Luka Dealt to Lakers: Nico Harrison is a Basketball Terrorist

[hakeemfaan]

That's very true. The abomination of Nico's negotiation results is now permanently etched in the NBA landscape as part of the Mavs identity as an organization. There is no debate whatsoever as to whether he made a good trade value-wise, because it was horrendous. That's real and massive damage to the franchise. So bad, in fact, that Nico should never be allowed to negotiate again. Clueless.

But that's not the only W/L issue at play over the trade. 

There's also the question of whether or not Luka should have been traded at all, at any price. And it's THAT question that is still up in the air, and will ultimately be decided by who wins titles and who does not. That question drives so much of the residual anger, because Luka has always teased with the promise that he's good enough to one day lead his team to many titles, just as soon as he refines his game a bit more. We want that payoff! On the way to those titles, he has put on great shows in various games, and the team has exceeded expectations in the playoffs. But now Nico is saying that what we have is all there will be, just some shows and a player whose trajectory is not as high as we have expected.

So that "what happens later" question is the one that will determine whether Nico (alone) saw the future accurately, and will shape the primary historical narrative about this trade in NBA history.

If you read my full post I address both. 

I don’t think even titles matter for most franchises other than getting a banner and having some crowing rights. The NBA is not the NFL where you will have many generations of a family having loyalty to a franchise even if they suck. Take the Bears for eg. 

In the NBA it is all about the box office draw type of player.  If your franchise has that player then you milk him till you can’t milk it anymore. Don’t worry about the cap or flexibility. That box office draw will pay most of it if you can market products and deals around him smartly. More important your franchise stays relevant for that window. 

That’s why I mentioned AI and Luka vs a Duncan.  Duncan won titles and is one of the greatest to play but he was never a box office draw where even fans in other cities were waiting and making their once or twice in a season plans to go watch him.  Also as mentioned the Mavs have now lost the next generation of their fans who again I don’t believe care that much about titles. Having Luka here gave them joy and bragging rights.  That’s why I also mentioned the current Cavs and Thunder. They are legit contenders but other than their hometowns no one is really waiting for a Cavs vs Thunder Finals.   

Also I think you are a bit too hard on Luka.  Luka has been super productive and led the team to a WCF and a Finals. He could have played better in the Finals but he still was better than everyone else on the team including Kyrie     It’s not like AD with the pelicans where he had limited playoff success.  Sure he could have been in better shape and sure that’s a concern when giving him a supermax but the guy has always been super productive.   The other day when Naji put up a stat line as one of the only 4 Mavs to do it and then you see Luka on the list but Luka had done it 41 times. We take his insane productivity for granted when we only point out his flaws. Grimes said Luka was a gym rat. So it’s not like he didn’t work on his game.   The issue seems to be diet and conditioning off the court.  

H