11-25-2020, 12:09 PM
(11-25-2020, 11:50 AM)cow Wrote: The negative perception talk (even from Simmons) has been around for for a long time and I remember a lot of it coming up after the championship run and all those failed plan powder years. I also recall subtle references to a racial component which is part of the reason I was worried about drafting Luka. There is just too much smoke for there not to be some element of truth to it. Some stuff that sticks out to me beyond the Barnes deal:
-How we handled Tyson Chandler (twice)
-Along those lines, not running it back (failed two in the bush strategy)
-The two biggest free agent signings in recent memory (DAJ and Curry) were traded almost immediately
-Moving on from Dennis Smith Jr at soon as you got Luka (again there have been hints of a racial component)
-We were involved in destroying Rondo's reputation
-Along the Rondo lines of failed acquisitions, Delon Wright and Darren Collinson. It will be interesting to see if Wright can turn it around.
A lot of those moves were probably the right basketball decision but perception isn't always reality. We don't draft very well and we've been bad in free agency for a decade now. We shine in trades but that probably makes people uneasy coming here which is also why we suck in free agency.
I think a lot of the guys that come here speak glowingly of their experience but I'm sure there is a camp that doesn't (DSJ, Rondo who does have a lot of friends and is influential).
If there is any racial component involved in the recent politics of the team, it's not the Mavs against African-American players, but the reverse. Wes, VAJ, Barnes, and DSJ showed various levels of butthurt, not over how RC was using Luka, which was beyond reproach, but over who Luka was. They couldn't see what every other human being on the planet who knew basketball from their ass or a hole in the ground could see - that this kid was special, and that it wasn't a matter of giving him any sort of special treatment due to the color of his skin, but because he was one of the very best players in the world. While I am sure there was some trouble over this due to Luka's being a rookie as well as race, it's pretty evident that Luka's basketball worth is about at least double what those four guys bring put together. They behaved like complete dickheads (with the partial exception of DSJ, who at least had a friendly off-court rapport with Luka) the first part of the 2018-19 season. Each deserved his trading fate.