage in the same way someone like Jokic, Giannis, Shai, etc have, (and in this hard cap world, who has a spare 54M cap room laying around). But I also think Ky has found a comfort spot in Dallas where he is a leader and is respected, AND he wants to win (there is a hard cap, so more money for Ky truly means less talent elsewhere).

He's seen trades before of big names. 

Ky liked Luka, but he is not blind -- he saw what the FO saw -- and he's a grownup who may not have liked what he saw. He may like playing with AD even more, who knows?

Yeah who else even has major capspace?
I see Brooklyn does but that would be an obvious no-go 

Might be another summer where we're just bidding against ourselves

[khaled1987]

Cuban didn't care about hiring a GM, because he believed HE'D always be the GM, basically. 

If there's one silver lining in all of this, it's that the franchise is officially moving away from that guy. Dumont is very likely everyone's least favorite guy in the world right now, next to Harrison, maybe, but I don't get the feeling Harrison has a lifetime contract like Donnie Nelson kind of did, do you? If/when there's a GM change, THAT's something I can envision someone like Dumont taking very seriously and possibly getting right. 

I know I'm really reaching for the positive here, but...

Cuban hired Rosas, but he didn't work in the team, same with Voulgaris guy. 

Cuban always wanted to improve the franchise, and Donnie was actually a competent GM who has done two successful rebuilds. 

Generally I hate this kind of thought, this more of thinking that Cuban and Donnie were bad, and the new guys are the polar opposite which is good.

For starter, Cuban was actually a good owner, who is hated because the Mavs deserved an elite one (because they had generational talent, and are top 5 markets in the league) and he wasn't up to those two categories. But there is no point in time I looked around the league and thought there are 15 better team owners, nor even 20 better ones. He was unconventional and was too eager to be creative at times, but overall he had a solid team around him that kept things good for the most part. 

The same thing for Donnie, who didn't fail us any time we had top 10 picks btw. And did many solid trades. Again, I understand the frustrations the fans had, I was one who was annoyed too, mainly because he wasn't up to the standards of the potential we had.  But Donnie was closer to average GM who can pull some miracle every few years (Dirk, Devin, TC, 2018 draft) 

I also don't share your opinion about Duomont might firing Nico. If this trade is success, I see Nico turning into our new Donnie, he will be the guy walking the Adelson about Basketball and they will think of him as some Pat Riley, and he might deserve it tbh.

If he is fired, it will be because this trade destroyed his career, as the entire sport world expects. It won't be because the Adelson are some sort of no nonsense owners, it will be because they need a scapegoat. 


More importantly for me, is that they are fools who are trying to do a smart strategy. Like anything in sports or life, it isn't about the plan, it isn't about the plan, it is about the execution. 

They are trying to talk culture, showing us who is the boss, trying to be the new heat. But Heat has HOF and one of the greatest Basketball minds pulling the triger. Nico OTOH has just traded the guy who took us to the finals last year. The guy who actually made him look like a real GM. Same can be said in Kidd btw, new owners hasn't even achieved anything in Basketball. 

In other words, we might be seeing confident idiots in the leadership, which is a disaster 

Did Cuban just not want to be the guy who A) traded Luka to avoid giving him the super max or B) couldn't build a decent team around a super max'd Luka due to those 2nd apron problems (or even just a lack of funds in general)?

Serious question.

I think he simply wanted to retire.

[SleepingHero]

Is fatass playing tonight?  I might have to tune in.

Our little tubby was upgraded to probable tonight. 


Can’t wait!

[SleepingHero]

Ky liked Luka, but he is not blind -- he saw what the FO saw -- and he's a grownup who may not have liked what he saw. He may like playing with AD even more, who knows?

We will see about that. I think Kyrie wants to win. Luka provided the best chance of that.

Sure he has been embraced in Dallas and has found a great comfort spot where the media covers for him and he can be himself. But if the Lakers come calling this summer and he has a chance to rejoin Luka and team up once again with LeBron, how can he turn that down?

I wouldn’t even fault Kyrie for moving on. I’ve stuck a fork in this franchise since the trade.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

Who is going to take the last shot for the Lakers if the game is tied on the last possession?