Luka to Lakers for AD

[RodyTur10]

Mike Curtis: Nico Harrison said he was not told by #Mavs governor Patrick Dumont that he had to trade Luka Doncic:

"Not at all. Patrick reminds me of the leadership that I had at Nike and a really good leader doesn't tell the people that work for him what to do. It's a collective, well thought out process to make a big move like that. Also, unfortunately, I'm super stubborn so someone telling me to do something doesn't work too well for me."

Can we end the new owner forcing Nico to trade Luka now?

Nico was driving the ship. He wanted to trade Luka. He chose who he wanted to trade Luka for (AD). He directed the whole thing.

The new ownership just signed off on his plan.

Indeed. As a neutral you view it from the side "Why didn't Harrison test the market for Doncic, besides the Lakers, when he decided he was willing to trade Doncic?".  But it's clear by now that the main part wasn't Doncic, but the fact that Harrison bellieved they needed an improvement in defense to be able to win a championship. Thus he fount the only two-way (top 10 player in the league) all star who available for trade was Davis. So the question was just "What package will the Lakers accept to trade Davis?". And from that standpoint I guess the Lakers would have never accepted anything other than Doncic (they wouldn't have settled for Irving, Gafford, Lively or Washington).

Still just as stupid, but it makes some sense why Harrison didn't float Doncic around for a better value deal, because no team would have traded a better two-way player (at least not in Harrison's mind). Would the Celtics have traded Tatum? Would the Bucks have traded Antetokounmpo? Would OKC have traded SGA? Would the Wolves have traded Edwards?

[Vermont Green]

Would the Celtics have traded Tatum? Would the Bucks have traded Antetokounmpo? Would OKC have traded SGA? Would the Wolves have traded Edwards?

I would not trade Tatum, Giannis, or SGA for Doncic, but I would trade Edwards.   I am not that high on Edwards.  He is still young (23), still time to mature/develop, but he is still not in that top tier in my mind.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Anyone doubting the majority take on this trade?

I realize I'm a bit biased and it is easy to take a victory lap right now.

But I'm curious if anyone out has greater doubts about Luka's future as a result of this series.

Lockdown defense on youtube had a film study that showed Luka gave up 43 points himself last night, and that number could have been way worse if the Wolves made their open threes.

To me, he just looks like he moves half the speed that he used to. Still a great offensive talent.

What do you think?

[keevsnick]

Would the Celtics have traded Tatum? Would the Bucks have traded Antetokounmpo? Would OKC have traded SGA? Would the Wolves have traded Edwards?

I would not trade Tatum, Giannis, or SGA for Doncic, but I would trade Edwards.   I am not that high on Edwards.  He is still young (23), still time to mature/develop, but he is still not in that top tier in my mind.

I think when 100% healthy Luka is a better offensive player than Tatum or Edwards for sure and probably even Giannis. But there's a worrying pattern here of Luka never being healthy at the end of a seaosn despite still being in his mid twenties. As a result i don't think i'd trade any of those guys for Luka. he needs to get in shape to lessen the chance of these end of seaosn injuries.

[Donoghus]

Anyone doubting the majority take on this trade?

I realize I'm a bit biased and it is easy to take a victory lap right now.

But I'm curious if anyone out has greater doubts about Luka's future as a result of this series.

Lockdown defense on youtube had a film study that showed Luka gave up 43 points himself last night, and that number could have been way worse if the Wolves made their open threes.

To me, he just looks like he moves half the speed that he used to. Still a great offensive talent.

What do you think?

I think there are two things here.

1) Should the Mavs have traded Luka? 

2) Was due diligence done/the return package adequate for trading Luka?

I think #1 remains debatable but I think #2 is still organizational malpractice, IMO

[bello_man09]

Anyone doubting the majority take on this trade?

I realize I'm a bit biased and it is easy to take a victory lap right now.

But I'm curious if anyone out has greater doubts about Luka's future as a result of this series.

Lockdown defense on youtube had a film study that showed Luka gave up 43 points himself last night, and that number could have been way worse if the Wolves made their open threes.

To me, he just looks like he moves half the speed that he used to. Still a great offensive talent.

What do you think?

The main reason this trade looks bad is because Kyrie went down, Lively went down, and to make matters worse, the key pieceDavisalso got hurt. Luka is an incredible offensive talent, but its hard to believe he?ll still be elite at 28. He already moves like he's 30. Maybe its genetics, but if youre playing on the perimeter, youve got to move quicker. Just look at the Lakers: Luka, LeBron, and Austin Reaves aren?t strong defenders. LeBron is aging, Luka doesnt  play defense, and Reaves struggles on that end. They never picked up a reliable big man either-Mark Williams shouldve been out there instead of sitting Connect on the bench. If I were Luka, Id seriously consider exploring my options.

[SHAQATTACK]

James family killing the Lakers ??so I they keep them another 5 years .

[Goldstar88]

Anyone doubting the majority take on this trade?

I realize I'm a bit biased and it is easy to take a victory lap right now.

But I'm curious if anyone out has greater doubts about Luka's future as a result of this series.

Lockdown defense on youtube had a film study that showed Luka gave up 43 points himself last night, and that number could have been way worse if the Wolves made their open threes.

To me, he just looks like he moves half the speed that he used to. Still a great offensive talent.

What do you think?

Where did the Mavs finish last year with Luka. Where did they finish this year without Luka. Case closed.

[Roy H.]

Anyone doubting the majority take on this trade?

I realize I'm a bit biased and it is easy to take a victory lap right now.

But I'm curious if anyone out has greater doubts about Luka's future as a result of this series.

Lockdown defense on youtube had a film study that showed Luka gave up 43 points himself last night, and that number could have been way worse if the Wolves made their open threes.

To me, he just looks like he moves half the speed that he used to. Still a great offensive talent.

What do you think?

Where did the Mavs finish last year with Luka. Where did they finish this year without Luka. Case closed.

In the short term, it's arguably a bad trade for LA and a terrible trade for Dallas.  Sticking with AD might have gotten them further this year.

Medium to long-term, it's likely to be a very good deal for LA and a terrible trade for Dallas.

[Redz]

Anyone doubting the majority take on this trade?

I realize I'm a bit biased and it is easy to take a victory lap right now.

But I'm curious if anyone out has greater doubts about Luka's future as a result of this series.

Lockdown defense on youtube had a film study that showed Luka gave up 43 points himself last night, and that number could have been way worse if the Wolves made their open threes.

To me, he just looks like he moves half the speed that he used to. Still a great offensive talent.

What do you think?

Where did the Mavs finish last year with Luka. Where did they finish this year without Luka. Case closed.

In the short term, it's arguably a bad trade for LA and a terrible trade for Dallas.  Sticking with AD might have gotten them further this year.

Medium to long-term, it's likely to be a very good deal for LA and a terrible trade for Dallas.

It's that rare trade where both teams lose 

[Birdman]

I rather have a healthy Dallas roster than a healthy lakers roster as of now..

[Phantom255x]

It's still the dumbest trade in a long time probably in any sport. I was half-joking on the other thread that "Nico Harrison cooked".

I will say though, if Doncic doesn't improve on defense then this could be his ceiling. Harden was similar especially with Houston but I'll acknowledge, he's improved a bit more on that end and is decent defensively, not as atrocious as Luka.

Kyrie could miss a good chunk of 2026 but if DAL can find a way to land another star via trade for someone like Durant to pair with AD-Klay-Kyrie, that's not bad at all. They still got Lively/Gafford/Christie/Marshall/Washington for now. What truly tanked this season was also Kyrie's ACL tear + all the other guys getting hurt.

Short term including next year if mostly healthy and Kyrie comes back, they could make a run.

Now it's also very possible Klay and/or Kyrie are like "F it I'm done here" and demand a trade.

[blink]

Anyone doubting the majority take on this trade?

I realize I'm a bit biased and it is easy to take a victory lap right now.

But I'm curious if anyone out has greater doubts about Luka's future as a result of this series.

Lockdown defense on youtube had a film study that showed Luka gave up 43 points himself last night, and that number could have been way worse if the Wolves made their open threes.

To me, he just looks like he moves half the speed that he used to. Still a great offensive talent.

What do you think?

Where did the Mavs finish last year with Luka. Where did they finish this year without Luka. Case closed.

In the short term, it's arguably a bad trade for LA and a terrible trade for Dallas.  Sticking with AD might have gotten them further this year.

Medium to long-term, it's likely to be a very good deal for LA and a terrible trade for Dallas.

It's that rare trade where both teams lose 

Very well said.  TP!

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Anyone doubting the majority take on this trade?

I realize I'm a bit biased and it is easy to take a victory lap right now.

But I'm curious if anyone out has greater doubts about Luka's future as a result of this series.

Lockdown defense on youtube had a film study that showed Luka gave up 43 points himself last night, and that number could have been way worse if the Wolves made their open threes.

To me, he just looks like he moves half the speed that he used to. Still a great offensive talent.

What do you think?

Where did the Mavs finish last year with Luka. Where did they finish this year without Luka. Case closed.

That's really not a fair comparison given how unhealthy Luka was early in the season in combination with Kyrie's injury.

Case really isn't closed.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Anyone doubting the majority take on this trade?

I realize I'm a bit biased and it is easy to take a victory lap right now.

But I'm curious if anyone out has greater doubts about Luka's future as a result of this series.

Lockdown defense on youtube had a film study that showed Luka gave up 43 points himself last night, and that number could have been way worse if the Wolves made their open threes.

To me, he just looks like he moves half the speed that he used to. Still a great offensive talent.

What do you think?

Where did the Mavs finish last year with Luka. Where did they finish this year without Luka. Case closed.

In the short term, it's arguably a bad trade for LA and a terrible trade for Dallas.  Sticking with AD might have gotten them further this year.

Medium to long-term, it's likely to be a very good deal for LA and a terrible trade for Dallas.

What if Davis has a longer runway at the end of his career than Luka does? I know it's unlikely given Davis' injuries through the years, but if Luka continues to decline over the next two years like he did over the previous two years, then he may be not even be a top 10-15 player.

I think people continue to equate Luka's age with having a lot of years left in his prime. But there are legitimate questions about how much longer his prime will be. I think that's why the Mavs ultimately traded him.