(06-07-2021, 02:13 PM)Kammrath Wrote: Mavs HAVE to dump him, anything else jeopardizes a huge part of Luka's prime career that is upon us.
That ship has sailed too. KP still isn't paid for and you'll never return the value that we still owe for him. The roster needs a complete overhaul and we really don't have the assets or recruiting ability to do it. At this point, Luka's too good to let the team be a bottom dweller so even if we were good at drafting, which we aren't, we'd still not land premier talent that way. It feels like we are going to be on the "playoff team, but not title contender" for the foreseeable future.
(06-08-2021, 10:09 AM)omahen Wrote: I wouldn't be as negative as Dirkfan about KP but I agree with the general message. That Luka is singled out as a problem after the performance he had is really strange. Like the team was killing it without him...
Luka is great, great, great...but his stats can be a little bit of empty calories and because he does so much during the game, he just wears himself out by the time the 4Q rolls around. It would benefit him greatly if he could get KP involved.
Everyone being down on KP is fine and he shoulders a large chunk of the blame (sprinkle in his lack of being able to stay healthy as well - bad luck), but I think Carlisle and Luka need to carry some of the weight as well. I said it before, but Luka picks up lesser teammates all the time and showers them with praise, even with their blunders. In contrast, when he's asked about KP, he seems effusive.
And if we take a 10,000 foot view of the situation, before we go shopping for another co-star, it's hard to say if they'll have the same issues playing alongside Luka with as ball dominate as he is. Maybe (hopefully) it's just the KP/Luka relationship but maybe not. Is it going to be hard for another star to thrive and be happy aside Luka? That's been the question on my mind for a while now.