Luka to Lakers

[champs99and04]

Luka wanted to go to the Lakers so no other team could trade for him. Any team would only have him for 1.5 years then he would go to the Lakers anyway. Because he was willing to give up a max extension.

Even if this were true (which it's not), you still have him under club control, in his prime, for at minimum two postseasons. I don't care if he wants to retire two years from now - having him for the next 16 months alone would have created an unprecedented bidding war and fetched you a Herschel Walker return and a half.

The only reason I'm not (yet) convinced the league engineered this thing is that it just seems too obvious.

 

[aceboon]

It makes you wonder how the process that led to this started.

I have to imagine Dallas started shopping him around; who is calling them up out of the blue asking if they’re interested in trading their 25 year old superstar who, as you said, just got them to a Finals?

So then I wonder who they reached out to, if anyone, before the Lakers. And, if they did, I wonder what offers were discussed.

Regardless, they end up talking to the Lakers. I can’t help but picture Dallas saying “yeah we want to shop Luka around, what’ll you give us for him?” And LA goes “uh…” looks around “I guess… AD? Straight up?” And Dallas was like “Done”.

Pretty bizarre indeed.

They didn't shop him around, there was no bidding war

 

[aceboon]

Every quote that comes out of the mouth of Nico Harrison is more ridiculous than the last one, he also apparently didn't tell Jason Kidd at all before the trade. Dude is probably going to need a security detail around Dallas.

 

[Waquoit]

Every quote that comes out of the mouth of Nico Harrison is more ridiculous than the last one, he also apparently didn't tell Jason Kidd at all before the trade. Dude is probably going to need a security detail around Dallas.

Gotta figure the new owners wanted this.

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

For how long? Not much longer.

It's all weird to me. Dallas has promising young players at center. Now has a massive hole where Luka was. LA has no center at all and has two guys who can't stand spending more than a few moments without the ball in their hand. Hard to imagine a much worse fit than Luka and Lebron. Both teams got worse unless more moves are coming.

Mavs actually aren’t bad.

Kyrie
Klay
PJ
AD
Lively

And they have a pretty solid bench. I agree the Lakers don’t fit at all and they need a rim protecting big.

 

[Kenny11]

A guy on ESPN this morning (former front office guy, about two decades with a few teams) said that what he didn't understand was that if the Mavs put Luka on the open market (let the rest of the league know they'd listen to offers) they may have ended up with the largest haul ever.

If they were determined to trade him they could have gotten more.

It seems like they cared more about keeping the trade a secret than doing that. Strange.

 

[JohnFSilver]

It's LA. Players want to be there.

They don't. Lol. They really don't cAre anymore.

 

[JohnFSilver]

Mavs actually aren’t bad.

Kyrie
Klay
PJ
AD
Lively

And they have a pretty solid bench. I agree the Lakers don’t fit at all and they need a rim protecting big.

Still not better than they were with a healthy Luka. Trade makes little hoops sense.

 

[upstater]

Anthony Davis has a championship and is a top 10 player in the league lol

32 oft injured player for a team that needs to start all over again

 

[HuskyWarrior611]

32 oft injured player for a team that needs to start all over again

He played in 76 games last year and 44 out of 47 this year.

The Anthony Davis disrespect over this trade has been crazy (from everyone not just this board) lol

 

[nomar]

I am not avid NBA fan but this is like the Bulls trading Jordan in the early 90’s.

He is a generational talent.

Trade him for a 31 year old?

Not sure if there is something we don’t know but this is worst trade any sport I’ve seen in my

I am not avid NBA fan but this is like the Bulls trading Jordan in the early 90’s.

He is a generational talent.

Trade him for a 31 year old?

Not sure if there is something we don’t know but this is worst trade any sport I’ve seen in my liftetime.

Do you mean late 80s? Because the Bulls started winning titles in 1991.

It's a crazy trade. It's not so much that they decided they didn't want to roll with a guy objectively considered a top-5 player, it's that they ONLY wanted Davis and didn't even bother calling any other teams. Malpractice.