Luka Dealt to Lakers: Nico Harrison is a Basketball Terrorist

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

I doubt the Lakers would have interest in any kind of Gafford for Austin Reaves construct...but I would.

(I don't know off the top of my head how many centers are available for them this offseason and their assets)

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

I think last night’s season ender for LA is as good a time as any to revisit what (if anything) it might take for Nico to eventually become less of a villain (I don’t think hero is within the realm of possibility, so I’ll just say ‘less of a villain’).  It appears he is going to survive the offseason (wouldn’t he be gone by now if he was going).  I want to be forward looking here and not revisit how lopsided the trade was/wasn’t or how poorly the PR has been handled.  This is strictly about steps it might take for the beginnings of a Nico rehab (if that is even possible).


2.  Nico could adjust the roster this summer in a way that is universally liked.  He was on a pretty good roll with Lively, PJ and Gafford.  Then we had the 2025 TDL.  What deal is out there that would be universally liked?  Topic for another day.  This is a post about how Nico might manage to get a body part or two out of the doghouse.  I think a really good addition that better balances the roster might help him.  It would also happen sooner than the next time we see AD and Kyrie in a game together.

He needs to upgrade the playmaking shortage significantly for me to buy back into this team.

If the offseason is basically a Lonzo Ball level player and waiting on Kyrie, I'm out.

[FireNicoHarrison]

I doubt the Lakers would have interest in any kind of Gafford for Austin Reaves construct...but I would.   

(I don't know off the top of my head how many centers are available for them this offseason and their assets)

Reaves is a way lesser talented Luka with a worst defensive game... I pass.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

These moves were only justifiable in the moment because the team had the top 5 offensive superstar we all know to be a requisite for title contention. Now? Sure, that young(ish) talented support cast is here, but to support whom? How are they even planning to design an offense? I have been asking that question since February, and I have yet to find someone with even a theory. Do Kidd and Harrison even know, themselves? 

This exactly.

[FireNicoHarrison]

He needs to upgrade the playmaking shortage significantly for me to buy back into this team.

If the offseason is basically a Lonzo Ball level player and waiting on Kyrie, I'm out.

I don't think we have any leverage for a better player than Lonzo.

A healthy Lonzo is very good though.

[RoyTarpleysGhost]

Dont we still have a couple of 1st rd picks to trade? Plus Max Christie. Plus either Gafford or Lively. Plus maybe Klay or PJ. Seems like we still have a lot of assets to trade. Not enough for someone like Giannis but enough to reshape the roster.

[Chicagojk]

I don't think we have any leverage for a better player than Lonzo.

A healthy Lonzo is very good though.

I am not even sure they have the right package for Lonzo.  

I am really curious how they design the offense.  Tough to judge with a trade mid year and all the injured players.  Although hopefully it is not isolation for Davis taking long twos.  Yuck.  That is just brutal to watch.

I just find it really hard to believe they think this team is a contender with such limited creation and limited three point shooting. They can’t think this group has enough of either, right?

[HoosierDaddyKid]

I am not even sure they have the right package for Lonzo.  

I am really curious how they design the offense.  Tough to judge with a trade mid year and all the injured players.  Although hopefully it is not isolation for Davis taking long twos.  Yuck.  That is just brutal to watch.

I just find it really hard to believe they think this team is a contender with such limited creation and limited three point shooting. They can’t think this group has enough of either, right?

Mavs have about as much to do rebuilding their roster as the Lakers. Both teams have deficiencies, and don't have a whole lot of wiggle room to make things happen.

[F Gump]

DS and KL, thank you for sharing your thoughts. I find it interesting that you don't exactly see eye to eye, agreeing in some ways and disagreeing in others, and I am in the same boat - partially agreeing with each of you on how you see things -- but what I find interesting is that for me too the quick PO loss by the stupid Lakers really doesn't change my pov on anything with the Mavs. It doesn't validate Nico at all for me, or change the Mavs trajectory, or Luka's either, imo.

1 RE LUKA PERSONALLY
I would be really surprised if he changes his way, because I don't think this outcome was any more motivating than where he's been before. I had thought off-season 2024 was THE time we would see an amazing change - he had full motivation to mend his ways, after getting so close to a title. Yet nope, it was same ole same ole -- what he opted for was obviously nothing different. I think he has learned over MANY years that he can spend his summers playing national games, which lets him work on shots with competition, and then relax, and work his way into shape during the NBA season. If he does that, he has learned from repeated experience he can still give you something like 28-9-9 and be All-NBA and make spectacular shots and have absurdly dazzling games, and then he also can play hoops like he likes, and have fun, and do crazy things on the court.

When he first came to the NBA, he was worlds ahead of other 18 year olds, with an incredible set of skills in such a big player, which teased the idea that over time, he would work to eliminate his weaknesses (defense and conditioning and shooting efficiency). But he really hasn't, and I am getting convinced he's happy with where he is. I hope I'm wrong, because he had such promise to be the Best of All Time -- but I'm just afraid he's not driven for that.

2 RE NICO
He's gotta go. There is no way he can be trusted to get the BEST deal for the Mavs, ever. You can't put him in charge of negotiations or player evaluation. It's not an issue of punishing him for being a dolt (which he is) or trading the face of the franchise (which he did) but rather that he doesn't have the skills to fix what he's broken.

That he moved on from Luka is not the issue. So if Luka is lousy or his teams don't win, that's not a plus for Nico. Instead, it's HOW he did it, how he sees the fanbase, and how little he was able to get for a 26-year-old 5-time 1st Team All-NBA player. It was horrendous work and sets the Mavs up for 29 other teams to prey on them.

As for the idea he was skilled before, no way. That was all Lindsey, I am firmly convinced. Nico's negotiating style this spring showed a complete lack of the finesse needed to play poker with the big boys. There's no redemption possible to change that lack of skill.

3 RE THE MAVS
I believe they have a massive amount of talent, and that fact is not really recognized. IMO a fire sale would be a massive mistake. But Nico is in the way right now (who will be working hard to validate Nico and His Vision), and until he's gone, there's no hope for better days.

I do agree they badly need offense creators (Nico's go-to mantra that all it takes is better defense is very myopic, and stupid). They also need better medical staff (again, Nico is too stupid to even recognize how badly that was messed up). But imo they have enough talent in the abstract, so that they could (in theory) fix whatever they need to fix if they had an EXPERT in charge with much better skills and a better vision of how to get there. The problem with Nico being in charge of trades like that is that he will see the flaws in the player he is trading away and trade him at his lowest value, and see the highest upside for the player being traded for (ignoring the warts) - there's no way to win.

[KillerLeft]

2 RE NICO
He's gotta go. There is no way he can be trusted to get the BEST deal for the Mavs, ever. You can't put him in charge of negotiations or player evaluation. It's not an issue of punishing him for being a dolt (which he is) or trading the face of the franchise (which he did) but rather that he doesn't have the skills to fix what he's broken. 

It's easy to side with this point, and I do, but even keeping the most open mind possible and holding out some hope that this was just a poorly executed maneuver and could be a single blemish amid a scad of artful roster moves (the rosiest possible view, in other words), I think it's clear that the DFW area will simply refuse to move on until this man and his job are offered up to the mob. How that isn't apparent to those to whom he reports at this point is beyond me. I think that's probably as close to a unanimously held opinion as I've ever encountered during my Mavs fandom. 

There are still people who think giving up on Christian Wood was a mistake, as overtly correct as that was, so imagine how obvious something has to be in order for us ALL to make it our battle cry.

[Dahlsim]

That point hasn't been talked about much but I agree 100%. Kyrie was going as hard as he could when he got hurt, just like AD did in his first game. Kyrie always amazed me with his easy 25pts and he usually seemed to save his energy for the 4th quarter. There's no way to know for sure but I'm doubt he barrels into the lane at full speed in a normal March game against the Kings if Luka was around. Kyrie was just trying to keep the ship afloat.

Yeah, it's one of those things some astute basketball observers can see clearly, but you can never say factually what sort of things increase the risk of injuries.  Its kind of you know it when you see it.  

I've said since very early in Joel Embiid's career for example that his style of play was and IMO remains his major problem.   Just consider his style of play for his body type and size compared to someone like Jokic or even to the great one Dirk Nowitzki.   The increased risk of injury is obvious with the types of moves consistently made, general fitness level, body types etc. etc. 

Kyrie for example was attempting a difficult Euro step move directly into traffic!  While he makes awesome nimble driving moves regularly, more often than not as he was playing off of Luka he was able to do that much less frequently and rarely needed to press quite that hard for a single bucket.

[Dahlsim]

I think last night’s season ender for LA is as good a time as any to revisit what (if anything) it might take for Nico to eventually become less of a villain (I don’t think hero is within the realm of possibility, so I’ll just say ‘less of a villain’).  It appears he is going to survive the offseason (wouldn’t he be gone by now if he was going).  I want to be forward looking here and not revisit how lopsided the trade was/wasn’t or how poorly the PR has been handled.  This is strictly about steps it might take for the beginnings of a Nico rehab (if that is even possible).

1.  Nico has maintained he has a vision for how this thing might come together.  A winning formula built around AD and Kyrie.  Unfortunately, we are 8-9 months away from test driving his theory and really a year from seeing it in games that really matter.  The only real contribution he might make in the near term toward proof of concept would be to quickly come to a reasonable extension with Kyrie.  I think 3 years at his Max is a failure.  Kyrie is an older smaller guard with an injury.  He will spend a chunk of his next contract in street clothes.  If, however, Nico can bring Kyrie in at something similar to what he’s already being paid, then that’s a good piece of GM’ing.

2.  Nico could adjust the roster this summer in a way that is universally liked.  He was on a pretty good roll with Lively, PJ and Gafford.  Then we had the 2025 TDL.  What deal is out there that would be universally liked?  Topic for another day.  This is a post about how Nico might manage to get a body part or two out of the doghouse.  I think a really good addition that better balances the roster might help him.  It would also happen sooner than the next time we see AD and Kyrie in a game together.

3.  Unfortunately, the third thing that helps Nico is failure on the part of Luka.  No matter what we think about Luka or how much we want him to succeed, the national narrative has turned a bit in recent days.  “Luka can’t guard a chair” from Chuck last night.  LA fans starting to show displeasure.  It isn’t permanent (and I said at the time of the trade, that I expected Luka to come back next season with a vengeance).  But, this playoff series put a few chinks in the armor of pubic opinion regarding Luka.  It is one thing to be targeted when you have a proper team helping.  But the LA defense really exposed Luka.  That won’t change if Reeves and Lebron are still there and a real defensive center isn’t brought in.  Add in the fact that Legler is hinting that Luka might not extend this summer.  Boy, if that happens, it might not help Nico, but it really looks bad for Pelinka.

I think it only is only fair to acknowledge that there are things that could go against Nico also.  Another dumb or lopsided trade.  Or, if LA makes a brilliant trade to build around Luka, that would be bad.  I think it more likely Giannis goes to Houston than LA, but stranger things have happened.  Another way this goes poorly is if Pelinka trades Luka to someplace Luka wants to extend and gets a better haul of assets than Dallas got.  All TBD, but if you are one of the three people in the world who hopes Nico (and the Mav’s) somehow find their way back from this nightmare, the changing narrative based on the Minnesota series was a step.  A little bit of lottery luck wouldn’t hurt and a good decision or two between now and mid July would also be helpful.

Great posts and discussion threads like this are what has kept me as a regular reader off and on poster for so long on this board and even going back to the parent board before the move.  Kudos to all those keeping the community going!   

I think it only is only fair to acknowledge that there are things that could go against Nico also.  Another dumb or lopsided trade.  Or, if LA makes a brilliant trade to build around Luka, that would be bad.

As it relates to possibility of a 'Nico Rehab', that's a tough one but clearly it mostly relates to the success of lack thereof of a 'Mavericks Rehab'.   As a MFFL of course I root for a Mavericks Rehab.  As to Nico I can easily live with him staying for example if the Mavs were to win even a single chip no matter how much success Luka has with the Lakers.  

The LA Lakers get prima donna franchise treatment and have a history of somehow getting to fleece other NBA teams in trade deals, getting friendly ref's at key times as well as pick up desirable free agents easier than most other teams, even when they appear cap limited.   
In other words, even if Luka turns his conditioning around and wins  a chip in LA it doesn't mean he would have done the same thing in Dallas.  Maybe he needed the kick in the pants Nico gave his ego to become his best self in LA. 

That said, Nico's stealth move with his known buddy to make the Luka trade without shopping his value across the league is something I could never see as excusable even though I think I 'understand' his thinking maybe better than a lot of observers I see.   Let's assume for argument sake Nico was not purely a traitor that actually wanted to help his friends in Laker land and revive the then slumping NBA ratings.  Let's assume for the moment in his own mind his goal was and is to help his franchise win what would only be their 2nd EVER NBA championship.  

Here's what I read into everything from Nico: 

1) Yes, we (Dallas) made the finals but we weren't competitive against Boston and I (Nico) don't think our chances are really going to be good at all against the Celts if they return to finals or against the up and coming NBA contenders esp. in the West.  In other words, as things stand we are NOT on track to get back to the finals let alone to beat Boston or East champion next season, or any time after we lock up Luka to the big Super Max. 

2) As Nico, I don't like Luka's conditioning level and I don't see a commitment from him to adequately address that issue in Dallas after we pay him.  I'm worried about his injury proneness (more than AD's  )   I don't like his defense even if healthy even if we have built a great team around him to cover that.  (Personally I do think you can build a champion covering around Luka's defensive lack, but that is besides the point for Nico's thinking who also has to bet the Supermax on it).  

3) Key point often missed.  Nico has pretty much said in some of his remarks as to his reasoning for not shopping Luka for top league value.  He said 'we had to do it quietly' because in some way it would never get done if Rob and I didn't do it that way.  I read into that he knows Dallas and fandom would revolt and put the heat on almost ANY deal for Luka Magic.  Nico didn't just want a great package, Nico wanted ANTHONY DAVIS!  He wasn't dealing for a bunch of draft picks, AD was his target.
Nico and Rob went into full stealth mode, shocking the entire NBA world because they thought that was the only way they could complete the deal they both wanted to do. 

IMO no doubt the Mavs got the short end on Luka's value at that point in time.  I would have loved to have seen this season's team IF Kyrie remained healthy as AD, D-Live, Gaff, PJ and the rest returned healthy.  
I don't know that they were championship level but I do think that roster would have been a contender on talent level.   Probably still too much weight on Kyrie to create, but with 1/2 a flash brother and if Exum were healthy I'd like to see it ...

[FireNicoHarrison]

Ok let's assume he was right and we weren't competitive against Boston ... So the choice is to further lose competitiveness, set the window to 2/3 years, leave the Mavs without future picks and also lose a lot of money from marketing/TV/sponsors/tickets/etc etc

I'm sorry, i can't believe that someone is so stupid.
That's a collusion.

[SleepingHero]

@TheDunkCentral
LeBron James says he’s not going to try to convince Luka Dončić to stay with the Lakers

"No, that ain't my job. I think ... I don't think, I know, Luka knows how I feel about him. And ultimately, that trade happened for the future. That's not for me. Luka has to decide what he has to do with his future. He's [26] years old, I'm 40, so he can't be basing his career off me. That's just real.
But I hope, obviously, [he stays long term]. Laker fans f---ing love him here. L.A. has accepted him. We love him as a teammate, as a brother. But ultimately, he's got to make a decision for him. Shit.

[Dahlsim]

Ok let's assume he was right and we weren't competitive against Boston ... So the choice is to further lose competitiveness, set the window to 2/3 years, leave the Mavs without future picks and also lose a lot of money from marketing/TV/sponsors/tickets/etc etc

I'm sorry, i can't believe that someone is so stupid.
That's a collusion.

No doubt Nico colluded with his Laker buddy.  Still could be that his intention for Dallas was do what he thought could give the Mavericks a chance to win a chip in the short term.  

set the window to 2/3 years, l

When Nico was asked about longer windows like 5 to 10 years I thought he answered pretty honestly when he essentially said he doesn't think of the franchise future that far out.  He said something like who knows if i'm alive or where I'll be that far out.  Not to say it's a great answer if you want your GM to plan for the long term future franchise but in his mind he had Dallas has win-now mode. 

In that respect he may well have thought AD + Max with Kyrie was better in the short term window of 2/3 years just as you said.

[FireNicoHarrison]

No doubt Nico colluded with his Laker buddy.  Still could be that his intention for Dallas was do what he thought could give the Mavericks a chance to win a chip in the short term.  
When Nico was asked about longer windows like 5 to 10 years I thought he answered pretty honestly when he essentially said he doesn't think of the franchise future that far out.  He said something like who knows if i'm alive or where I'll be that far out.  Not to say it's a great answer if you want your GM to plan for the long term future franchise but in his mind he had Dallas has win-now mode. 

In that respect he may well have thought AD + Max with Kyrie was better in the short term window of 2/3 years just as you said.

I can't trust at this narrative, everybody here know that Kidd wants 2 ballhandler on the court. Harrison too.
They traded for Kyrie to pair him with Luka, if you trade Luka (whatever the reason, it's not the focal point now) you SHOULD take back another ballhandler. 
No matter what.
Plus we already seen that PJ-AD-Lively/Gaff don't work so this summer we will see a revolution and it's another reason because "we are in better position to win now" it's just ******.

We can't rely on Exum and Dinwiddie for different reasons so "we are in better position to win now" it's crap, even with a healthy Kyrie.

I don't know if the Harrison plan was to add another PG in the off season but he clearly tanked this season.
I know they played hard at the end but it's just because the fans riot. 

And with that small package received for Luka we have no leverage on a big trade.

It's all funny because Giannis wants to come out next season and we don't have enough assets even after trade Luka Doncic. Embarassing.

Right now we are a very dysfunctional team with 2 old injury prone stars.
That's the problem and Harrison can't survive at it... Probably it was better to tank for Flagg but the situation was too heavy for him and they can't.

The city needs a fresh start, nobody here really think that we can win the chip next 7/10 years so fire Harrison & Kidd, hire new coach & GM and try to bring back the passion from the fanbase.

[FireNicoHarrison]

I don't like Reaves but if he was in the package then I could have even believed Harrison's words

[Dahlsim]

I don't like Reaves but if he was in the package then I could have even believed Harrison's words

Right, as I noted at the start, there is no doubt the Mavericks were far shorted on value.  If Nico had taken the best offers around the league, Dallas should have at least gotten back Reeves and another FRP to go along with Max.   No way they should have traded their prime age Superstar Guard while leaving the Lakers with their own starting guard.  

The question was about any possible path to  Nico Rehab as the Dallas GM.  The point here is more about what might have been in Nico's head.  Perhaps he thought the Mavs backcourt would still be strong enough with Kyrie, Klay, Exum, Dinwiddie.  Perhaps he thought and Hardy and B. Will were ready to step up a level to do the offensive creation. Yes none of those players could be expected to replace Luka just as the Lakers couldn't reasonably expect to easily have someone step up into AD's spot on the front line.

[KillerLeft]

The question was about any possible path to  Nico Rehab as the Dallas GM.  The point here is more about what might have been in Nico's head.  Perhaps he thought the Mavs backcourt would still be strong enough with Kyrie, Klay, Exum, Dinwiddie.  Perhaps he thought and Hardy and B. Will were ready to step up a level to do the offensive creation. Yes none of those players could be expected to replace Luka just as the Lakers couldn't reasonably expect to easily have someone step up into AD's spot on the front line.

I think for Harrison the thought process was simple:

1) He didn't think Luka would ever commit to doing the things needed to become leader of a championship team. He didn't think he'd ever get into elite shape, or commit to playing defense. He didn't think Luka was right to be standoffish in the areas of injury rehab or training and didn't think it was possible to make that "just leave me alone - the experts I trust will let you know when I'm ready to play" approach work within the team structure he (Harrison) wanted to foster and believes is essential to creating a title team. Maybe most importantly, he felt giving over that guaranteed super max contract this summer was likely to compound these issues, not lead to resolving them. 

2) He thought Davis was the best of a short list of the "right" type of guy he could get back for Luka (this is probably true - he wasn't getting one of the other 5 guys one can reasonably compare with Luka on a tier level) and didn't want to just sell Luka to the highest bidder and "start over." 

3) He believes that with Davis in and Luka out, his team is now BETTER positioned to make a championship run over the next couple of seasons, and is so sure of that belief that I don't think he minded not having a perfectly reshaped roster immediately following the trade. In other words, I don't think he was overly concerned with whether or not he got the exact, right package back to maximize THIS SEASON's potential, even, right or wrong. I think he truly just believed Davis in with Luka out put the roster in a stronger position moving forward into the summer. 

To answer Dan's original question, I think he has to be right about all 3 things to have any hope of escaping this saga as anything but a villain. I can certainly see how he arrived at point #1, but even if Luka's career flames out embarrassingly in LA (they're already pissed at his conditioning and defense out there, even before it's reasonable to have expected better, imho. That's the Laker fan experience), people will claim that "Luka could've gotten it done here in Dallas if given the next contract." So, only if Luka flames out AND the Mavs win a ring over the next 1-2 seasons will it even occur to anyone to let Harrison off of this hook, both locally and nationally. 

The chances of winning an NBA championship are always pretty low, even when things go right, so the much smarter play would've been to continue building around Luka until either A) he won or B) the NBA/Mavs fan community arrived organically at the idea that it wasn't going to happen here. 

I think the chances that Harrison makes it to the other side of this mess are slim to none.

[FireNicoHarrison]

Right, as I noted at the start, there is no doubt the Mavericks were far shorted on value.  If Nico had taken the best offers around the league, Dallas should have at least gotten back Reeves and another FRP to go along with Max.   No way they should have traded their prime age Superstar Guard while leaving the Lakers with their own starting guard.  

The question was about any possible path to  Nico Rehab as the Dallas GM.  The point here is more about what might have been in Nico's head.  Perhaps he thought the Mavs backcourt would still be strong enough with Kyrie, Klay, Exum, Dinwiddie.  Perhaps he thought and Hardy and B. Will were ready to step up a level to do the offensive creation. Yes none of those players could be expected to replace Luka just as the Lakers couldn't reasonably expect to easily have someone step up into AD's spot on the front line.

Honestly?
Mavs have to win a ring in next 2/3 years AND Luka not... So chanches are like 0. Zero.

Ultimately no, Harrison is done like GM in Dallas for me.
No way out.