Around the League - '24-25 Season

[Coolbreeze44]

So KAT still hurting us in big games. Knicks get beat badly at home by the Lakers.

KAT's line: 35 minutes, 11 points, 3-12 from the field, 6 rebounds, 3 assts, 3 TOs, 5 fouls, +/- of -14

The Lakers are without AD and on a long road trip. The East just killing us tonight!

We've seen it how many times? The lights get a little brighter and KAT struggles. It's a big reason he's no longer here.

[thedoper]

Doncic for Davis. Lakers do it again. Fuck LA

[kekgeek]

BREAKING: The Dallas Mavericks are trading Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, Max Christie and a 2029 first-round pick, sources tell ESPN. Three-team deal that includes Utah.

[BloopOracle]

The Mavericks should be dissolved lol, why on Earth would they do this?

[thedoper]

The Mavericks should be dissolved lol, why on Earth would they do this?

Its insane. An injury prone big heading into the tail end of his productivity for arguably the best player in basketball. This is the worst trade i can remember since the last time the lakers raped the grizzlies for pau, or when they raped the magic for shaq

[Coolbreeze44]

I have to believe the league has something to do with this. The Lakers will be relevant again for the next 10 years. With interest in the league on the decline, they did what they always do, build up the team in LA. How in the world does this make sense for the Mavs?

[Crazysauce]

Literally scrolled this on tik tok thinking it was a joke onky to see a few others post the same before looking into it. WTAF? This league is crooked as hell. Unreal.

[Lipoli390]

I have to believe the league has something to do with this. The Lakers will be relevant again for the next 10 years. With interest in the league on the decline, they did what they always do, build up the team in LA. How in the world does this make sense for the Mavs?

It sure makes you wonder, Cool. But I can’t believe an NBA owner with billions of dollars would do something against his team’s interests simply to accommodate Adam Silver. The League isn’t that powerful. Nevertheless, I have to believe Dallas could have gotten a much better return for Luka from some other team. Apparently, the Mavs are worried about Luka’s poor conditioning but Anthony Davis has been as physically fragile as a thin pane of glass and is entering the down slope of his career. Getting only one future first round pick way out in 2029 is chicken feed.

So I’m still left wondering, although I’m not ready to go down the conspiracy rabbit hole just yet. Maybe Luka told the Mavs he’s not going to opt in after next season. But that’s far enough out that it shouldn’t motivate the Mavs to trade him now. Moreover, there had to be teams out there willing to provide something better than AD and a 2029 first round pick return. Maybe the Mavs head of basketball operations is simply an idiot. Or maybe he’s been celebrating the growing legalization of recreational weed. It’s weird and it also sucks because it’s going to make the Lakers, the only NBA team I hate, much better and they’re already ahead of the Wolves in the standings.

[Coolbreeze44]

I have to believe the league has something to do with this. The Lakers will be relevant again for the next 10 years. With interest in the league on the decline, they did what they always do, build up the team in LA. How in the world does this make sense for the Mavs?

It sure makes you wonder, Cool. But I can’t believe an NBA owner with billions of dollars would do something against his team’s interests simply to accommodate Adam Silver. The League isn’t that powerful. Nevertheless, I have to believe Dallas could have gotten a much better return for Luka from some other team. Apparently, the Mavs are worried about Luka’s poor conditioning but Anthony Davis has been as physically fragile as a thin pane of glass and is entering the down slope of his career. Getting only one future first round pick way out in 2029 is chicken feed.

So I’m still left wondering, although I’m not ready to go down the conspiracy rabbit hole just yet. Maybe Luka told the Mavs he’s not going to opt in after next season. But that’s far enough out that it shouldn’t motivate the Mavs to trade him now. Moreover, there had to be teams out there willing to provide something better than AD and a 2029 first round pick return. Maybe the Mavs head of basketball operations is simply an idiot. Or maybe he’s been celebrating the growing legalization of recreational weed. It’s weird and it also sucks because it’s going to make the Lakers, the only NBA team I hate, much better and they’re already ahead of the Wolves in the standings.

But why always the Lakers? In the early 70's it was Wilt. Toward the end of the decade it was Kareem. Then Shaq, Pau, Lebron, and now Luka. Why are teams always so anxious to supplement the team in LA? Like you said Lip, is this really the best return they could have gotten? No way.

With Kyrie and AD at the end of their prime, how long before the Mavs are back in the lottery?

[Lipoli390]

I have to believe the league has something to do with this. The Lakers will be relevant again for the next 10 years. With interest in the league on the decline, they did what they always do, build up the team in LA. How in the world does this make sense for the Mavs?

It sure makes you wonder, Cool. But I can’t believe an NBA owner with billions of dollars would do something against his team’s interests simply to accommodate Adam Silver. The League isn’t that powerful. Nevertheless, I have to believe Dallas could have gotten a much better return for Luka from some other team. Apparently, the Mavs are worried about Luka’s poor conditioning but Anthony Davis has been as physically fragile as a thin pane of glass and is entering the down slope of his career. Getting only one future first round pick way out in 2029 is chicken feed.

So I’m still left wondering, although I’m not ready to go down the conspiracy rabbit hole just yet. Maybe Luka told the Mavs he’s not going to opt in after next season. But that’s far enough out that it shouldn’t motivate the Mavs to trade him now. Moreover, there had to be teams out there willing to provide something better than AD and a 2029 first round pick return. Maybe the Mavs head of basketball operations is simply an idiot. Or maybe he’s been celebrating the growing legalization of recreational weed. It’s weird and it also sucks because it’s going to make the Lakers, the only NBA team I hate, much better and they’re already ahead of the Wolves in the standings.

But why always the Lakers? In the early 70's it was Wilt. Toward the end of the decade it was Kareem. Then Shaq, Pau, Lebron, and now Luka. Why are teams always so anxious to supplement the team in LA? Like you said Lip, is this really the best return they could have gotten? No way.

With Kyrie and AD at the end of their prime, how long before the Mavs are back in the lottery?

The Lakers signed Shaq and LeBron as free agents. You can simply attribute both to the Hollywood allure. The Lakers acquired Pau Gasol in a trade, but they gave up quite a lot for him - three players, including Aaron McKie, the drafts rights to Marc Gasol and two future first round picks. So three of the five acquisitions don’t seem troublesome or suspicious. The trade for Kareem seems pretty clearly one-sided in favor of the Lakers. This Luka deal looks even more one-sided. But there’s a 50-year gap between these two one-sided deals. During those 50 years, the Lakers have simply leveraged their free agent advantage as the glitzy team in America’s entertainment capitol with Southern California weather, wealth, celebrity and beaches. They also had a basketball genius, Jerry West, running the organization for many of those years. Jerry’s Lakers benefitted in a huge way from the stupidity of the many NBA GMs who passed on the chance to draft Kobe.

Nevertheless, I remain perplexed by this Luka deal. If I were a Dallas Mavs fan my head would be exploding right now.