DNatagal wrote: ↑Mon Feb 03, 2025 11:58 am
I still question if Doncic is an asshole and lazy to boot as the real reason teams didn't ask or flat turned down any offers.
Stefon Diggs in the NFL keeps getting run out of town in the NFL. Colin Kapernick could never get another gig after his decisions.
Getting stuck with a $71 million asshole would make most GMs sick to their stomachs. Would Doncics contact been like John Wall and Bradley Beal and completely destroy a franchise for years to come? The Wizards are still in hell and neither of those guys are there, with Wall being paid to not play.
Hopefully this hurts both the Lakers and Mavs and helps the Wolves gain ground in the race to the top 6.
Brian Windhorst get at this issue in the following interview:
So I can certainly see a basis for the Mavs’ decision to trade Luka. But what makes no sense is the Mavs’ failure to shop Luka around the league but instead secretly negotiate exclusively with the Lakers and ultimately settle for a deal that any informed NBA fan knows falls far short of what the Mavs could have gotten. Cool sees a League conspiracy behind this. I just see a really dumb Mavs executive named Nico Harrison, blinded perhaps to some extent by his close friendship with the Lakers GM, Rob Pelinka.
DNatagal wrote: ↑Mon Feb 03, 2025 11:58 am
I still question if Doncic is an asshole and lazy to boot as the real reason teams didn't ask or flat turned down any offers.
Stefon Diggs in the NFL keeps getting run out of town in the NFL. Colin Kapernick could never get another gig after his decisions.
Getting stuck with a $71 million asshole would make most GMs sick to their stomachs. Would Doncics contact been like John Wall and Bradley Beal and completely destroy a franchise for years to come? The Wizards are still in hell and neither of those guys are there, with Wall being paid to not play.
Hopefully this hurts both the Lakers and Mavs and helps the Wolves gain ground in the race to the top 6.
Brian Windhorst get at this issue in the following interview:
So I can certainly see a basis for the Mavs’ decision to trade Luka. But what makes no sense is the Mavs’ failure to shop Luka around the league but instead secretly negotiate exclusively with the Lakers and ultimately settle for a deal that any informed NBA fan knows falls far short of what the Mavs could have gotten. Cool sees a League conspiracy behind this. I just see a really dumb Mavs executive named Nico Harrison, blinded perhaps to some extent by his close friendship with the Lakers GM, Rob Pelinka.
Let's at least be heartened that Pelinka will be Lukas GM for the foreseeable future and that the Lakers will coddle Luka, not push him to be great. That's how they've run things under their current leadership.
DNatagal wrote: ↑Mon Feb 03, 2025 11:58 am
I still question if Doncic is an asshole and lazy to boot as the real reason teams didn't ask or flat turned down any offers.
Stefon Diggs in the NFL keeps getting run out of town in the NFL. Colin Kapernick could never get another gig after his decisions.
Getting stuck with a $71 million asshole would make most GMs sick to their stomachs. Would Doncics contact been like John Wall and Bradley Beal and completely destroy a franchise for years to come? The Wizards are still in hell and neither of those guys are there, with Wall being paid to not play.
Hopefully this hurts both the Lakers and Mavs and helps the Wolves gain ground in the race to the top 6.
Brian Windhorst get at this issue in the following interview:
So I can certainly see a basis for the Mavs’ decision to trade Luka. But what makes no sense is the Mavs’ failure to shop Luka around the league but instead secretly negotiate exclusively with the Lakers and ultimately settle for a deal that any informed NBA fan knows falls far short of what the Mavs could have gotten. Cool sees a League conspiracy behind this. I just see a really dumb Mavs executive named Nico Harrison, blinded perhaps to some extent by his close friendship with the Lakers GM, Rob Pelinka.
My problem with this is that Windhorst just sort of breezes over Nico Harrison's decision on AD being THE KEY to the Mavs winning a title this year and doesn't really address at all why the Mavs didn't seek additional bidders or why he felt so strongly about AD specifically. Especially when you already have Derick Lively II and Daniel Gafford on the roster! Protecting the paint is not the Mavs' biggest issue!
We need to remember that Windhorst works for ESPN and they are obsessed with the Lakers, LeBron, and Bronny James. So Windhorst feels totally fine crapping on Doncic and justifying why he was traded, but won't take Harrison to task for not extracting more assets or shopping him around for a better deal.
DNatagal wrote: ↑Mon Feb 03, 2025 11:58 am
I still question if Doncic is an asshole and lazy to boot as the real reason teams didn't ask or flat turned down any offers.
Stefon Diggs in the NFL keeps getting run out of town in the NFL. Colin Kapernick could never get another gig after his decisions.
Getting stuck with a $71 million asshole would make most GMs sick to their stomachs. Would Doncics contact been like John Wall and Bradley Beal and completely destroy a franchise for years to come? The Wizards are still in hell and neither of those guys are there, with Wall being paid to not play.
Hopefully this hurts both the Lakers and Mavs and helps the Wolves gain ground in the race to the top 6.
Brian Windhorst get at this issue in the following interview:
So I can certainly see a basis for the Mavs’ decision to trade Luka. But what makes no sense is the Mavs’ failure to shop Luka around the league but instead secretly negotiate exclusively with the Lakers and ultimately settle for a deal that any informed NBA fan knows falls far short of what the Mavs could have gotten. Cool sees a League conspiracy behind this. I just see a really dumb Mavs executive named Nico Harrison, blinded perhaps to some extent by his close friendship with the Lakers GM, Rob Pelinka.
My problem with this is that Windhorst just sort of breezes over Nico Harrison's decision on AD being THE KEY to the Mavs winning a title this year and doesn't really address at all why the Mavs didn't seek additional bidders or why he felt so strongly about AD specifically. Especially when you already have Derick Lively II and Daniel Gafford on the roster! Protecting the paint is not the Mavs' biggest issue!
We need to remember that Windhorst works for ESPN and they are obsessed with the Lakers, LeBron, and Bronny James. So Windhorst feels totally fine crapping on Doncic and justifying why he was traded, but won't take Harrison to task for not extracting more assets or shopping him around for a better deal.
Sorry, but Windhorst is compromised....
I don’t know whether Windhorst is compromised. Maybe he is. I actually believe the entire NBA sports media is disgustingly Laker centric. Having said all that, I think Windy in this instance was just trying to piece together a reason why the Mavs would do this deal, which seems so dumb for Dallas on its face. If Windy really wanted to craft a pro-Laker narrative he wouldn’t be crapping on the player the Lakers just traded for. Windy mentioned the close relocationship between Nico and Rob as a possible reason this deal was done so secretly. Wendy’s generally not a commentator. He’s more of a reporter. He can leave it to commentators to take Nico to task for not shopping Luka.
I expect the Mavs front office will feed Windy and other reporters various tidbits to support the Mavs’ approach to this deal. The Mavs have a PR disaster on their hands and they’ll need to use the media to spin this thing as best they can. Meanwhile, I’m certain Nico believes he made a great deal for the Mavs and that others are not smart or informed enough to know it. Interestingly, the Mavs have gone through a long stretch to date without Luka. If AD is healthy the Mavs should be significantly better right away than they’ve been recently in Luka’s absence. So Nico’s deal might not look terrible initially. But over time as Luka flourishes with the Lakers, this deal will eventually get Nico fired - as it should. But then I have to ask myself: What was the Mavs’ ownership thinking?
Q-is-here wrote: ↑Mon Feb 03, 2025 6:37 pmWe need to remember that Windhorst works for ESPN and they are obsessed with the Lakers, LeBron, and Bronny James. So Windhorst feels totally fine crapping on Doncic and justifying why he was traded, but won't take Harrison to task for not extracting more assets or shopping him around for a better deal.
Sorry, but Windhorst is compromised....
I don’t buy that, since Windhorst openly mocks ESPN’s fascination with the Lakers.
ESPN isn’t created to give a fair representation of the NBA, they are in business to make money selling advertising. And their ratings surge whenever they do a segment on the Lakers, so they keep presenting more and more Laker stuff. Ditto for hot takes and screaming - it gets them viewers, and that means $$$.
I would love to see a new sports network arise that tries to fairly cover the NBA, with reasonableness. Unfortunately, I think that’s probably about as likely these days as finding a news service that does it.
shrink wrote: ↑Tue Feb 04, 2025 9:20 pm
ESPN isn’t created to give a fair representation of the NBA, they are in business to make money selling advertising. And their ratings surge whenever they do a segment on the Lakers, so they keep presenting more and more Laker stuff. Ditto for hot takes and screaming - it gets them viewers, and that means $$$.
I would love to see a new sports network arise that tries to fairly cover the NBA, with reasonableness. Unfortunately, I think that’s probably about as likely these days as finding a news service that does it.
Q-is-here wrote: ↑Mon Feb 03, 2025 6:37 pmWe need to remember that Windhorst works for ESPN and they are obsessed with the Lakers, LeBron, and Bronny James. So Windhorst feels totally fine crapping on Doncic and justifying why he was traded, but won't take Harrison to task for not extracting more assets or shopping him around for a better deal.
Sorry, but Windhorst is compromised....
I don’t buy that, since Windhorst openly mocks ESPN’s fascination with the Lakers.
Ironically, Windhorst gained fame and acclaim as an NBA guy specifically because he had direct access to LeBron James and followed him around detailing his every move.
I think he's done a very good job branching out since then... but he most definitely was rewarded for his connection with James, Klutch and Co.
Q-is-here wrote: ↑Mon Feb 03, 2025 6:37 pmWe need to remember that Windhorst works for ESPN and they are obsessed with the Lakers, LeBron, and Bronny James. So Windhorst feels totally fine crapping on Doncic and justifying why he was traded, but won't take Harrison to task for not extracting more assets or shopping him around for a better deal.
Sorry, but Windhorst is compromised....
I don’t buy that, since Windhorst openly mocks ESPN’s fascination with the Lakers.
Ironically, Windhorst gained fame and acclaim as an NBA guy specifically because he had direct access to LeBron James and followed him around detailing his every move.
I think he's done a very good job branching out since then... but he most definitely was rewarded for his connection with James, Klutch and Co.
In Wendy’s business success comes first and foremost with getting the scoop on major events (being first) and secondarily with providing juicy details from behind the curtain. Of course, doing those things well depends on connections. You have to have those relationships with players, executives and agents and be willing to let them exploit you as a conduit of information and sometimes disinformation.
shrink wrote: ↑Tue Feb 04, 2025 9:20 pm
ESPN isn’t created to give a fair representation of the NBA, they are in business to make money selling advertising. And their ratings surge whenever they do a segment on the Lakers, so they keep presenting more and more Laker stuff. Ditto for hot takes and screaming - it gets them viewers, and that means $$$.
I would love to see a new sports network arise that tries to fairly cover the NBA, with reasonableness. Unfortunately, I think that’s probably about as likely these days as finding a news service that does it.
Well said, Shrink. Sad but true.
Good points. I'm willing to throw a few bucks at the Athletic because at least the MN media folks they have in there are legit don't seem to BS around.
I'll say this I could live with more stories chatter about the Lakers or Knicks to some extent because of ratings or whatever but what drives me nuts is so much of the stuff said is worthless garbage. For example I can't stand to watch an NFL pregame show. So many of the analysts or people paid to talk about sports don't really know what they are talking about or just say whatever shit they want to. More recently Mike Florio sold out at some point in the last year or two that guy is ridiculous saying "reporting" stupid shit which has to be for clicks.
There are a few people out there that seem to report on things be funny show some of the human interest side and don't stir up stuff for clicks. It's almost surprising and refreshing when you see it. I need to do a better job of not clicking on some stuff suggested by my phone. I have tried to take a bit of a step back the last few years from sports media and some media in general.
