Luka Dealt to Lakers: Nico Harrison is a Basketball Terrorist

[KillerLeft]

Swapping AD with Luka doesn’t give the team the best chance to win. 

I'm not making my point clearly enough. It's not about right now, this second. 

Imagine you're Harrison, and you have DECIDED that Luka is an immature clown and will never, ever mature into the professional/leader you FULLY BELIEVE your team needs him to be. Forget what YOU believe, and try to really imagine believing that. 

Then, imagine AD is one of the players you respect most in the entire world. You vehemently believe that his TWO-WAY ability is so rare that you think a championship team can be built around him, and more easily than it can be built around Luka, who, again, you've already DECIDED not to supermax. The clock is ticking. 

Then, imagine you believe the team is pretty close to being in a place that COULD work around AD. Maybe 1-3 additional moves needed. And, if you can make those additional moves over the summer, you think next year's team will be better than it would be with Luka. 

Remember, you're Harrison, and you have already decided Luka isn't getting the super max. If you try to offer him less, chaos ensues. If you try to shop him over the summer, when he and his agent are expecting the extension to come through the literal second new business starts, chaos ensues. Both of those paths completely decimate next season. So, if you can't move him (in the way you want, on your terms) at THIS trade deadline, you're basically obliged to offer that supermax extension, which, AGAIN, he and the owner really don't want to do. And, (this is the hard part to wrap your mind around) not because they're cheap. Because they do not believe that type of investment in Luka is the correct path for the franchise. 

Then, imagine you've identified AD as the target you can actually get. You kicked the tires on Giannis (extreme long shot, because Milwaukee has to know Luka doesn't stay there long), that didn't work. With AD, there's a shot, but only in this one sliver of time.

Then, imagine that while for WE the fans, the nightmare is what we just saw happen, for Harrison, the Mavs' GM, who answers to ownership and thinks his team is close to winning a ring (suspend your disbelief here, please), the nightmare is waking up after the deadline with Coby White, Vucevic, 4 Chicago 1sts and 4 Chicago pick swaps. THAT is precisely what he was trying to avoid. It looks better on paper, but HE thinks AD makes them a contender. That package does not, period. 

The Chicago hypothetical was tongue in cheek, but the second this gets leaked, you lock into a path where you're negotiating with whatever 2-3 teams Bill Duffy tells it's ok to make offers. Hey...maybe one of them is LA, anyway? But, if not and you're Harrison, you DON'T GET AD, which was the ENTIRE FREAKING POINT OF ALL OF THIS. 

I don't know how else to say this: Harrison PREFERS Davis to Luka. That's just the bottom line.