Luka Dealt to Lakers: Nico Harrison is a Basketball Terrorist

[fifteenth]

This is kind of where I am, too. 

A big part of me is happy my team is out of the Luka business, because I was getting really worn down by his flaws, and was starting to wonder if the best of him was over. Seems crazy to say that about a 25 year old, but I just saw some footage of his first promo shoot in a Lakers uniform and he looks pretty bad, imo. If I didn't know of him and saw him on the street, I'd never guess he was a professional athlete, even at his height. Even American football wouldn't cross my mind, because I don't think he has a single visible muscle in his entire upper body. I know these things aren't "the point," but basketball is a running, jumping, change of direction sport. It's a bigger problem than we've been allowed to properly acknowledge around here that he doesn't take the condition of his body seriously. When he was in his early 20's, he had more energy than the opponent at the ends of games. That's how they got all those amazing, come from behind, game-winning, legendary moments. These past couple of years, it has always seemed like he was the FIRST player to get worn down. 

It was starting to irritate me to no end that he was showing up to training camp INJURED because he refused to miss anything team Slovenia related. I like that he has pride in his country and wants to be for them what he can, but the Mavs have made Luka and his family wealthy for generations, even if he never gets another contract. Dirk loved his country, too, but he learned pretty early on that if something had to be missed, it was the team Germany summer activities, not the Mavs stuff. I'm sure that was tough for him in some ways, but it was the right thing to do. The Mavs were his EMPLOYER. 

One of the things that came out this past week was that for the past TWO seasons, the Mavs have been forced to make up a phantom injury to report so that Luka could miss games for a couple of weeks to get into shape. DURING the season, TWO YEARS IN A ROW. Knowing that, I have zero issue with Dumont choosing the "if you want to take a vacation" wording. Imagine paying a dude like $52 million to play basketball, and he can't even take it seriously enough to be ready for the season. Now, imagine that you're noticing during those two weeks you had to give him off that the dude isn't actually DOING what he needs to do to GET in said shape. Imagine thinking that the dude doesn't care that he's letting his team down and doesn't appear to feel any obligation to hurry back and show his team that he's committed or apologetic about having to use their season to get ready for their season. I'm sorry, but that would irritate me, too. It irritates me now, and I'm just a fan. I cannot imagine how frustrating that must be for the guy PAYING him, or for the dozens of people depending on Luka for their professional reputation and livelihoods. The coaches, marketing folks, season ticket sales people...hell, the other PLAYERS. I feel like I understand those Naji Marshall "we need you, 77 - come back soon" tweets in a different way after learning this. 

And, the thing with the refs...it gets shaken off around here all the time as "minor," "cultural," "no big deal"...no. It's major. We watched this dude sell his teammates out in big moments FOR YEARS by choosing to complain about not getting foul calls instead of getting back on defense like a professional basketball player is supposed to do. Sometimes, this was a game-long phenomenon. Either his ego/entitlement is gone beyond repair or he was so out of shape he was looking for excuses to take a breather during live play. Maybe both. But, I'm sorry - that makes him EXTREMELY unlikable. It's unforgivable, really, and being a Mavs fan had become a tiresome burden of doing mental gymnastics in an attempt to reconcile what I believe to be right or wrong with the desire to like/defend/root for this child. Speaking of children, I don't have any, but if I did, I would have serious concerns with them idolizing Luka Doncic. 

I'm sorry, but that's my opinion, and I have zero difficulty understanding why they wouldn't want to give this kid the largest FULLY GUARANTEED contract in the history of a sport that's growing more and more punitive to teams who don't manage their contracts intelligently. 

Having said all that, it's ALSO my opinion that there is GREATNESS in Luka. I still remember passionately convincing my Dad, who had lost all interest in the Mavs during the years following Cuban's decision not to let the 2011 team defend their title, to take the Mavs back up again BECAUSE of Luka. "This kid is going to be one of the greatest of all time," I told him. And, part of me wonders if Luka is a year away from starting to mature and take his career seriously before it's too late. If he does, this change of direction for the franchise is going to look silly, as most are assuming it will. But it had gotten to the point where the hope of him doing that was all I had to hang onto as a Mavs fan. What this trade tells us is that the people who see Luka every day, see what he's doing and NOT doing, had basically given up on that hope. I'm not saying they're right, but they do have more info than we. 

Even if he doesn't "figure it out," I'm 1000% sure there will be moments of greatness in the near and medium future that make us miss him. It's going to suck when he has the next 45 point triple double in a Lakers uniform, and doubly so if/when it happens against the Mavericks. I loved this kid and his game so much I named my dog after him. I used to routinely force conversations about him into social situations that didn't call for it (not so much these past couple of years). I'm having some very complicated feelings about all of this, and don't blame people a bit for being emotional, or for not wanting to accept or even consider any possible reasons for making this change. It shocked all of us. I wouldn't have done this. It probably wouldn't have OCCURRED to me to do this. 

And, like everyone else, I'm super down on what the trade actually looked like. AD is obviously an amazing player, and I think Max Christie might be a real prize, too, but it feels like they should've gotten more. Quite a bit more. 

But, what I've come to realize pretty clearly as I've worked through all of this for a week is that I'm not mourning the loss of Luka, I'm mourning the loss of the IDEA that was "the Luka Doncic era" in Dallas. What really sucks is that this was a young team a week ago and now it's an old team. I mean, technically, they might have actually brought their average age DOWN in this trade, as Christie is younger than Luka, AD is basically the same age as Kleber and Morris, if you want to count him, was in his early 70's. All the other youth is still here. But, idk...there's something deflating for me going from being built around a 25 year old to being built around two 31 year olds overnight, out of nowhere. I think being robbed of a perceived, possible future is the issue here, for me. But, if the Mavs feel like they KNOW how that future was going to play out, and they must have thought they did because this was a drastic step, idk...we might look back and realize they did us a favor last weekend. 

Crazy times to be a Mavs fan, no matter how it plays out.

There was a dream that was Luka. You could only whisper it. Anything more than a whisper and it would vanish, fragile. 


Great post, Killer. I think you do a great job of acknowledging that "both sides" of this particular discussion makes sense. It's obvious that you've wrestled with both sides.

[fifteenth]

Long time lurker on this board, but had to reply to this. Seeing fans switch up and buy the narrative the FO is trying to sell is super disappointing. Luka is 25. No superstar had it all together and figured it out at 25. Not even Dirk. 

Sure, Luka had his flaws and they could be annoying at times, but it’s like everyone is expecting him to be perfect and then getting mad when he’s not. He carried so much of this team for so long, literally played through injuries, was in the playoffs last year with his knees literally bleeding through this bandages/wrappings.

There is literally no evidence that he has an ego or is entitled. The FO fired everyone he was close with and even then he was still loyal to the Mavs and wanted to stay here long term. I strongly disagree with having concerns about a child idolizing Luka. He has never said or done anything bad (unless you count whining as some awful crime). He’s been a great role model, especially when you consider that other NBA players are brandishing guns, putting other players in headlocks, have been accused of domestic violence, etc.

As much as I love the players still on the team, I’m so disgusted by how Nico and the FO has handled all of this. They got what they wanted (Luka off the team) and they’re still disparaging his character on the way out in a sad attempt to try to justify their actions. I really don't think I can ever bring myself to fully root for this team (at least with Nico as GM and the under these new owners)

Welcome to the board, and keep posting! You are leaving one thing out of your post: I don't think it's debatable that Luka refused to take care of his body. An argument that ignores that Luka's flaws are part of this story is incomplete in my mind. We've been talking about Luka not taking care of himself for like, three years. It's not a new topic.

[fifteenth]

.... 

What blew me away was the absolutely beautiful comment AD made regarding the trade and coming here. It showed awareness, empathy towards the fans, and yet his commitment to do his part. I do wish him the very best 

...

I noticed that too! Well done, AD.

[fifteenth]

This discussion, over the last few pages, began to be framed as a "TASTE GREAT," "LESS FILLING" argument.

Both can be true.

We can criticize the front office and ownership, think Luka is a great player and generational talent, love how Luka brought the team to the cusp of a championship,

AND, discuss the fact that refused to learn to take care of himself and that this was a problem.

[DallasMaverick]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/4376...relocating

Doesn’t look like moving the team was a motivation.

Doesn’t look like cheapness was a motivation.

Maybe they really, truly thought it was the best basketball decision.

[mvossman]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/4376...relocating

Doesn’t look like moving the team was a motivation.

Doesn’t look like cheapness was a motivation.

Maybe they really, truly thought it was the best basketball decision.

This may all be true, but he is not going to come out and say they are trying to move the team, or that he plans on being cheap.  

Has he commented on why they executed this in the middle of the night without shopping Luka to any other teams?

[KillerLeft]

Has he commented on why they executed this in the middle of the night without shopping Luka to any other teams?

They are practically screaming this reason to us, it's just that we don't want to hear it. And, btw, I'm not convinced the reason is GOOD, but:

They wanted to be rid of Luka I think, yes, but another reason this happened, and possibly the MAIN reason it happened NOW, is that they really, really wanted AD. Like, Harrison thinks the team will be BETTER with AD than it would've been with Luka. We don't have to agree, but really getting that through our heads goes a long way to explaining some of this stuff. 

If he starts a bidding war and Luka's team get wind of things, we start living in a world where Bill Duffy asks "Where do you want to play, Luka," followed by shopping around with those teams to make sure they'll pay up this summer. That's even assuming they don't put it out there that he'll not sign with anyone in attempt to stall this until Dallas has no choice but to SuperMax him or lose him for nothing. But, even if they accept the premise that he's going to get traded, Luka's team has SIGNIFICANTLY more leverage in that situation once this gets leaked, as does Davis/Rich Paul.

Would the Mavs have ended up with more return that way? Probably, but maybe not, and I bet they wouldn't have gotten a PLAYER anywhere near the level of Davis, which, again, seems to have been the point. There's a rumor (which I'm inclined to believe) that Luka was offered for Giannis and Milwaukee declined, but past Giannis and AD, we don't even know for sure that Harrison would've even gone through with this trade at all. And, if keeping Luka is even among the possibilities being considered, do you really want to openly shop him? 

In other words, for a variety of reasons, keeping it secret meant keeping it secret from Luka and his agent. I don't know how many 1sts AD is worth in a vacuum, but I do know that his value cancels out some portion of Luka's. And, getting AD was the point here for the Mavs. Honestly, another pick and maybe a swap added in between and I'm feeling much better by now. 

I'm not saying they handled this well and we just need to get over it, as I'm sure there were ways to improve on how it went down, but I can understand now, a week later, why an auction wasn't staged. 

And, while it's annoying to feel they could've gotten more for Luka and didn't push hard enough for it...if Luka is who we think he could be when the dust clears on all of this, this trade will seem ridiculous no matter what was traded for him. If he flames out, Harrison will probably look pretty smart in hindsight for snagging a talent like AD with which to move forward, albeit through a much shorter window.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/4376...relocating

Doesn’t look like moving the team was a motivation.

Doesn’t look like cheapness was a motivation.

Maybe they really, truly thought it was the best basketball decision.

The people that think this happened so he can move the Mavs to Las Vegas.....are not very bright.

[KillerLeft]

The people that think this happened so he can move the Mavs to Las Vegas.....are not very bright.

For sure. 

Vegas is tiny. Doesn't compare to Dallas, market size wise. 

DFW represents a "leveling up" for the Adelsons. They gained experience in the Casino/real estate business in Vegas, probably saw the writing on the wall that gambling would soon be legal in Texas and are attempting to be the first to plant their flag here. My understanding is that they liquidated most of, if not all of their Vegas property to buy the team and get started here. They wanted to come HERE, to the BIGGER market, to be even MORE successful.

[mavsmagic]

Welcome to the board, and keep posting! You are leaving one thing out of your post: I don't think it's debatable that Luka refused to take care of his body. An argument that ignores that Luka's flaws are part of this story is incomplete in my mind. We've been talking about Luka not taking care of himself for like, three years. It's not a new topic.

In my second paragraph I acknowledged that he has flaws. No superstar is perfect. Yes there were issues with his conditioning, defense, and whining to refs. But he’s only 25. To completely give up on him this early on and then trash him on the way out is not the way to go.

[Winter]

They wanted to be rid of Luka I think, yes, but another reason this happened, and possibly the MAIN reason it happened NOW, is that they really, really wanted AD. 

This is easily the least talked about thing on this thread. 

It's almost certainly true. While the weight of basketball skill may lean heavily towards Luka in terms of value, AD is likely the best player for a Mavericks team that no longer has Luka in the starting five.

[BoulderMFFL]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/4376...relocating

Doesn’t look like moving the team was a motivation.

Doesn’t look like cheapness was a motivation.

Maybe they really, truly thought it was the best basketball decision.

The SuperSonics is still in Seattle. I have no doubt the Mavs will always stay in Texas, but hopefully not like the SuperSonics.

[KillerLeft]

But he’s only 25. To completely give up on him this early on and then trash him on the way out is not the way to go.

You might be right about that. A large part of me expects that you are...will be, whatever. It sucks for fans who are attached to him, and despite my recent criticism, I am one of those fans. 

But, I think you'd be even more mad if they weren't telling us anything about their thinking and he was just gone. And, I think it's really difficult, impossible maybe, to tell us anything about their thinking without making it seem like they're trashing him, given what we know their thinking actually is.

What you're really saying is that they shouldn't have traded Luka, and that nothing is going to make you OK with this, at least not for a long time, and I get that. We ALL feel that way, to varying extents, probably even the dudes who just traded him. 

When Harrison/Kidd came here, they were coming to be part of Luka's career. That was THE draw of this job. It's silly for us to believe they wanted rid of him from the get go. I'm sure this is not where Harrison saw things going on his first day.

[Chicagojk]

Mark urged Nico not to trade Luka, but was not in the loop. Trade had already been finalized, I believe.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1015...akers-deal

[Chicagojk]

Mark urged Nico not to trade Luka, but was not in the loop.  Trade had already been finalized, I believe.

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1015...akers-deal

The whole Cuban angle is fascinating.  Did he really sell the team with the expectation that he would still run basketball operations?  Less than a year he is completely out of the picture and wasn't even consulted on the Luka trade.  What a wild ride.

[Winter]

The whole Cuban angle is fascinating.  Did he really sell the team with the expectation that he would still run basketball operations?  Less than a year he is completely out of the picture and wasn't even consulted on the Luka trade.  What a wild ride.

If you really think about it though, why consult Cuban? You just have to convince the owners. I suspect Nico and Dumont knew what Cuban would say.

[mavsmagic]

The whole Cuban angle is fascinating.  Did he really sell the team with the expectation that he would still run basketball operations?  Less than a year he is completely out of the picture and wasn't even consulted on the Luka trade.  What a wild ride.

It’s sad when you think about it, but in a way this is his fault for selling the team in the first place. But I’m sure in his wildest imaginations he never thought Luka would be traded, especially fresh off a finals appearance

[hakeemfaan]

They are practically screaming this reason to us, it's just that we don't want to hear it. And, btw, I'm not convinced the reason is GOOD, but:

They wanted to be rid of Luka I think, yes, but another reason this happened, and possibly the MAIN reason it happened NOW, is that they really, really wanted AD. Like, Harrison thinks the team will be BETTER with AD than it would've been with Luka. We don't have to agree, but really getting that through our heads goes a long way to explaining some of this stuff. 

If he starts a bidding war and Luka's team get wind of things, we start living in a world where Bill Duffy asks "Where do you want to play, Luka," followed by shopping around with those teams to make sure they'll pay up this summer. That's even assuming they don't put it out there that he'll not sign with anyone in attempt to stall this until Dallas has no choice but to SuperMax him or lose him for nothing. But, even if they accept the premise that he's going to get traded, Luka's team has SIGNIFICANTLY more leverage in that situation once this gets leaked, as does Davis/Rich Paul.

Would the Mavs have ended up with more return that way? Probably, but maybe not, and I bet they wouldn't have gotten a PLAYER anywhere near the level of Davis, which, again, seems to have been the point. There's a rumor (which I'm inclined to believe) that Luka was offered for Giannis and Milwaukee declined, but past Giannis and AD, we don't even know for sure that Harrison would've even gone through with this trade at all. And, if keeping Luka is even among the possibilities being considered, do you really want to openly shop him? 

In other words, for a variety of reasons, keeping it secret meant keeping it secret from Luka and his agent. I don't know how many 1sts AD is worth in a vacuum, but I do know that his value cancels out some portion of Luka's. And, getting AD was the point here for the Mavs. Honestly, another pick and maybe a swap added in between and I'm feeling much better by now. 

I'm not saying they handled this well and we just need to get over it, as I'm sure there were ways to improve on how it went down, but I can understand now, a week later, why an auction wasn't staged. 

And, while it's annoying to feel they could've gotten more for Luka and didn't push hard enough for it...if Luka is who we think he could be when the dust clears on all of this, this trade will seem ridiculous no matter what was traded for him. If he flames out, Harrison will probably look pretty smart in hindsight for snagging a talent like AD with which to move forward, albeit through a much shorter window.

This was mentioned somewhere on this thread or somewhere else on another thread and this is DUMB no matter how many times it is thrown out . There is no other way to say it and as the other poster said it is super annoying for any Mavs fan to even give them a pass on this.  This is a loser mentality of thinking which is why other teams always seem to trade away assets and make out like bandits while the Mavs don’t. 

If the worst case came to pass and they ended up with nothing I would take that chance over what they got. What they got doesn’t move the needle for the team either short term or long term.  

Why just glibly believe them that they would have paid the supermax to Luka if he was fit as a fiddle. I don’t know enough about this ownership to give them a pass on anything. The owner’s and GM’s lack of maturity is also on display post the trade.  An incoming player showing more maturity and class than either of them is all one needs to know.

[HoosierDaddyKid]

This is easily the least talked about thing on this thread. 

It's almost certainly true. While the weight of basketball skill may lean heavily towards Luka in terms of value, AD is likely the best player for a Mavericks team that no longer has Luka in the starting five.

For the short term, yes.  But how long will AD hold up? He's out again with a abductor injury and won't play vs the Kings. That's the $64 dollar question. Lakers traded for Luka long term, and they added his 1st game as a Laker tomorrow night vs the Jazz on ESPN.

[KillerLeft]

This was mentioned somewhere on this thread or somewhere else on another thread and this is DUMB no matter how many times it is thrown out . There is no other way to say it and as the other poster said it is super annoying for any Mavs fan to even give them a pass on this.  This is a loser mentality of thinking which is why other teams always seem to trade away assets and make out like bandits while the Mavs don’t. 

If the worst case came to pass and they ended up with nothing I would take that chance over what they got. What they got doesn’t move the needle for the team either short term or long term.  

Why just glibly believe them that they would have paid the supermax to Luka if he was fit as a fiddle. I don’t know enough about this ownership to give them a pass on anything. The owner’s and GM’s lack of maturity is also on display post the trade.  An incoming player showing more maturity and class than either of them is all one needs to know.

Trying to understand their thinking isn't remotely close to "giving them a pass." They wanted AD. It's as simple as that. 

Key word being "they." 

Guys, if you want nothing but hate, and won't accept anything else, just skip my posts. I have repeatedly said I wouldn't have made this trade, and I'm as upset as the next guy. Attacking me or others who are attempting to move forward and discuss different viewpoints won't make you less angry and won't bring Luka back.