Luka to the Lakers

[Jar11591]

Anybody who follows basketball knows how out of left field this trade was. When I first saw the headline, I had to check the date and I expected to see April 1st. Pretty hard to justify trading away a 25 year old superstar who has top 10 all time potential and just led your team to a Finals appearance. 
 

This trade seems like possibly the worst trade in history, and the more I think about it, the more it seems like Dallas has inside information that Donçic’s leg was about to fall off or something. Even if you point to his injury history, it still doesn’t make sense when you realize the player they got in return is 6 years older and even more injury prone. Im glad I’m not a Dallas fan. 

[TnRiver46]

LeBron still chasing a ghost 

 

Dallas definitely sounds drunk 

[casts_by_fly]

A sportswriter I follow (Andrew brandt) has a couple maxims and sayings.

 

"There will be lawyers"

"Deadlines spur action"

 

And the most useful one here:

 

"When the question is why, the answer is usually money"

 

In this case, I think Dallas looked at what they had with him and decided he wasn't worth the supermax they were about to be forced to pay him.  I think where everyone has different opinions is about 'worth'.  Yes he's 25 and just took you to the finals.  Yes he's averaging 28/8/8 over the past 5 years (for those that don't follow basketball, that's very good).  But he has an injury history.  He has a history of showing up overweight and out of shape.  He doesn't play defense (and I think he's actually a defensive liability).  He definitely has an attitude that you can see on the court.  What we the viewers can't see is him in the locker room.  If he's all of the above but a good teammate then they probably work with him to fix all of that.  If he's all of that and disruptive in the locker room then that's a problem.  I think Dallas came to that conclusion and that's why they traded him.

 

That's not to say they got what they deserved.  I think they honed in on AD and said "that's our guy".  When you're negotiating and only have 1 main thing that you're after you limit how much you can get from the deal, especially when you're the one that initiated it.  If it had been open bidding they could have gotten more for sure.  

 

You also have to look at the flip side for the lakers- they just lost their #2 guy.  I haven't looked at the analytics, but when I've watched them play and AD isn't on the floor they are a below average team and only look good if someone not named LeBron is having a hot night.  Without AD on the floor they are small (even with him they were small).  Now what are they going to do for a big man?

 

I think its a short and long term win for the lakers.  While they have lost a big man and a lot of defense, they now have the ability to split Luka and LeBron and always have someone on the floor who will kill you from anywhere on the court.  They can put them both on the same floor and you have to decide who to guard.  If Morris can hold down the fort on defense then I can see the lakers climbing to 2 or 3 in the west and making a legitimate run to the finals.  As they were configured before, the only way they were getting there was if someone else got hot (Reeves?, Hachi?).  Long term, you have the opportunity to work with and coach up a top 5 player in the league.

[casts_by_fly]

On 2/4/2025 at 2:02 PM, casts_by_fly said:

You also have to look at the flip side for the lakers- they just lost their #2 guy.  I haven't looked at the analytics, but when I've watched them play and AD isn't on the floor they are a below average team and only look good if someone not named LeBron is having a hot night.  Without AD on the floor they are small (even with him they were small).  Now what are they going to do for a big man?

 

 

 

And now that is answered.  They traded for a big center.

 

So long term they get luka and a big center, but have given up their young talent and a bunch of picks.  They are going to have to hit the waiver wire in 2 years to fill out the roster.

 

[TnRiver46]

Lakers traded my boy Dalton knecht, thank goodness 

[Jar11591]

@casts_by_fly the Lakers are taking the rare “win now but still try to win later” strategy. Luckily it’s pretty easy to sign free agents in LA, and with LeBron having to retire sometime and Luka no longer eligible for the supermax extension, they should have a little money to play with. Unless they plan on backing up the Brinks truck for Bronny 😂
 

Davis made his Mavs debut…..aaaaaaaand he’s already out. Dallas got absolutely fleeced. 

[casts_by_fly]

Just now, Jar11591 said:

@casts_by_fly the Lakers are taking the rare “win now but still try to win later” strategy. Luckily it’s pretty easy to sign free agents in LA, and with LeBron having to retire sometime and Luka no longer eligible for the supermax extension, they should have a little money to play with. Unless they plan on backing up the Brinks truck for Bronny 😂
 

Davis made his Mavs debut…..aaaaaaaand he’s already out. Dallas got absolutely fleeced. 

and the lakers backups without Luka or LeBron just beat a pretty decent pacers team. They didn’t look exciting or explosive, but if a bunch of backups and second tier guys can do that it’s pretty optimistic. Then add those two on top…

[TnRiver46]

Knecht trade canceled? What the heck ? 

[Jar11591]

Yup. Just heard on my drive home. Not sure why. 
 

Looks like Williams failed his physical. Not surprising considering he’s missed like 150 games in 3 seasons. Has any trade ever had more total games spent on the injured list?

Edited February 9 by Jar11591

[fishhugger]

how much input did lebron have in this?  and ----------- AD is always getting injured. that's just him.  he can't help you if he's sittin' on the bench in street clothes.  lebron will probably have a great influence on luka.  this has gotta be a lakers win.  as for now the lakers lacking a true big --- look at the warriors.  they were able to recycle big men.  i forget how many titles they won with that.  four?  

[Jar11591]

@fishhugger Golden State did it with Andrew Bogut, Festus Ezeli, Zaza Pachulia, JaVale McGee, and Kevon Looney. Like you said, all recycled bigs. LA should be able to find someone at least as capable as any of these guys at rim protection. 
 

Im really excited to see Luka and LeBron play together. 

[casts_by_fly]

except they don't have one now and we're past the deadline.  I think they are a playoff finalist level, but they are going to have to figure out some defense that isn't immediately obvious.

[TnRiver46]

Nuggets own the lakers 

[Jar11591]

Jokić is an unstoppable force that has yet to meet an immovable object. 

[fishhugger]

On 2/10/2025 at 8:46 AM, Jar11591 said:

@fishhugger Golden State did it with Andrew Bogut, Festus Ezeli, Zaza Pachulia, JaVale McGee, and Kevon Looney. Like you said, all recycled bigs. LA should be able to find someone at least as capable as any of these guys at rim protection. 
 

Im really excited to see Luka and LeBron play together. 

two games into the jimmy butler era ---- two wins.... will it last?  maybe. butler and curry seem like they could fit.  also, the warriors maybe have their new center in this 7' 24 yo dutch guy, who sprung up out of nowhere????  quenten post...  they sort of have a team that now could make a run.

[thediscochef]

I will never forgive cubes for selling the team to the people who enabled this idiocy. If you have a player like Luka, you immediately fire anyone who suggests trading him and is in position to do so. You don't trade those pieces. Then the media smear job. Doing it in the middle of the night right after the guy buys a house in Dallas. Disgusting practices, unforgivable. The things I really want to say about this trade would get me banned from this forum. I don't anticipate watching another mavs game until they're under new management. I was hoping Luka would drop an 80 piece on the mavs last night 

[Jar11591]

@thediscochef in my opinion it’s the most blantant example of gross incompetence in the history of American professional sports. The ultimate bag fumble. There were even “thank you Niko” chants at the game while he was sitting in the stands. I think he knows he messed up. He must. 
 

In other news, that’s terrible about Wemby. Blood clots can be career ending. Hopefully he can get healthy and back to playing. 

[thediscochef]

4 hours ago, Jar11591 said:

@thediscochef in my opinion it’s the most blantant example of gross incompetence in the history of American professional sports. The ultimate bag fumble. There were even “thank you Niko” chants at the game while he was sitting in the stands. I think he knows he messed up. He must. 
 

In other news, that’s terrible about Wemby. Blood clots can be career ending. Hopefully he can get healthy and back to playing. 

Nico should never work in people management ever again. That man has no business making decisions that change people's lives like that. Like Jerry Krause but significantly dumber.

 

It's the worst trade in sports history. No contest. 

 

I feel terrible for Wemby. A DVT at that age is absolutely terrifying by itself. At the very least, San Antonio is a good organization and they'll take care of him. But still. What a cruel twist of fate. 

[TnRiver46]

5 minutes ago, thediscochef said:

 

 

It's the worst trade in sports history. No contest. 

 

 

What about Herschel walker in the USFL? 

[thediscochef]

20 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

What about Herschel walker in the USFL? 

I'd argue that this is more lopsided.

 

Minnesota had good reason to believe HW would be their missing piece, and they didn't dump the face of their franchise for him. It did set them back in the draft for a while which is rough, but they made an all-in move and sometimes that's the result. See it all the time in the NHL, there's a reason Mikko Rantanen is back on the trade market *already*. 

 

This is worse because there isn't any reason to believe AD is going to be the mavs missing piece. I mean, he'll be *a* missing piece because he'll be in street clothes most of the time. We already know he's gonna play maybe half the games. Furthermore dallas already had lively and gafford up the middle which was more than adequate. Max Christie is a nice player, but that doesn't make this trade work. Draft picks are never a sure bet, but some first rounders would have helped this deal. There's just no angle where this works for the mavs long term. They traded away their only pressure relief valve for kyrie, that man is my age and playing 40+ minutes a night since the trade. Their game collapses when he's off the floor now. There's no backup. They have made this team objectively worse.

 

Minnesota at least got their failed missing piece without trading their heart and soul, and without prior knowledge it would be a disaster. 

[thediscochef]

44 minutes ago, thediscochef said:

I'd argue that this is more lopsided.

 

Minnesota had good reason to believe HW would be their missing piece, and they didn't dump the face of their franchise for him. It did set them back in the draft for a while which is rough, but they made an all-in move and sometimes that's the result. See it all the time in the NHL, there's a reason Mikko Rantanen is back on the trade market *already*. 

 

This is worse because there isn't any reason to believe AD is going to be the mavs missing piece. I mean, he'll be *a* missing piece because he'll be in street clothes most of the time. We already know he's gonna play maybe half the games. Furthermore dallas already had lively and gafford up the middle which was more than adequate. Max Christie is a nice player, but that doesn't make this trade work. Draft picks are never a sure bet, but some first rounders would have helped this deal. There's just no angle where this works for the mavs long term. They traded away their only pressure relief valve for kyrie, that man is my age and playing 40+ minutes a night since the trade. Their game collapses when he's off the floor now. There's no backup. They have made this team objectively worse.

 

Minnesota at least got their failed missing piece without trading their heart and soul, and without prior knowledge it would be a disaster. 

The other angle of this that makes it worse is that Dallas didn't shop around. They could have taken another teams first rounders for the next decade with a few phone calls. But evil eyebrows dipstick and his owner, gap toothed Pixar man, decided that AD was their target and that 1-2 years of AD and Kyrie was worth a 25 year old who's already putting up Jordan numbers. Unforgiveable on every front.

[casts_by_fly]

we'll have to wait and see how it plays out on the court.  I'm leaning your way discochef that it was bad from the basketball perspective.  But from a people management perspective and also a business sense perspective I agree completely.  He zero'd into one player and didn't maximize his return.  And he didn't manage the player in any way.  If he didn't want to pay Luka then fine.  But he got a lesser player from it and a worse team now and in the future.

[Darren.]

I'm with those saying this is the worst trade in sports

history. Herschel is a close second, perhaps. But Dallas

early derailed off the brain train. I like AD, but he's 

injury prone, and the injury after his first start? Classic.

 

Luka is a unicorn. Lakers struck gold. Paired with the

aging unicorn Lebron, their future looks good if Luka

stays with them.

[Jar11591]

24 minutes ago, Darren. said:

the injury after his first start? Classic.

 
Couldn’t have written a more perfect script. 

[thediscochef]

This looks especially bad now, RIP Kyrie's ACL