Around the NBA:2025-6

[guest81]

Cade is a different player than Ant, and I would agree not as good...yet. He's a brilliant distributor...his 9.9 assists per game is second only to Jokic. And he's a volume scorer. But he's also a terribly inefficient scorer. Unfortunately last night's record setting 31 missed shots is a recurring problem...he has a very poor effective shooting percentage of 53.8. Compare that to Ant's 65.9%! I don't know if his problem is shot selection, or if he's just not a very good shooter. He was a 40% 3-point shooter in college, so his 28.8% on high volume this season doesn't make sense. But then again I never thought a guy who only averaged 3.3 assists per game in college would be averaging triple that in the pros! He's an exciting player.

Not as good yet? They're the same age. Ant does everything much better than Cade other than passing. An Ant led team would never lose 27 games in a row

[FNG]

The Harrison firing today was inevitable, but is a reason to revisit the trade that led to his downfall. Trading Luka has been universally panned as it should be. But was it as bad as everyone makes it out to be, looking at it one year later? Dallas was 26-23 when they made the trade despite Luka missing a lot of games with his calf injury, and he was due to return in just a few days. Dallas certainly would not have been a lottery team is they hadn't made the trade, and thus would not have had a chance of getting Cooper Flagg.

So the question is this: would you rather have Luka and say the 20th pick in the draft, or AD, Flagg, Max Christie and a 2029 first round pick? I still take Luka, but if you're taking a longer view, the answer isn't as clear. Flagg has had a relatively slow start, but he's only 18 and still averaging 15/7/3. And he went off for 29/9/4 last night. Max Christie is only 22, but he's making 45% of his treys and is Dallas's on/off leader. And AD is AD...he's going to give you 24 and 11 with great defense when he plays, but he can't stay healthy.

You can make a case for Dallas being pretty good next season if AD and Kyrie play. But longer term, if Flagg turns out to be what the experts predict, a lot of free agents are going to want to play next to him...and Dallas is going to have massive cap space as AD, Kyrie, and Klay retire. Put a 2 top notch free agents (a PG and a PF) next to Flagg, Christie and their 2 dominant centers, and the future looks a lot brighter for Dallas fans. Harrison had to be fired...the fans were demanding it. But I think there are going to be a lot of very good GMs who are going to want the job. This season is a disaster, but they could be in very good shape in three years.

You can’t add Flagg in the deal. Yes they got lucky in the draft (possibly rigged) but you can’t put that as a part of the deal to hit a 1 and 100 shot at Flagg.

The big issue is they didn’t shop him around. The more than likely could of gotten significantly more in the trade

I wasn't clear on my point. I agree, Kek...you can't include Flagg in the deal if you're evaluating Nico's thought process. He clearly thought the deal was going to make Dallas better because he was concerned about Luka's conditioning. And he was wrong.

But I'm trying to look at from a Dallas fan's perspective 9 months later. If I'm a Dallas fan, I'm still pissed at Nico for trading Luka. But I'm also more excited about the team's long-term prospects, having landed a generational talent they would have had no chance of landing without the trade (and yes, a lot of luck). I think there has to be some optimism among smarter Mavs; fans.

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Trading Luka was colossally dumb, no matter how Nico did it.

You just don't trade a perennial MVP candidate who hasn't even hit his prime but has already carried your team to the Finals and built you a massive, rabid fanbase through his charisma and spectacular play. Luka clearly wanted to stay in Dallas too. Even if you get Giannis in return, the relationship between those fans and Giannis will never be the same as it was with Luka, because Luka grew up before their eyes. He was always going to be their superstar. Of course, there are times when it makes sense to trade a star, but there's just never a trade out that that can compensate for the value that a guy like Luka had in Dallas.

Overweight? Sure. Immature off the court? Ok.

But damn, when that guy is out there to play, he's amazing. In the eyes of the fans, he basically WAS that team. Hell, even for those of us who AREN'T Dallas fans, I honestly don't think Luka's as valuable in LA as he was in Dallas. It kind of lessens his value in our eyes that he's been traded, as opposed to one of those "lifers" like Kobe or Dirk. I think we're all better off keeping at least SOME guys like that. Just such a shame IMO.

[Q-is-here]

Check out the following report this morning. It was only a matter of time. Ownership never should have allowed that trade in the first place.

Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison is expected to be fired Tuesday morning during a 10 a.m. CT meeting scheduled with team governor Patrick Dumont, sources told ESPN.

Harrison has been under fire from Mavericks fans since he stunningly traded Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 2, months removed from the then-25-year-old five-time first-team All-NBA selection leading the franchise to an NBA Finals appearance.

In other news:

- Cade Cunningham is quickly establishing himself as a top League MVP contender this season - perhaps the #1 contender for his now 9-2 Pistons. Last night he had 46 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists, 5 steals, 2 blocks and only 2 turnovers. In my view there is a tier of top NBA players slightly above Ant. Cade Cunningham is clearly in that tier along with Jokic, SGA and Luka.

- Speaking of the Pistons, they might be the second best team in the League after OKC. They’ve built brilliantly and patiently through the draft and now their front office skill and patience are paying off.

- The Suns are surprisingly good so far this season. They’re 6-5 and Jalen Green has played only 2 games. They’re doing much better than they did a year ago with Kevin Durant when they finished 10 games below .500.

- A hearty thanks to the Magic and Hawks for defeating the Blazers and Clippers respectively. Disappointed that the Hornets couldn’t pull off an upset against the Lakers at home.

- The Wolves are obviously looking better as they beat the lesser teams they should beat - unlike last season. As a result, we’re sitting in 6th place at 7-4 3 games behind the likely uncatchable Thunder but only a game behind the 3rd place Nuggets and 4th place Lakers. We just need to keep beating the lesser teams and knock off the better teams on our home court. Our team defense seems to be improving and that’s critical.

Not sure about the Pistons being the 2nd best team given the conference they play in and lack of a legit 2nd option that can carry a big load if Cade gets hurt. That being said, the Pistons' rise has been impressive and it's exactly how the lottery system is supposed to work assuming you have a GM that can hit on some picks. Jalen Duren has just gotten better and better every year with them as well.

The guy that didn't work out for them is Killian Hayes. I fear Dillingham may be our version of him!

[Q-is-here]

Trading Luka was colossally dumb, no matter how Nico did it.

You just don't trade a perennial MVP candidate who hasn't even hit his prime but has already carried your team to the Finals and built you a massive, rabid fanbase through his charisma and spectacular play. Luka clearly wanted to stay in Dallas too. Even if you get Giannis in return, the relationship between those fans and Giannis will never be the same as it was with Luka, because Luka grew up before their eyes. He was always going to be their superstar. Of course, there are times when it makes sense to trade a star, but there's just never a trade out that that can compensate for the value that a guy like Luka had in Dallas.

Overweight? Sure. Immature off the court? Ok.

But damn, when that guy is out there to play, he's amazing. In the eyes of the fans, he basically WAS that team. Hell, even for those of us who AREN'T Dallas fans, I honestly don't think Luka's as valuable in LA as he was in Dallas. It kind of lessens his value in our eyes that he's been traded, as opposed to one of those "lifers" like Kobe or Dirk. I think we're all better off keeping at least SOME guys like that. Just such a shame IMO.

For the conspiracy theorists out there keep an eye on where Nico lands. Does Silver orchestrate an executive role for him in the League office? Then you KNOW it was all a fix!

[60WinTim]

Trading Luka was colossally dumb, no matter how Nico did it.

You just don't trade a perennial MVP candidate who hasn't even hit his prime but has already carried your team to the Finals and built you a massive, rabid fanbase through his charisma and spectacular play. Luka clearly wanted to stay in Dallas too. Even if you get Giannis in return, the relationship between those fans and Giannis will never be the same as it was with Luka, because Luka grew up before their eyes. He was always going to be their superstar. Of course, there are times when it makes sense to trade a star, but there's just never a trade out that that can compensate for the value that a guy like Luka had in Dallas.

Overweight? Sure. Immature off the court? Ok.

But damn, when that guy is out there to play, he's amazing. In the eyes of the fans, he basically WAS that team. Hell, even for those of us who AREN'T Dallas fans, I honestly don't think Luka's as valuable in LA as he was in Dallas. It kind of lessens his value in our eyes that he's been traded, as opposed to one of those "lifers" like Kobe or Dirk. I think we're all better off keeping at least SOME guys like that. Just such a shame IMO.

For the conspiracy theorists out there keep an eye on where Nico lands. Does Silver orchestrate an executive role for him in the League office? Then you KNOW it was all a fix!

Or he winds up with his buddy Pelinka in LA... (well that's not a league office conspiracy, but a Laker conspiracy!)

[FNG]

Cade is a different player than Ant, and I would agree not as good...yet. He's a brilliant distributor...his 9.9 assists per game is second only to Jokic. And he's a volume scorer. But he's also a terribly inefficient scorer. Unfortunately last night's record setting 31 missed shots is a recurring problem...he has a very poor effective shooting percentage of 53.8. Compare that to Ant's 65.9%! I don't know if his problem is shot selection, or if he's just not a very good shooter. He was a 40% 3-point shooter in college, so his 28.8% on high volume this season doesn't make sense. But then again I never thought a guy who only averaged 3.3 assists per game in college would be averaging triple that in the pros! He's an exciting player.

Not as good yet? They're the same age. Ant does everything much better than Cade other than passing. An Ant led team would never lose 27 games in a row

I put the "yet" in there because Cade has played one less season than Ant, and we know how dramatically young players can improve every year. I agree with you that Ant is the better player, but Cade has better numbers than Ant this season in scoring, rebounding, steals and blocks, in addition to having three times as many assists. And while I can't compare them on defense, it seems to me that Cade takes fewer plays off than Ant does. Despite all this, I still rate Ant higher because he scores so much more efficiently.

[guest81]

Cade is a different player than Ant, and I would agree not as good...yet. He's a brilliant distributor...his 9.9 assists per game is second only to Jokic. And he's a volume scorer. But he's also a terribly inefficient scorer. Unfortunately last night's record setting 31 missed shots is a recurring problem...he has a very poor effective shooting percentage of 53.8. Compare that to Ant's 65.9%! I don't know if his problem is shot selection, or if he's just not a very good shooter. He was a 40% 3-point shooter in college, so his 28.8% on high volume this season doesn't make sense. But then again I never thought a guy who only averaged 3.3 assists per game in college would be averaging triple that in the pros! He's an exciting player.

Not as good yet? They're the same age. Ant does everything much better than Cade other than passing. An Ant led team would never lose 27 games in a row

I put the "yet" in there because Cade has played one less season than Ant, and we know how dramatically young players can improve every year. I agree with you that Ant is the better player, but Cade has better numbers than Ant this season in scoring, rebounding, steals and blocks, in addition to having three times as many assists. And while I can't compare them on defense, it seems to me that Cade takes fewer plays off than Ant does. Despite all this, I still rate Ant higher because he scores so much more efficiently.

The numbers are better for Cade because he's at 10 more minutes a game. Per 36 ant is by far better

[60WinTim]

Not as good yet? They're the same age. Ant does everything much better than Cade other than passing. An Ant led team would never lose 27 games in a row

I put the "yet" in there because Cade has played one less season than Ant, and we know how dramatically young players can improve every year. I agree with you that Ant is the better player, but Cade has better numbers than Ant this season in scoring, rebounding, steals and blocks, in addition to having three times as many assists. And while I can't compare them on defense, it seems to me that Cade takes fewer plays off than Ant does. Despite all this, I still rate Ant higher because he scores so much more efficiently.

The numbers are better for Cade because he's at 10 more minutes a game. Per 36 ant is by far better

Yeah, that 3-minutes only in the Pacers game when ANT was hurt really skews his numbers. The skew will fade as ANT plays more games.

On another note, there are so many Wolves off to a great start compared to last year. ANT has been really good in the games he has played. Randle has been outstanding. Jaden is blooming. Rudy has been great ever since the Charlotte game. DDV has been really solid. Even Mike is light years ahead of where he was last year coming off the wrist injury, plus his bench role has allowed him to have more influence when he is on the court (his usage is up).

The 7-4 start is not fantastic, but considering the games ANT missed, it's an okay start. They need to keep playing well and keep stacking wins.

[Q-is-here]

Trading Luka was colossally dumb, no matter how Nico did it.

You just don't trade a perennial MVP candidate who hasn't even hit his prime but has already carried your team to the Finals and built you a massive, rabid fanbase through his charisma and spectacular play. Luka clearly wanted to stay in Dallas too. Even if you get Giannis in return, the relationship between those fans and Giannis will never be the same as it was with Luka, because Luka grew up before their eyes. He was always going to be their superstar. Of course, there are times when it makes sense to trade a star, but there's just never a trade out that that can compensate for the value that a guy like Luka had in Dallas.

Overweight? Sure. Immature off the court? Ok.

But damn, when that guy is out there to play, he's amazing. In the eyes of the fans, he basically WAS that team. Hell, even for those of us who AREN'T Dallas fans, I honestly don't think Luka's as valuable in LA as he was in Dallas. It kind of lessens his value in our eyes that he's been traded, as opposed to one of those "lifers" like Kobe or Dirk. I think we're all better off keeping at least SOME guys like that. Just such a shame IMO.

For the conspiracy theorists out there keep an eye on where Nico lands. Does Silver orchestrate an executive role for him in the League office? Then you KNOW it was all a fix!

Or he winds up with his buddy Pelinka in LA... (well that's not a league office conspiracy, but a Laker conspiracy!)

Yes!

I'm generally not a conspiracy theorist, but Dallas then subsequently getting the #1 pick in the lottery as compensation by Silver for making the Lakers relevant again added gasoline to the fire!

Of course where the conspiracy falls apart a bit is the fact our beloved Wolves in flyover country dismantled LeBron, Luka, and their media enablers in the first round of the playoffs! How awesome was that!?