Luka Dealt to Lakers: Nico Harrison is a Basketball Terrorist

[hakeemfaan]

The only way this isn't a disaster if Luka is broken down player, and I certainly don't want to root for that.  I also can't root for the Lakers.  Once the trade deadline is past, I will probably slowly back away.  I think.

I can understand the frustration the team had with Luka.  Trading him was probably #100 after everything else was tried.  I would have preferred to go down with the ship...whatever that means.  It looks like they tried some steps.  I mean there is a 80-90% chance we feel the impacts of Sunday for a decade plus.  Although, I get the frustration.  Last years run was amazing.  Luka was hurt and fought through it and had amazing moments.  He can still be one of the best in the league on toughness, grit and IQ.  And he did that in the finals run. 

When we got the the finals, he was fine.  He was limited though.  It felt like he was the best player on a finals team, and not the crowning achievement to the best player in the world.  Boston went at him pretty hard.  Maybe that Boston team was a legendary team ready to win.  Also, it would have been a more competitive series if Kyrie played better too. 

Although, with the game 3 issues and having Boston go hard at him, I am sure the team was interested in how he would respond after getting so close to the mountain top.  Jordan and Kobe are killers.  Luka is certainly a killer on the court too.  I am sure the team thought they improved the roster and was ready to win now and they wanted to see if this was a revenge tour for Luka.  Instead he came into out of shape and got hurt quickly and then spent the first half running around the court like a 40 year old.  I get the frustration.  They lose me everything past that though.

Well said. Again most here who are against this trade ABSOLUTELY get the frustration with Luka. However he played hard, at least on offense , every time he was on the court. Every player has warts. I love Dirk but we romanticize and forget how many times pre and post that championship run we would be somewhat frustrated that Dirk was not more assertive in key parts of the game. AD has had issues looking like he has checked out sometimes the whole game. 

No player is perfect. Most generational stars have some diva tendencies. You work around those because you are not getting another one most likely in your lifetime. 

My frustration with Luka was that he took bad shots and also that he had a model in Jokic who he should have patented his game around and didn’t follow it.  He can score 40 without taking a single forced shot from deep. His passing is so good that teams can’t cheat.  This guy is one of the few legit offensive cheat codes but he was playing like Harden who for all his talent is IMO  a clear tier below Luka.  I kept waiting for Luka to change but somehow it never happened.  

It still doesn’t excuse this trade and haul. If you decide to move past a 25 year old Luka just go full on rebuild. If you are looking at only the next two years Luka was still the best choice as this whole roster is built around him and he is a better player than AD.