re: ESPN piece on how Luka trade went down

moving to LV from Dallas?

Read today that an additional first and Knecht were originally in the deal but Pelinka whittled him down by talking up how big of a risk he’s taking given Luka’s conditioning and injury history

Then it resurfaced that Nico once gave a presentation while at Nike to Steph Curry that was made for Durant and he kept calling him Seth the whole time

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No way Nico Harris has this much authority (GM or not). No way is he allowed to do something like this unless it’s signed-off (or he’s instructed) by higher-ups. This was an ownership/group decision, Nico is the fall guy

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I totally agree.

I doubt he would have made the deal otherwise. Or, he would have gotten more back in the deal.

As I've said, "malicious compliance" with their directive: do what you're told, but do it to bring back as little as possible that you can sell to those doing the directing.

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Dallas is a bigger market than Las Vegas and a great sports town.

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No way the NBA lets a franchise in a top 10 (if not top 5) media market leave. The more eyeballs, the higher the ratings. Ratings raise revenue.

thenposter I was replying to said

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The one theory I have seen is it's a ploy to make a move to LV more palatable.

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which makes no fricking sense.
Dallas is one of the biggest cities and metro areas in the country

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Read today that an additional first and Knecht were originally in the deal but Pelinka whittled him down by talking up how big of a risk he’s taking given Luka’s conditioning and injury history

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Nico appears to be Vivek 2.0, what a fricking idiot

For those who didn’t want to give ESPN the click and think the Adelsons are in on some conspiracy:

In the nearly four years since former Mavericks owner Mark Cuban lured him away from Nike to come run the team, Harrison has studied Doncic closely.

While he admired Doncic's talent, spirit and competitiveness, team sources said, Harrison had more doubts about Doncic than others in the organization -- such as Cuban or Nowitzki -- did.

Doncic had everything one could want in a generational superstar. He'd been a first-team All-NBA selection in each of the past five seasons. His career 28.7 points average is third in NBA history, behind only Michael Jordan and Wilt Chamberlain. Last season he led the NBA in scoring with 33.9 points and nearly averaged a triple-double. But he wasn't a relentless worker like Bryant. He didn't treat his body like a temple like James.

The Mavericks' frustrations with Doncic's habits on and off the court were well known in league circles. Head coach Jason Kidd frequently expressed concerns publicly and directly with Doncic about his conditioning, weight fluctuations and constant arguing with officials.

Doncic had mostly taken the criticism without complaint, but it never resulted in a significant change in his habits.

"I mean, who gains weight during the season when you're playing 40 minutes a game?" a team source vented to ESPN last year.

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which makes no fricking sense. Dallas is one of the biggest cities and metro areas in the country

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The only way it makes sense is if they want to couple their team with a casino. As in put a casino into the arena. They’ll never be able to do that in Dallas.

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Sports fans are living in unfriendly times across the board....NBA (garbage product) CFB (unrecognizable product) and certainly the Un-Reality TV Show known as the NFL..

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It is certainly curious that the whole sports world seems out of whack just a few years into legalized gambling but maybe that’s just me being paranoid and ethical. Not sure

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Read today that an additional first and Knecht were originally in the deal but Pelinka whittled him down by talking up how big of a risk he’s taking given Luka’s conditioning and injury history

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The more that I read things like this, the more questions I have for Nico. From everything I have read, the Lakers was the only team he reached out to. While you may think Davis is a wonderful player and you may ultimately end up making a deal that bring Davis to your team, how on earth can you truly justify only calling 1 team! Of course if I'm Pelinka and I know you have only called me, I will try and downplay how amazing of a deal this is, which again goes back to calling multiple teams so that Pelinka has to offer more than he ended up offering.

For those saying that the ownership group ultimately wants to move to Vegas: even if that is the case, this deal still doesn't make any sense. Wouldn't it make more sense to just trade him for about 6 future picks? Then you have a bad team that no one will want to watch, but you have the hope of building a great team in the future with your draft picks. This is what the Celtics did when they traded Pierce and Garnett to the Nets.

Wrapping all of this up, there is no plausible scenario where dealing a top-5 player gets you what the Mavs received in this trade. The GM has either grossly overrated Davis or he is just incompetent. If the Lakers GM gives you pushback, hang the phone up and call the Spurs, Warriors, Celtics, Bucks, etc and I guarantee you, the Lakers would have given more! If not, someone else would have given more and you may have received a better player than Davis in return!