Luka Dealt to Lakers: Nico Harrison is a Basketball Terrorist

[michaeltex]

I mentioned right after the trade happened that I would have looked at moving Kyrie before I would have Luka. However, I'm also being honest about what I see and have seen with Luka.

If you think it was just Kyrie that disappeared during the Finals you need to go back and watch the games. Yes Kyrie disappeared. But, Luka shot 58.6% (17-29) from the free throw line and 24.4% from 3. Boston turned him into a volume shooter. Kyrie shot 27.6% from 3 and was perfect from the free throw line (9-9).

Realistically, Boston just dominated the Mavs. It really wasn't close at any point. Looking back at the game stats there was zero way Dallas could have won those games. They needed more offensive output and more defense.

Kyrie is trying to be a good defender. He was even mentioned as playing D in the all star game. Luka was not playing D against Boston. I think mainly due to him being exhausted. At least that's how it looked. He would rest with his hands on his knees. That's just exhausted.

Kyrie did average 19.8 Points per game against Boston and Luka averaged 29.8. But, the Mavs desperately needed more output from the rest of the cast. They didn't get it.

I'm at the point now where I've moved past the trade and ready to see what the guys can do when they are healthy. I do hope that Luka changes and we get to see what he is capable of. But, I'll be 100% about this. If he doesn't start working on his diet and conditioning he won't last. He looks about 45 right now instead of 25. 

It's sad too because he is incredibly talented. You talk about being like Jokic and being bigger working for him in the playoffs. Jokic got on a regiment of diet and exercise right before they won the title. Also, Luka is a PG. Jokic is a 5. Massive difference. At 7 foot Jokic can shoot over the D. Luka needs to be able to move to create space.

What I remember was BOS blitzing Luka at mid-court, forcing the ball out of his hands, then running back to a balanced M2M defense. Luka, due to injury/fatigue/conditioning, didn't move a lot without the ball. Kyrie tried to work his magic, but the BOS length gave him fits (we've seen that other times as well). After that, the offense just seemed to grind with BOS helping off non-scorers as needed. Add in the 5-out "bombs away" attack by BOS and the writing was on the wall. I felt like the series was over after DAL could not respond in game 2.

Conversely, I like the sharing and movement with the "Munchkin Mavs". 4 of 5 is at least encouraging. I would really like to see this team operate this way with some size back in the mix. At some point, having to play small all the time is going to prove an Achilles' heel.