AROUND the NBA:

[ThisIStheYear]

The Knicks are going to befuddle a young Spurs team and ride unprecedented finals vibes to a title. It’s still hard to comprehend the generational fumble the Mavs made in blowing a draft haul of Luka and Brunson and then losing both of them for a combined return of this year’s 30th pick, Max (an end of bench player on a title contender), and a distant 1st round pick. It’s on par if not worse than the SGA transaction. At least the Clippers got a good player out of that. I’ve never seen anything like it, and it’s just sucked the joy out of watching the NBA. The Mavs have very little to rebuild with after this draft. Cooper is definitely a player who will prioritize winning over the super max, so if the Mavs don’t create a Spurs level team around him in the next couple of years, he’s leaving too. It’s pretty bleak but maybe the new front office can pull out an inside straight.