TDL Archived: The 2nd Rnd Pick Yankee Swap

[SleepingHero]

Yeah, it has been trending this way for years. This new generation of GM's are total pansies, just trying to avoid mistakes, not trying to go for it. There are exceptions, but many of them end up looking like that Gobert trade and scare everyone else into inaction. 

Love him or hate him, Donnie wasn't scared to draw up a trade on a napkin in which 5-7 players and hundreds of millions of dollars get swapped. The Van Exel/LaFrentz deal comes to mind, specifically. The days of those "gunslinger" gm's seem to be fading away.

Agreed. Not trying to turn this into a Donnie discussion but I've started to reminisce of his time as a GM. 

I actually felt Donnie's trade making was his number 1 best attribute. Sure he had some misses (who doesn't?) but when he hit, it was as good of a hit as you can make. And like you said he was never deterred from trying to hit.

He failed at almost every other aspect as a GM though. Drafting was an after thought. Free agency made the franchise a mockery under his watch and still continues to be. Although like we all suspect that Cuban is the true man behind the curtain so we can't fully blame Donnie there.


Nico so far has done.... some good and bad? I loved the CWood trade, although I never felt it was going to be a super home run. So far it's been above average. The Bullock signing was great when it happened (not so much now). He drafted Hardy which I felt was the best choice. DFS and Maxi extensions were great value. 

But he let He Who Shall Not Be Named go. Signed Timmy to a mediocre to bad contract. The McGee signing looked good on paper, but in reality it's probably one of the more egregious mistakes the franchise has made in the last 5 years. He didn't really extract as much value as he could from the KP trade (though it's hard to judge if KP can bring more now than when the Mavs traded him). 

What else... Oh right he has still failed to put together a capable team around Luka in the 2 years he's been in charge. It's a sham. Doesn't really give me confidence in the future, but who knows what can happen? The Mavs STILL have the 2nd best NBA regular season record since 2000. They've made the playoffs 18 times since 2000 as well. While Nico hasn't been apart of the majority of that success, Cuban has. SO for all the shit we give Cuban he has been apart of that success. Lets hope he hasn't lost his drive and become a wuss of an owner.