Dallas trading Luka to the Lakers for Anthony Davis! Utah involved.

[jom2003]

Ant has really taken off since the beginning of the new year, but he didn't get off to the greatest start and was part of that disappointing start for the TWolves. I don't really care to make a top 10 list to know if he's on it (FWIW he's not close by all the metrics), but I have to say that people are so quick to anoint Ant. They were literally calling him MJ last year and when he struggled against DAL you don't hear a peep about it. He is an incredible player but also one who can do no wrong. I don't think MIN should have traded him for Luka given the contract situation, however. If DAL was to trade Luka, Ant would have been near the top of my list for sure.

No team has won a championship with their best player being only a 1on1 specialist since maybe Kobe. One can argue maybe KD but he's won nothing in his career without a supporting cast of Steph/Draymond/Klay. You need to be a two-way player/team facilitator to win it all in today's game.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Cuz he's not. SGA, Joker, Luka, Giannis, Tatum, Halibuton, AD, DM, Cade, Wemby... All have bigger impact on the game than Ant. NBA game is much bigger than just one on one plays. Ant doing pull up 3s is cool and all but that's not enough to win you championships.

HALIBURTON? CADE? DM? AD? TATUM?

**** out of here

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

How can you be a basketball fan and say with a straight face Haliburton and Cade are better players than Anthony Edwards.

 

[KqWIN]

No team has won a championship with their best player being only a 1on1 specialist since maybe Kobe. One can argue maybe KD but he's won nothing in his career without a supporting cast of Steph/Draymond/Klay. You need to be a two-way player/team facilitator to win it all in today's game.

dont include me in this lol

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Some of those name have an argument for being better than Ant, but you throw away any kind of good faith argument/credibilty if you bring up Cade/Haliburton being better than Anthony Edwards.

I'm all for advanced stats and what not, but let's not lose the plot. Edwards is an absolute monster.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

No team has won a championship with their best player being only a 1on1 specialist since maybe Kobe. One can argue maybe KD but he's won nothing in his career without a supporting cast of Steph/Draymond/Klay. You need to be a two-way player/team facilitator to win it all in today's game.

Edwards is a two-way player...

 

[NAOS_pt2]

I called the amount of time he’s expected to be out.

I think of you as a blind squirrel who finds a nut every now and then.

The odds of you finding a nut are obviously increased if we're talking about groins, so this all makes perfect sense.

 

[jom2003]

Edwards is a two-way player...

Who has a negative DBPM so far this season? And lest not forgot Wolves has Rudy who basically glorifies everyone's defensive metrics while sharing the floor with him. Ant is ranked towards bottom of his own team on defensive impact.

 

[Flc]

Yeah but he adds the spice the gumbo needs …

Haha, fair: I find that particular spice pretty insufferable. I had to turn the latest episode off when he was (correctly but insufferably) berating Windhorst for not seeing the AD injury as symbolic of how bad the trade was. He was shrieky.

Like you know how Tremendous Upside is wrong about everything all the time? Ice cold takes? Bontemps is like that, but he’s generally right instead - similar level of insufferability in both cases though.

 

[The Midnight]

Haha, fair: I find that particular spice pretty insufferable. I had to turn the latest episode off when he was (correctly but insufferably) berating Windhorst for not seeing the AD injury as symbolic of how bad the trade was. He was shrieky.

Like you know how Tremendous Upside is wrong about everything all the time? Ice cold takes? Bontemps is like that, but he’s generally right instead - similar level of insufferability in both cases though.

Yeah plus he’s super smart with really good memory. I think Windy’s basically putting up with him cos of that.. lol..

 

[LogGrad98]

Famously no one wins championship unless all their best players are within 3 years of each other.

Lakers - Magic, Worthy, Kareem. Kareem was way outside of 3 years in comparison to the other 2.

An argument could be made for the Dwyane Wade Heat of 2006, where Shaq was not on the same timeline as anyone of the other 2 you choose to call their "best 3". Yet Shaq was easily their 2nd best player that year, injury notwithstanding.

98-99 Spurs - Robinson decidedly on the downhill side of his career not even close to the 3 year window of Duncan and anyone else you choose as the third best player on that team.

Looks like an MVP-level player, a fading star, and solid role players can win championships. No need to have everyone on the exact same timeline.

Now, to win repeat championships that maybe be another story. Although the Spurs and Lakers in both scenarios above bucked that trend too.

 

[HermanG]

After digesting this trade for few weeks I have ruled out or dismissed all theories except one.

Luka has some underlying medical issues that are not going away. I'm thinking something like stress based bone issues which carry a risk that Luka turns into the next Embiid, and which also really hurt his ability to work on his conditioning. Mavs medical staff knew and Lakers learned this as part of the trade, which was the reason why they were able to negotiate the price down (them being able to do that makes almost no sense otherwise). Lakers accept the risk and hope they can manage Luka's workload and training to minimize the impact.

They said "conditioning worries" was why they were able to exclude their other FRP and Knecht from the trade... but I think thats BS. They should have had ZERO leverage to push the price down to where it ended up. I think they just couldnt disclose the real reason since detailed medical information like that cannot be made public due to privacy laws.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

Crazy to think how much bad management decisions from the Mavs have hurt the Jazz.

They lowball Brunson, which let's him sign with New York. His emergence means The Knicks had no use for Donovan Mitchell, hurting the Jazz's future picks from the Cavs as Donovan has no better option other than extending with Cleveland

Then they trade Luka on the cheap to a team who the Jazz own their pick.

 

[idiot]

Crazy to think how much bad management decisions from the Mavs have hurt the Jazz.

They lowball Brunson, which let's him sign with New York. His emergence means The Knicks had no use for Donovan Mitchell, hurting the Jazz's future picks from the Cavs as Donovan has no better option other than extending with Cleveland

Then they trade Luka on the cheap to a team who the Jazz own their pick.

This is why I'm always suspicious of betting on another team to be bad. There's so many ways in this league to get out of what look like bad situations. I don't hate the bet we've taken against Phoenix, but I'm not treating it like or expecting it to be some prime asset that pays off well for us. Much more likely that we'll end up kind of disappointed in what it yields.

 

[NUMBERICA]

This is why I'm always suspicious of betting on another team to be bad. There's so many ways in this league to get out of what look like bad situations. I don't hate the bet we've taken against Phoenix, but I'm not treating it like or expecting it to be some prime asset that pays off well for us. Much more likely that we'll end up kind of disappointed in what it yields.

I think the yield is 50/50 at being good vs being disappointing (understanding that this is more likely an asset for trade than for drafting).

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

After digesting this trade for few weeks I have ruled out or dismissed all theories except one.

Luka has some underlying medical issues that are not going away. I'm thinking something like stress based bone issues which carry a risk that Luka turns into the next Embiid, and which also really hurt his ability to work on his conditioning. Mavs medical staff knew and Lakers learned this as part of the trade, which was the reason why they were able to negotiate the price down (them being able to do that makes almost no sense otherwise). Lakers accept the risk and hope they can manage Luka's workload and training to minimize the impact.

They said "conditioning worries" was why they were able to exclude their other FRP and Knecht from the trade... but I think thats BS. They should have had ZERO leverage to push the price down to where it ended up. I think they just couldnt disclose the real reason since detailed medical information like that cannot be made public due to privacy laws.

Hypothetically if Luka failed a physical in the same way Mark Williams did if they would have rescinded the trade or if the bet is just too good to walk away from?

 

[Handlogten's Heros]

After digesting this trade for few weeks I have ruled out or dismissed all theories except one.

Luka has some underlying medical issues that are not going away. I'm thinking something like stress based bone issues which carry a risk that Luka turns into the next Embiid, and which also really hurt his ability to work on his conditioning. Mavs medical staff knew and Lakers learned this as part of the trade, which was the reason why they were able to negotiate the price down (them being able to do that makes almost no sense otherwise). Lakers accept the risk and hope they can manage Luka's workload and training to minimize the impact.

They said "conditioning worries" was why they were able to exclude their other FRP and Knecht from the trade... but I think thats BS. They should have had ZERO leverage to push the price down to where it ended up. I think they just couldnt disclose the real reason since detailed medical information like that cannot be made public due to privacy laws.

Yeah the multiple calf strains might be an issue on that calf/achilles chain somewhere. I think Embiid is so far beyond what Luka's issues might be tho. His body just ain't made for it.

 

[HermanG]

Hypothetically if Luka failed a physical in the same way Mark Williams did if they would have rescinded the trade or if the bet is just too good to walk away from?

I wouldnt rescind it at that price. I mean the main guy going the other way is nicknamed "street clothes".. so even if you are nursing Luka constantly he is still more likely to be able to play than AD.

 

[HermanG]

Yeah the multiple calf strains might be an issue on that calf/achilles chain somewhere. I think Embiid is so far beyond what Luka's issues might be tho. His body just ain't made for it.

Embiid is well betond Luka but how did it all start? I'm asking honestly as I wasnt so active at following before 2022.

Luka has had lingering injuries for like a year and they have flamed up here and there. Somehow feels like it wont all just magically go away.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

Luka has had lingering injuries for like a year and they have flamed up here and there. Somehow feels like it wont all just magically go away.

That's putting it nicely. Luka looks like a guy whose body is falling apart.