MAVS NEWS:

[myconsumerclub]

Assets have to be managed better we need to extract maximum value from trades of vets. AD is stuck here we cannot afford to trade him until he is worth at least 1 first round pick in the lottery range of picks. If he is no longer viable to get us that then unfortunately we will have to use Kyrie to get a pick. Our past trading away of our picks has put us in a dire predicament and if we do not take measures to correct these past errors in judgement then we are doomed.

[Chicagojk]

I think it was insane. Even if you are super low on Luka longterm you are throwing an 18 year old into a roster that was built to contend now with next to no help after his first 1-2 seasons.

Just too many goal conflicts here. Kyrie, PJ, DLive, Gaff all went to the Finals, everybody had their roles and it made perfect sense. Now we have essentially thrown away the 2024-2025 and the 2025-2026 seasons. For what? Luka is still playing MVP top 3/4 candidate level of basketball and the Lakers are - despite their limited ressources - on track for winning 50+ games.

What do we have to show here?

Luka set the bar incredibly high. Both individually (all nba from his sophomore season on) and in terms of results (WCF run and finals run within his first six years). Flagg is awesome and all that, none of this is his fault, but I seriously dont get how anybody can argue the teams outlook has improved.

The Flagg era has barely even started, the results are horrible and the team has next to no avenues to improve. Who is gonna turn this ship around next season when we just decide to start a third run with this AD and Kyrie lead team? 

How will they replace Kyrie without draft picks or caproom? 

Even if Flagg improves to All NBA level of play like Luka did in year 2 he will have to get a roster to the playoffs that might offer even less help than Luka had in a year or two.

Its not only that they have burdened themselves with AD, Kyrie is also a massive question mark. He might very well be done as much as AD is and then youre looking at $100+M annually being wasted on the sidelines. Kyrie has missed A TON of games even before the ACL injury.

I think there is a great chance this team will miss the playoffs for the next 3-4 years in a row. It will probably require Flagg to do an unhealthy level of burden lifting on his own. I think all in all its just far too much to ask. And without the results and star power of an MVP candidate you will also struggle to attract the ring chasing vets you need to bolster out your rotation on the edges when the money gets tight.

Man, I am no where close to being this dire.   It will be a tough road especially with all the talent in the West.   Although Dallas hopefully has one of the few guys that really matter...and he is the youngest player in the league.   20 teams are waiting to land a guy like him.  You can go 15 years until you get one....sometimes longer.  Getting him is the hard part, but the road ahead is obviously hard.

I never bought the argument that Dallas got too good, too early with Luka.   They had some bad luck but mostly made poor decisions.   Heck, they even had an all star they found in the second round the whole time.    

Not controlling your draft picks and the deep west will definitely make it more challenging, but basketball is not that hard.  Find your star (hopefully they have) and find winning, smart, tough players around him.   Ideally you want another all star to pair with him, but the more good decisions you make, the more opportunities will arise.

[Chicagojk]

https://sharptext.net/2026/was-nico-harrison-wrong/

Well I haven't read yet...too long.  Probably not great to put out there after a masterclass Luka performance against the Bulls.

edit...sorry this should not be in the mavs forum.

[JamesConway912]

https://sharptext.net/2026/was-nico-harrison-wrong/

Well I haven't read yet...too long.  Probably not great to put out there after a masterclass Luka performance against the Bulls.

edit...sorry this should not be in the mavs forum.

Dumb stuff gets written all the time. There was an infamous report about Gerald Wallace being better than Dirk before he won it all.

Thats the same level of ignorance as in that Luka article.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/3454...k-nowitzki

Re your other post:

Not dire, just honest. A LOT of time has passed since the trade. The Mavs threw away two full NBA season without anything to show for. There is nothing to sugarcoat here.

The team is as dreadful as its records been since the trade.

[loki]

I think it was insane. Even if you are super low on Luka longterm you are throwing an 18 year old into a roster that was built to contend now with next to no help after his first 1-2 seasons.

Just too many goal conflicts here. Kyrie, PJ, DLive, Gaff all went to the Finals, everybody had their roles and it made perfect sense. Now we have essentially thrown away the 2024-2025 and the 2025-2026 seasons. For what? Luka is still playing MVP top 3/4 candidate level of basketball and the Lakers are - despite their limited ressources - on track for winning 50+ games.

What do we have to show here?

Luka set the bar incredibly high. Both individually (all nba from his sophomore season on) and in terms of results (WCF run and finals run within his first six years). Flagg is awesome and all that, none of this is his fault, but I seriously dont get how anybody can argue the teams outlook has improved.

The Flagg era has barely even started, the results are horrible and the team has next to no avenues to improve. Who is gonna turn this ship around next season when we just decide to start a third run with this AD and Kyrie lead team? 

How will they replace Kyrie without draft picks or caproom? 

Even if Flagg improves to All NBA level of play like Luka did in year 2 he will have to get a roster to the playoffs that might offer even less help than Luka had in a year or two.

Its not only that they have burdened themselves with AD, Kyrie is also a massive question mark. He might very well be done as much as AD is and then youre looking at $100+M annually being wasted on the sidelines. Kyrie has missed A TON of games even before the ACL injury.

I think there is a great chance this team will miss the playoffs for the next 3-4 years in a row. It will probably require Flagg to do an unhealthy level of burden lifting on his own. I think all in all its just far too much to ask. And without the results and star power of an MVP candidate you will also struggle to attract the ring chasing vets you need to bolster out your rotation on the edges when the money gets tight.

I'm definitely not of the opinion that it was a good trade or that the Mavs are going to be winning any time soon. They absolutely threw away multiple years where they could have been contending. 

What I would argue though is that there's an opportunity for the Flagg era to achieve more success (championships) and be more consistent from season to season (think Dirk 50+ wins every year) than the Luka era. That's what they should be shooting for with the younger, healthier, 2-way franchise player. It's going to take time and a lot of good decision making to reach that point. I'm prepared for a longer rebuild to make it happen, and I hope they get started on it this TDL. 

They are behind the eight ball in terms of assets, but not completely devoid of them. Adding an additional future 1st or two by selling the vets and then nailing their 2026 lottery pick is a great start.

[windjc]

Naji could easily be a starter on a Championship team. And just like that opinions on here suggest he get traded for a mid to low FR pick that has probably <15% chance of having the same value.

[meistermatze]

I think it was insane. Even if you are super low on Luka longterm you are throwing an 18 year old into a roster that was built to contend now with next to no help after his first 1-2 seasons.

Just too many goal conflicts here. Kyrie, PJ, DLive, Gaff all went to the Finals, everybody had their roles and it made perfect sense. Now we have essentially thrown away the 2024-2025 and the 2025-2026 seasons. For what? Luka is still playing MVP top 3/4 candidate level of basketball and the Lakers are - despite their limited ressources - on track for winning 50+ games.

What do we have to show here?

Luka set the bar incredibly high. Both individually (all nba from his sophomore season on) and in terms of results (WCF run and finals run within his first six years). Flagg is awesome and all that, none of this is his fault, but I seriously dont get how anybody can argue the teams outlook has improved.

The Flagg era has barely even started, the results are horrible and the team has next to no avenues to improve. Who is gonna turn this ship around next season when we just decide to start a third run with this AD and Kyrie lead team? 

How will they replace Kyrie without draft picks or caproom? 

Even if Flagg improves to All NBA level of play like Luka did in year 2 he will have to get a roster to the playoffs that might offer even less help than Luka had in a year or two.

Its not only that they have burdened themselves with AD, Kyrie is also a massive question mark. He might very well be done as much as AD is and then youre looking at $100+M annually being wasted on the sidelines. Kyrie has missed A TON of games even before the ACL injury.

I think there is a great chance this team will miss the playoffs for the next 3-4 years in a row. It will probably require Flagg to do an unhealthy level of burden lifting on his own. I think all in all its just far too much to ask. And without the results and star power of an MVP candidate you will also struggle to attract the ring chasing vets you need to bolster out your rotation on the edges when the money gets tight.

Maybe it is a tad too negative, alright, but generally, these are the facts. Come on, guys, get real. Everything else is an insane amount of copium.

[myconsumerclub]

I would never get rid of Naji he is just too great of a guy to have for 2 way play and as he improves his 3 he will become a complete player.

You can play him at a lot of positions. so super flexible. With him Cooper and Max plus whoever we pick in the draft we will be set with a starting rotation around our hopefully healed up center rotation but if we are risk averse maybe we can also look to trade Gafford and or Lively.

If not we can surely trade off someone and get a couple 2nds to add some young talent to develop that works around coopers timeline who is a C type.

The Ivisic brothers look like they are going to be real good as stretch 5's and if you get 2 2nds get them both and use one as a backup PF or as a tag team at C.

The rest of the team is good for filling in as backups, B Will and Ryan are obvious keepers unless you snag a second PG in this draft. Klay is Klay. PJ is still here if healthy and Martin has started to show he can score a little to go along with some somewhat stout D.

Cisse may develop into a better FT shooter over the summer and be a nice 3rd or 4th string 5.

Hardy still has a lot of scoring to offer a team in the bottom half of the standings so we could help him find a home for a 2nd round pick.

Dlo is on a cheap contract for what he can do so even he could get us a 2nd rounder.

Exum and Powell likely retire from the game or we Keith Van horn them as part of a trade to take on someone that is not possibly overpaid and not wanted. If the owner wants to go there which he may not want to do.

And guess what? This is a good team and we are not even talking about having Kyrie and AD still here. so you add that in as a bonus and what you have for these next few years when we have zero first round draft picks to tank for, is a time of playing to win and nothing else is an option.

If the old guys can hang and not play too many minutes we can develop their replacements and be ready in case of an injury derailing them and just look at it as a bonus amount of PT to give to whoever we draft to groom as their replacement.

Our first pick I assume we are going to pick a PG we can use as a SG/SF (Wagler) to play next to Kyrie. Max may end up winning the SG starting job anyway and Naji is someone you can use anywhere that is left maybe we can use him or PJ in small ball as a PF with Cooper as the 5 as Cooper beefs up more. Whoever we keep can be a 6th man of the year for sure especially if they get their 3 working well. Maybe Klay is good for a mid to slightly lower first round pick from OKC. Would you trade them Klay for 26 or 18? They also have 11 and 40. They do not have any room on their roster to waste on rookies so they are going to do something to add vets.



The trade offers we get for our starter quality players like NAJI and PJ, they need to be seriously sweetened with high first round lottery picks in the high mid first rounder to solid high lottery level first round pics. If they offer later pics we have to just refuse the offer and not trade them.

[FireNicoHarrison]

Naji could easily be a starter on a Championship team. And just like that opinions on here suggest he get traded for a mid to low FR pick that has probably <15% chance of having the same value.

Maybe not a starter but a fantastic 6th man for sure... Like Bruce Brown in Denver title year.

[Chicagojk]

One year today, AD got injured in Detroit and was his last game played as a Laker.  Whatever happened to that dude?

[loki]

Naji could easily be a starter on a Championship team. And just like that opinions on here suggest he get traded for a mid to low FR pick that has probably <15% chance of having the same value.

At a glance I think you have to go back to the 08-09 Lakers with Trevor Ariza to find a championship team that he could potentially start on. Naji is a classic case of a fanbase overvaluing their own player.

[FireNicoHarrison]

One year today, AD got injured in Detroit and was his last game played as a Laker.  Whatever happened to that dude?

He was traded for one of the best player in the world. And it was an epic fail.

[windjc]

At a glance I think you have to go back to the 08-09 Lakers with Trevor Ariza to find a championship team that he could potentially start on. Naji is a classic case of a fanbase overvaluing their own player.

No. Championship teams are well rounded. Naji can offer important parts. There are many on here who just want to trade for the sake of trading. You think a #12 pick is going to offer you more on average? Go ask AI about the probability stats on that. Seriously it’s not that hard.

[loki]

No. Championship teams are well rounded. Naji can offer important parts. There are many on here who just want to trade for the sake of trading. You think a #12 pick is going to offer you more on average? Go ask AI about the probability stats on that. Seriously it’s not that hard.

I haven't seen anyone proposing trading him just for the sake of it. If a trade happens we all want good value, we just disagree on what qualifies.

If you were to propose Naji for the 12th pick to other fanbases you would almost certainly be laughed off of 29 other forums. There are some bad GM's out there, so I guess anything can happen. But the upside at #12 is significantly higher than what a good role player like Naji can bring. Potentially drafting a bust is the price you pay for trying to find that upside.

I'd happily take Haliburton, Maxey, McDaniels, Sengun, Murphy, Jalen Williams, Duren, Lively, Ware, Queen over Naji. All drafted with the 12th pick or lower since 2020.

[BigDirk41]

Naji could easily be a starter on a Championship team. And just like that opinions on here suggest he get traded for a mid to low FR pick that has probably <15% chance of having the same value.

Naji is really good role player, but in no way is he a starter on a championship team. That's a huge stretch. Maybe a 6th or 7th man on a championship team.

[Kidnova]

And guess what? This is a good team and we are not even talking about having Kyrie and AD still here. so you add that in as a bonus and what you have for these next few years when we have zero first round draft picks to tank for, is a time of playing to win and nothing else is an option.

This is not a good team without Kyrie and AD.  I don't know how you can possibly come to that conclusion.

[mvossman]

This is not a good team without Kyrie and AD.  I don't know how you can possibly come to that conclusion.

Its not been a good team with Kyrie and AD because they can't stay on the court.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/maveri...cognition/


Mavs welcome Norm Sonju back.

[myconsumerclub]

NAJI played hard yesterday maybe its because he is showcasing. I hate the idea of losing a guy who has been instrumental in our winning so much under the Luka years but if we do trade him off there has to be a high pick coming back not worse than the teens. With that pick I would take a 2nd PG if we acquire another good pick in that range.

Stirtz may be available at 19. That would give us a PG sized PG in Stirtz and if we took Wag with the first pick we would get a wing sized PG.

Add those guys to a rotation with Max and Kyrie and you have Kyrie coaching his replacement for a few years to groom a special future and in the meantime the 1/2 rotation is not suffering from lack of size and we can defend the other teams PG better. Yeah we would lose NAJI but we would still have PJ to use as a PF and hopefully next season he is over his GF troubles and shooting 3's better.

Trade off candidates to add more picks: Klay, DLo, Hardy, Cisse, Ryan, Brandon, Lively, Gafford and anyone not deemed to be a keeper. Some of these might even warrant a good player coming back as well. Lively needs to get healthy first so we can see him play a bit more because he may be a keeper. If we add 2 PG's in the first that would be good enough to warrant trading off one of either Brandon or Ryan. Maybe we keep one of Cisse or Gafford. Cisse may have created enough interest in his game.

Keepers: Cooper, MAX, AD, Irving

Trading off other pieces to develop 2nd round picks would allow us to add the best available big in the 2nd if we can swing that to help us improve that additional need for a replacement to AD. We can help AD out and enable him to rest and play managed minutes as he helps to groom his replacement and hopefully lower mins would reduce his injury risk.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

Naji is really good role player, but in no way is he a starter on a championship team. That's a huge stretch. Maybe a 6th or 7th man on a championship team.

Hammer that nail.  I couldn't agree more.