Weirdest and or biggest trade in NBA history totally out of nowhere?
Which team is the stupidest, LA or Dallas? Probably Dallas, right? Like, LA are not going to win anything anyway, so it doesn't matter if Luka can't defend, but he will still be an MVP type superstar in a big market.
But Dallas, it feels like they made the worst trade possible for the talent they shipped.
Why would they just deal with LA for an injury prone player and one pick? 👀
Crazy stuff.
But then for LA do we think LeBron is happy? Probably not 🤷♂️ this story could last years
@Ravix Yeah, dude this is crazy. I feel like there’s more background to the story that we don’t know, and probably never will.
Honestly, Luka’s ‘calf strain’ seems so unusually severe. What kind of calf strain that occurs on a totally routine non-contact play takes 6 weeks to get better? Is there some catastrophic health concern that the Mavs are trying to avoid paying top dollar for? Luka is due a new contract at the end of the season and is eligible for a super max deal worth over $300 million. I have a feeling they think this year’s injury riddled season is the beginning of more to come, maybe? On the other hand, AD isn’t like the picture of health himself. And at nearly 33 yr old he’s on the downhill part of his career, whereas Luka should be peaking over the next 5.
As far as I know Luka is a good citizen and a decent locker room guy. His biggest fault (outside of recent injuries) is the whining to the refs he’s known for. But maybe there’s skeletons in the closet there and I wonder if they will come out.
Another possibility is if this is some kind of 4D chess move, but I doubt that. Like the long term plan is flipping these players and the pick along with someone else for maybe a bigger fish. Again, doubtful.
Regardless, I think the Lakers and Mavs can probably flush this season. For each team to adjust to having new superstars and get into a good groove to make noise in the playoffs is unlikely. Both teams should make the play-in tournament, I would think, but there’s no telling. I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if they both completely miss the playoffs. Nevertheless, this offseason is going to be nuts — expect to e Lakers to attract some great free agents who want to play with Luka and LeBron. A new LA dynasty might be in the making.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution yeah, I'm not sure how American sports works with trades and health. In europeam sports deals are agreed, but nothing really happens until there is a medical that is passed. In the US it just seems like players get moved at random regardless. Do teams have to declare what they find in scans and tests, or is it really just pot luck and teams can withhold damning information, or was Luka checked by LA before the trade? Do proposed teams even have access in that way?
Talent wise you'd think Luka is a monumental signing for any team, bar the odd few cases. So why don't Dallas they deal for more picks, or more players?
I've heard it mentioned that the GM is friends with AD as he was at Nike and thats why they made this trade, which would be a totally dumb reason as an organisation, so it can't be true. But even so, surely if AD is the target, you can get that deal with more value for Luka.
Both will probably win lots of games for their new teams, but it just seems like there must be so much more to it, like you say.
Now, if LA can get a couple of big men and defensive dogs to support Luka, who knows. And the potential free agents will be looking LA's way. But if Luka is broken in any way it hardly matters.
I haven't really heard anything about Luka's time out, but has it been noted as strange? Has there been no leaks or rumours surrounding him wanting to move away?
It was mentioned the GM of the Mavs trade history has been quite... bad. Grant Williams in, lots of talent let go as a few examples (was Brunson at Dallas? 😬) I can't remember the exact deals, but a lot that have hurt them, despite getting to the finals.
When it seems you're out of luck.
There's just one man who gives a f*************ck
⚔️🛡🐎
@Ravix In the American leagues, at least as far as I know in the NBA and NFL which is what I tend to follow most, there is a medical clearance that the teams medical staff do before the deal is final. I believe that the deals are contingent upon that. As far as disclosure beforehand, I suspect that yes, there’s behind the scenes exchanges of medical information. I’m not sure how regulated that is as far as if things are attempted to be hidden, but I think it should all come out in an evaluation. Honestly, once a deal is made public, I can’t remember a time when it was stopped due to a player failing a physical, although I’m sure it theoretically can happen. In other words if there is something chronic with Luka’s health, LA certainly knows the risk right now, and vice versa with A.D. and Dallas.
As for any prior leaks or rumors of Luka being moved, absolutely none. Neither from him wanting to leave or the team wanting to move him. This literally came out of nowhere and all the sports analysts are dumbfounded.
As far as the Mavs GM, yeah, I don’t know — last year he was being praised for turning the roster around at the middle of the year when he went and got PJ Washington and Gafford and it all seemed to click and they went on their run at the end of the season. He does seem to have an eye for talent and what pieces go together well. Perhaps he’s looking at teams like Boston and Cleveland and feeling that, like you call it, “hero ball” is just not the way to win a championship. We had the discussion before and I hold to the fact that the big champions have usually had an alpha, but it might be antiquated thinking and players like Luka who demand the ball so much are a long term liability, especially when they don’t play consistent defense. Regardless, all the sports “experts” and “analysts” are calling this a colossal mistake of historic proportions by the Mavs and even “franchise management malpractice” was how I think it was termed my one writer.
The only way that the GM is going to save face is if AD clicks better with Kyrie and co. and they go on to win a championship, or if the Lakers fall apart when Luka goes down the road to become the next Zion Williamson and keeps the franchise stuck in the mud because all the money is there sitting injured on the bench for most of the season.
@Th3solution it kind of makes me want to root for the A.D and mavs side of the trade more reading that, to be honest. If every writer has declared it a mistake. And I do agree with the current sentiment that a team is now better than a star. The value still seems low, however, so part of it must be something very A.D or LA specific. Which is a big risk when shipping out your MVP candidate. If they'd shopped around and still decided on LA, fair enough. But from the outside it seems like they didn't ask for fear that it'd be obvious which move made more sense as they would certainly be offered much more from other teams, but they still wanted A.D, so that negates the "but you were offered this" debate down the line. I don't think they will be allowed to sweep it under the rug if it does fail though, it's too big a story.
Speaking of money left on the bench...
Philadelphia. What is going on there. Their injury list last night was quite the expensive one. Part of the cause of this? PG3 has a sore pinky, and I assume Embiid is erm tired?
Boston tried their hardest to let them rest of the team that bothers to turn up for games to win, in what was probably the worst performance of the year, until the very end of the third and entire fourth quarter, which was quite literally insane.
It was that bad I was typing my comments on here whilst watching on a slight delay instead of actually watching it, until it wasn't and the 26 point comeback (which we desperately needed to prove we could execute this year) happened.
Phili though, is it over? Do they tank to make sure they keep their pick away from OKC? Are they totally buggered having to keep that much of their cap space on the bench all year with Embiid and PG3?
What of poor Tyreese Maxey? He deserves a proper team, and an all star pick. Do people not care about him anymore as he tries to singlehandedly make Phili relevant?
@Ravix I think I saw somewhere that the GM admitted that he didn’t shop around to other teams because he knew that would increase the chance of word getting out that they were looking to move Luka, which would have injured team culture… which seems like a short-sided approach since no doubt team and fan ‘culture’ has taken a huge hit regardless. He did say that he knows many teams were clearing cap space to make a run at Luka next year when he would become eligible to opt-out of his contract, so that factored into doing this now to get ahead of that possibility. Again; weird logic because Luka was happy in Dallas, by all accounts and there wasn’t an indication he’d opt-out. But maybe that’s all part of the unknown info behind the curtain.
But yeah, outside of New Orleans and the Zion experiment, Phili is becoming another train wreck of a franchise with a lot of dead money sitting in injured players. (With the Clippers and Kawhi being another consolation prize in that category). And I do feel sorry for Maxey, since he’s just trying to carry that team and it’s just crazy how Embiid has fallen off the face of the earth. George has a history of being unreliable from a health perspective. I think that franchises must be starting to look at the health issue more and more. The problem is, that’s not always predictable.
If I were Phili, I would probably try to make one last run at it the second half of the season, since they are formidable if those two star players get healthy and all you need is just to get into the tournament and be playing at a high level at the right time. But if another month goes by with no turnaround, then it’s probably time to tank.
On a side note, San Antonio quietly inches their way to relevance again with their move to grab De’Aaron Fox. He’s an underrated player, and can compliment Wemby quite well. Not sure if they have enough time to get the chemistry right by the playoffs, but they may be the team in the West to surprise some people.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution San Antonio seem to be making hay while the sun shines, getting the best of what they can get without over reaching. Free agents will also want to go there next year, you'd think.
The GM's take sounds like BS on multiple fronts. If the reason was that you don't want word of the trade to get out, why zero in on LA unless it was always the plan. If you let word out your value increases due to a bidding war as it's a "now or never" move. And if the trade failed word would get out and you'd still upset the team. And now you have a team and fanbase blindsided by a trade anyway.
Who has ever turned down the chance at the largest contract in NBA history? Which I assume is what he was eligible for. A competitive team that would have had to pay you super max vs a team that won't necessarily have to? (Eligibility changes upon trade, does it?) I'd heard it mentioned somewhere that he'd automatically be eligible at Dallas, either way.
So is it Luka did want to go? As in LA you can make your money in many other ways by sheer proximity to the money that is there. But if that's the case, it's weird that Dallas wouldn't milk the trade for more as they are the ones being slighted. So it seems unlikely, even though he's been sitting out possibly injured lately.
So what are we left with? Dallas trusts paying an older A.D more so than they trust paying a 25 year old Luka. Is A.D on significantly less money? I doubt it as LeBron wanted him in LA so I imagine he got paid. Can Dallas afford another star the way it's panned out, or is the two man group their limit?
@Ravix If I understand it correctly, the player is not eligible for the “super max” contract unless they have been with the team for more than a year… or something like that. So yes, in Luka’s case he went from likely signing a $350 million contract this summer to a $250 million-ish (not sure on the exact numbers) so I believe this has cost him money. Or he could finish out the last year of his contract and then opt out a be a free agent in 2026 and shop the market. That was the fear, as I understand it. But again, there’s no indication he would have wanted to leave. From all that I’ve read he would probably have signed the 5 yr/ $350 million contract and happily been the face of the franchise, but maybe if they didn’t show signs of progress toward a title, then who knows how it would have gone.
AD is on a smaller contract, and I do think he’s on its last year, which makes it all interesting drama if he’s not happy there and wants to test the open market too. I’m not sure how the salary cap and “aprons” work exactly, but the Mavs definitely have less money on the books with AD vs Luka over the next 5 yrs, so maybe there’s money there to attract a third star, but it will probably not be anyone who’s All-Star caliber. But honestly, two All-Stars should be enough and just get the right role players, play D, and do good disciplined team basketball.
I do see that Charles Barkley, as wheels-off as he is, is one of the few who are saying the Mavs are better off with A.D. instead of Luka. I’ll have to read his thoughts and see what exactly makes him think that.
I do think the Lakers are not complete and in dire need of a big man now. But they’ll have no trouble attracting one next year.
@Th3solution I was. Minute 1: playing 5 out and slow dribbling up the court, and then lazy iso attacks into traffic, with KP being used as a predictable bailout again. It's awful basketball when they play that slow and stupid.
When they benched everyone look how fast Pritchard had them playing and that was effective.
One positive, Derek White is shooting that thing again.
But JT and JB were actively preserving energy, you'd have to think. It's the only excuse, so you might as well just rest them and play the reserves. It's happened that many times that it's not going to hurt the record by resting players, and it might actually improve the record 🤦♂️
When it seems you're out of luck.
There's just one man who gives a f*************ck
⚔️🛡🐎
@Ravix I didn’t watch the game but I suspect there was a mental letdown to be playing the beleaguered Mavericks who are a dumpster fire right now, so perhaps subconsciously the effort just wasn’t there.
It’s been a crazy week in the NBA; the Lakers seem to have found their center with Mark Williams who is a good fit for Luka. Butler to the Heat is going to be a dangerous gamble but could make them contenders. And Holmgren is rumored to come back finally for OKC as the rich get richer. I think we should just hand the Western Conference trophy over to the Thunder and save us all some time. 😄
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Ravix@PorkChopExpress Looks like Josh Allen won it, which does surprise me. Barkley was just a few yards away from taking the single season record from Dickerson which had held for several decades, whilst also leading his team to the Super Bowl. Allen is great but I agree that Barkley was snubbed.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Ravix Until someone dethrones the Chiefs, they have to be the favorite, in my book. I also like Philadelphia’s chances from the NFC, since there’s simply too much talent there for them to fall apart again this year.
My September predictions were fairly on target. I felt like it might be the Philadelphia’s year. 👍🏼
After their slow start @Ravix gave me a hard time about my faith in the Eagles. 😄
Just a dominating performance by Phili though. The score was closer than the game actually was. I didn’t think Mahomes and the Chiefs would wilt that severely.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Honestly, so many emotions after this. In the end, I guess the Chiefs were just the 2022 Vikings?
Winning one score games mostly on coin flips, with a record that was way overinflated versus their actual talent level. It also shows that for as much as it might all be a conspiracy or whatever, those vital calls in key games during the Chiefs season going their way did help them out, and steal them some wins, regardless of if there was some grand machinations around it or not. Like we can't just pretend those didn't matter, given the Eagles blew their doors off, in a way other teams would have, if so many drives weren't killed by bad calls or bad spots.
And if it was all scripted, then the NFL played it perfectly, so I can't even be mad. I disliked the Chiefs going into this game like they wanted me to, and seeing them basically cancelled out until garbage time gave me the same warm and fuzzies you see from a classic Hollywood ending when the villain finally gets their comeuppance. So I guess the NFL played my emotions like a fiddle if the script is real.
But yes, you picked the two favourites, that's for sure. I tried to get in to the super bowl, having fallen off caring about or watching the NFL, as basketball took priority. But the only story there was "can the Chiefs three...urgh" and the other team was the favourite, so there was no underdog as such, and it really was a pasting by the Eagles anyway, and it was hard to root for a comeback at any point, as it's the Chiefs.
Isn't it weird that we live in a time where the biggest cheer and boo was for a president popping up on screen before the game? Who cares that much about their exalted high leaders? Politics aside, it's so weird that it generates such a big reaction from people. It's the kind of thing you only see in... well. We won't go there.
FUUUHT BAWWWWWL.
You know what, I enjoyed seeing the defences flying around to be honest. So I suppose I'm glad the Eagles won for that reason. They absolutely shut Mahomes down which was good to see. Although, it kind of proves our early season chat that Offensive lines are going to be the most important factor
@Ravix 🤣 Touché. I conveniently forgot about all my other early season picks.
That is one attractive thing about the NFL — every season there are favorites who choke and wildly underperform (for this year the Niners, and to a lesser degree Miami) and also low tier teams that come out of nowhere (Commanders and Texans). It’s what keeps the different fanbases engaged. When they see a Commanders team turn things around so quickly it gives all teams hope.
As for the other issue you brought up, I didn’t see it (I was only watching off and on) although I’m not surprised there was a bipolar response when the president was shown. To live here in this political climate is truly surreal. There really is a huge schism that has fractured society. Sports has always been a way to come together and share in a common distraction but the politics have seeped into every facet of life, it seems. But yeah, I’ll leave it at that. We do live in precarious times.
I’m glad the NFL season is over, and we can shift focus to the NBA, which I feel is going to have a fascinating sprint to the end this last third of the season. I’m also interested to see the NCAA March Madness get going, but I realize that carries less international interest.
@Pizzamorg Although I doubt it was entirely scripted, I agree that you have a point about the Chiefs having an inflated record which oversold their team ability. We’ll never know for sure but I suspect Buffalo, Baltimore, or Houston would have all suffered the same fate against that dominant performance by the Eagles yesterday. I think they were clearly the best team in the league this year. The scary thing is that they have quite a bit of youth on the roster and don’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. The off season hasn’t begun but Philly is set to be competitive for a while.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
I was mostly joking about the script @Th3solution don't worry, I'm not THAT crazy... yet 😂
But yeah, the game was just a "keep it simple, stupid" sorta lesson for a lot of us I think. The Chiefs pretty effectively cancelled out Barkley from the game, and for other teams that might make sense, as most teams usually only have one or two key pieces, but the Eagles had a super roster on both sides of the ball, so cancelling out just one star player didn't really matter. I do think the Bills and Ravens could have taken the fight to the Eagles better than the Chiefs were able to, but I do think in the end, this super Eagles team could have beaten both of them as well.
I do hope if nothing else, we can take from this a more normal conversation about football again next season. The Chiefs really for the last three or so seasons have been the place analysis has gone to die, because we had this irrational fear of this team. It was like this stranglehold on conversations, as time and time again logic was not in the Chiefs favour, and it just didn't matter. They would win anyway, or even if they lost early in the season, still scrape enough wins to be in the playoffs anyway, to the point where it almost felt like the regular season was completely irrelevant for this team, cause the playoffs had basically become the Arrowhead Invitational.
I hope next year we can start talking again about how poorly built this roster is, how they don't play enjoyable football for the eye test and even data wise, it doesn't match the station that has been placed on them. That 2022 Vikings team were called frauds every week for like two months before they went into the playoffs, and people were right, but its funny how the Chiefs are doing the same thing and people treat them like geniuses. Let's start giving this team the same treatment every other team in the league is given, cause tonight the Eagles proved the Chiefs are mortal.
@Th3solution the 76ers can now tank without anyone really caring too. A super bowl is a good distraction for a city and they need to protect that draft pick.
I agree, tbe NBA is set to be pretty exciting for the run in. Although right now there is only maybe 3 teams in the east, there is room for others to move up or hit form. And the west, even though there's only maybe 2 or 3 contenders (still counting Denver because of Jokic, even though they kind of traded away/lost their role players at the year's start) the rest are so even that anyone could become the "surprise" contender, from Houston to Golden State!
What do you make of New York, and why are Boston such a tough match up for them? It was something like an 82 point differential in the two games or something like that. Considering how bad Boston can be when they are messing about 5 out, there's something about the NY match up.
Although, KP was out for both those games. Which goes back to what I was saying, we play better without him, even though he himself is playing well. JT and JB just seem more driven to win and less lazy and reliant on KP. It will be interesting to see of they sort this out by the playoffs, but for the teams benefit, starting Horford might be wiser and having KP backing up the first rotation. Maybe 3 stars is just too much for a proper distribution of shots and usage, and spreading them out can make the team better overall.
But then again, if they work it out having all 3 options available, without just trying to force it to the miss match every time at the expense of the other stars being aggressive it will be unstoppable.
When it seems you're out of luck.
There's just one man who gives a f*************ck
⚔️🛡🐎
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