Luka Dealt to Lakers: Nico Harrison is a Basketball Terrorist

[mvossman]

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.

I agree with a lot of this but I don't feel like Luka must win a title or Nico was justified in trading him.  In my mind the only thing that would warrant that decision is if Luka goes on a downward trajectory prematurely due to his lack of "work ethic".  I suppose the Mavs winning a title would warrant it too, but its hard to even imagine that scenario (both because of the decision and the poor execution).