Luka Dealt to Lakers: Nico Harrison is a Basketball Terrorist

[KillerLeft]

3.  Unfortunately, the third thing that helps Nico is failure on the part of Luka.  No matter what we think about Luka or how much we want him to succeed, the national narrative has turned a bit in recent days.  “Luka can’t guard a chair” from Chuck last night.  LA fans starting to show displeasure.  It isn’t permanent (and I said at the time of the trade, that I expected Luka to come back next season with a vengeance).  But, this playoff series put a few chinks in the armor of pubic opinion regarding Luka.  It is one thing to be targeted when you have a proper team helping.  But the LA defense really exposed Luka.  That won’t change if Reeves and Lebron are still there and a real defensive center isn’t brought in.  Add in the fact that Legler is hinting that Luka might not extend this summer.  Boy, if that happens, it might not help Nico, but it really looks bad for Pelinka.

My opinion about all of this has oscillated so extremely and frequently since February, mostly because the realization of what this change means has come in layered waves. 

Where I think I fall at this point, hopefully at the end of the absorbing process (at least the initial one), is kind of right where I started: Getting out of the Luka Doncic business was a defensible strategy, but executed poorly, both in terms of prior negotiation and dealing with the aftermath. 

All of that to say: I think you might be right that Luka has a great year next year. Maybe. But, I'm pretty convinced that as talented as he is, he's not a championship level cornerstone, at least not in a "perennial, on-going" capacity. Even if he does use this slight and loss of a truckload of money as motivation to come back next year in shape and on a warpath, I have very little faith that the effort will be sustained in subsequent seasons. I think it's possible we look back and think Dallas got the best five years of Luka's career. SO, I think your point #3 has some potential juice. 

As for the rest...I just can't get over the sorry state of the franchise in the trade's aftermath. FGump often makes the point that the roster talent here is better than people want to admit, and I agree, but I'll say again: The last two seasons can be summarized as an aggressive turning over of almost the entire roster in the name of building a team AROUND LUKA. It was very close to masterfully done, but at every step of the way some people, myself included, warned of the cost when a team montages its entire war chest, both present AND future, in such a reckless way. A first here for PJ, another there for Gafford, etc, etc, etc. These moves were only justifiable in the moment because the team had the top 5 offensive superstar we all know to be a requisite for title contention. Now? Sure, that young(ish) talented support cast is here, but to support whom? How are they even planning to design an offense? I have been asking that question since February, and I have yet to find someone with even a theory. Do Kidd and Harrison even know, themselves? 

They HAD to get a guy with offensive upside in the deal (Reeves would've counted, if AD was a must in the deal, necessitating the LA of it all) and they HAD to get more draft capital to help them pull the team out of the pit they'll land in if this all doesn't work out (or even if it does). As of right now, there really isn't a "Maverick" on the team anymore, except for maybe Lively, and he's a pick and roll big on a team that currently doesn't seem to be in the pick and roll business (I suppose that could change over the summer, to the point of your post). In short, the team, now with a significantly shortened window of relevance, has no current identity outside of "defense wins championships." If you're going to be a big man with your big man GM pants pulled up and trade the face of the franchise (and the face of the NBA for some) then you've got to have a better landing plan than that, imho. I know you didn't want to discuss the trade, necessarily, but I can't look at how this spring's moves were executed and muster up much faith that the summer will be handled in a way that fixes any of this, whether we're thinking about the product on the floor or just public perception of Harrison's role in the organization.