Luka Dealt to Lakers: Nico Harrison is a Basketball Terrorist

[mvossman]

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.

This is where I have come down as well.  The idea that we had a 25 year old superstar that we could compete with and build around for the next 10 years has been totally shattered in so many ways.  Look at NBA champions and you see a pattern.  A team that builds a core and incrementally improves getting multiple years of playoff experience before they eventually break through.  A path I could totally see with the Luka/Kyrie combo.  Now this team has completely recycled in a two year period.  That is not a formula for winning a championship.  By the time these guys go through the steps to be ready, they will be past their prime.

But maybe the biggest hit I took was my faith in the FO.  The first two years of Nico was a complete disaster and the only question was how much blame to put on Nico versus Cuban.  But last year was a complete turnaround.  What happened?  I attributed most of it to Linsey.  When he took off for Detroit I through we were in a lot of trouble, but then we finished out the offseason reasonably well (I was not a fan of Klay as a target, but at least we actually executed) and I managed to convince myself we were in good hands going forward.  Now that is completely dead.  I have absolutely no trust in Nico at this point.  It seems to me like his goal is to collect as many Nike buddies as he can, and is willing to get fleeced doing it.  It feels like he is going to do everything he can to get Kevin Durrant this summer (continuing the massive recycle process).  A few weeks ago I was thinking what a great position this franchise is in and thank god we are not Brooklyn or Pheonix, but that is where we are headed now.