08-03-2021, 04:01 PM
(08-03-2021, 03:50 PM)F Gump Wrote: Maybe all of the above?
The reality is that the current state is Dragic is $19M in "sunk cost" to TOR, the price they paid for Precious and a 2nd, and they don't have a particular desire to have him on their roster.
*TOR would ideally replace him with 19M or less in players they do want. Or at least find a way to reduce their wasted outlay from 19M to a (much) smaller number.
*Dragic doesn't really want to be there. He would ideally get his 19M from TOR, and then get to pick a team of his choosing and a new deal.
*Dallas would like to have him, but would ideally prefer not to have to pay (in salary or assets) to get him.
It's unlikely that any of the 3 will get everything they want. But they are all going to try to get as close as possible to their best outcome - which means they are trying to get others to settle for less than they want.
We don't know what going on behind the scenes, but Toronto could keep Dragic and see if there are any offers at the trade deadline. It is probably not preferable, but it could be an option.
For Dallas, optics matter. Luka sees the Lakers getting everyone under the sun. Now Dallas is not LAL and maybe these moves don't work once the games come for LAL. But added to the confusion over the 2019 Goran chase and now they have Goran saying he would want to play with Luka in a quote from today. If the Mavs can't make it happen, it needs to register somewhere in the back of Luka's mind regardless if he signs for 5 years. So the Mavs are under pressure to to make this happen....if this is the path they have chosen.