MAVS NEWS: Luka Is Hurt, But is Trudging On | DLive's Mom Passes Away| Maxi OUT

[Jason Terry]

I agree that Luka probably needs to see a plan NOW, and that he’s probably one of the main voices deciding things like “Grant is weird, get him out of here” or “PJ seems like a good fit.” 

And before this summer, I would’ve been resigned to this path like you seem to be. 

But man, their maneuvering on draft night changed me. Imagine if they had just done that three years in a row up until the next free agent period for Luka. Imagine the amount of young talent there would be around here at that point, and imagine how much experience some of it would have by then. I have to believe that Luka is smart enough to see the wisdom in that approach, and think I would’ve tried to sell them on it. Who knows, maybe they did…

Don’t get me wrong – I am excited to watch these two new players with the team, and I do think they’ll make the team better.

I don’t think the front office had the choice to just stockpile over time. That ship sailed years ago 

Luka had a hard enough time tanking for a few games. Who is the last 20 year old you’ve known that had patience? Patience goes out the door when when you have an annual top 5 MVP candidate. The players have had the real control for awhile now. 

I personally agree with you and wanted your plan. I haven’t thought Luka was mature enough to win until maybe this year. But we are here now. 

Every move we make from now on will have Luka’s blessing. Kyrie is here now and we basically have the complete “Luka’s rookie scale extension” iteration of the Mavs. We’ve officially moved on from the “Luka’s rookie contract” team. 

We have 3 postseasons to try out this current squad. So long as we don’t spend everything, there will be plenty of draft capital available in 3 years to build a completely new team that would satisfy Luka. 

Its so extremely rare for a player like Luka to ask out it’s not really worth thinking about. It would be a first out of ALL the euro superstar players. They’re loyal. What would be the advantage to Luka leaving? To join up in free agency with other superstars. This has historically been the only time something like that happens………Luka’s walk year we have no other contracts on the books outside of Lively/Omax/Green…….WE would be the team that would facilitate the superstars teaming up. Luka has enough gravity that if other players want to play with him (i.e. Kawhi/PG, Lebron/Wade/Bosh) they will structure their deals to line up with him. We may not even need draft capital if the core of the team all sign in FA