Trade & FA 2023-24: Stein-Ingram Trade Inevitable| LAL Want Lebron Back On Any Terms

[DallasMaverick]

Not counting draft trades like Luka……

The Mavs Kyrie trade is looking like one of the best trades over the last 10 years for any team. To get a player of his caliber for a single 1st…….what a steal. Not only that, but he signed for less than max

He went public with a couple of very unpopular opinions about the earth's shape, and a movie that had some antisemitic stuff, and then refused to get the COVID vaccine and missed a bunch of games.

So suddenly he's a really bad guy and the public hates him. He's not performing for them.

But he kinda doesn't care what the public thinks.  He's more of a team guy, who values the relationships he has with peers and teammates.

So Dallas did their homework, realized he'd thrive better in the right-leaning Metroplex anti-vaxx environment, and bought low.  And he was happy to escape the drama and hatred of NYC.  And his ego isn't huge, so he's happy to play whatever role the team needs him to play, and accept a little more team-friendly contract. Win-win.

This is why guys with non-basketball-related off-court issues intrigue me.  Public perception can be so incredibly negative, and management can feel compelled to divest themselves, no matter how paltry the return.  And sometimes the player can clean up their act, stay out of the spotlight, and become a productive contributor.  And over time, the public forgives and forgets the seedy past, and embraces a player who's giving them what they want.  Win-win.