Possibly the crazies trade in the history of sport: Luka to the Lakers

[IsntLifeFunny]

https://x.com/ideafaktory/status/1886183934507040861

 

This trade makes sense if Dallas had inside information that Doncic had, in fact, dismembered 148 drifters in the offseason.

[scine09]

6 hours ago, IsntLifeFunny said:

I've watched enough of him to know Dallas really fucked up regardless of their motivation. If you want to trade him because you don't think he's locked in and definitely won't be after the contract then fine I guess, trade him. Don't do it to the Lakers for an aging center who misses more games than Luka.

 

Regardless of his terrible defense, which it is astronomical levels of terrible when he's nursing an injury, like unwatchable bad, this is the most lopsided trade in sports history. It isn't close. He's a top 3 player in the NBA at 26 years old. 

 

Putting him next to LeBron for a couple of seasons is going to be nuts to watch the transition in his conditioning. He idolizes the guy, and the fact is LeBron is right there with Henry as truly genetic freaks with the most insane work ethic in human history types. 

The biggest problem with the trade, to me, is they didn't maximize their return.  I read that they traded him to the Lakers because the Dallas Gm trusts the Lakers GM and didn't want it getting out that he was available but is that enough to cost yourself maybe four more first round picks?  Even if they didn't want him for the long-term he was basically a lottery ticket that they turned in like they hit three of the six winning numbers.

 

I'm not sure about most lopsided trade in sports history, though.  Ricky Williams for me is still #1.

[OILERMAN]

Despite the fact they didn't get everything they could have there is a good chance the Mavs are a better team after the trade. 

[IsntLifeFunny]

53 minutes ago, scine09 said:

The biggest problem with the trade, to me, is they didn't maximize their return.  I read that they traded him to the Lakers because the Dallas Gm trusts the Lakers GM and didn't want it getting out that he was available but is that enough to cost yourself maybe four more first round picks?  Even if they didn't want him for the long-term he was basically a lottery ticket that they turned in like they hit three of the six winning numbers.

 

I'm not sure about most lopsided trade in sports history, though.  Ricky Williams for me is still #1.

Most lopsided is too much, but I think falls into the strangest category. The return isn't enough whatsoever regardless of any internal situations with Luka. 

[IsntLifeFunny]

53 minutes ago, OILERMAN said:

Despite the fact they didn't get everything they could have there is a good chance the Mavs are a better team after the trade. 

They aren't.

[IsntLifeFunny]

And they completely fucked their future as well as their rebuild. That's why it is wild. 

[heyitsmeallen]

7 hours ago, IsntLifeFunny said:

It's really hard to justify this without something behind the channels happening. You don't bid the player? A global phenom coming off the finals and a scoring title? A guy averaging the most PPG since Wilt and Jordan who is just hitting his physical prime? It's genuinely insane. 

Yeah if it wasn’t a back door deal with the league, the GM should be fired for not making it known league wide that Luka was available. They would have had 29 teams bidding against themselves to get the guy.  It’s still insane to trade him and completely lose your whole fanbase and kill the motivation of the players still on the team. 

[IsntLifeFunny]

16 minutes ago, heyitsmeallen said:

Yeah if it wasn’t a back door deal with the league, the GM should be fired for not making it known league wide that Luka was available. They would have had 29 teams bidding against themselves to get the guy.  It’s still insane to trade him and completely lose your whole fanbase and kill the motivation of the players still on the team. 

Like I said to Scine, regardless of the return, it's simply the strangest trade I've ever seen for all of the reasons you listed. Are they a better team this year? Not really. Maybe, but no, not really since Kyrie isn't a real PG. He's a combo guard. 

 

This doesn't make them legitimate contenders. AD is more injury prone than Luka and is at the end of his prime. It doesn't make any sense whatsoever. 

Edited February 5, 2025 by IsntLifeFunny

[OILERMAN]

https://www.basketballnetwork.net/latest-news/charles-barkley-weighs-in-on-who-won-the-anthony-davis-luka-doncic-trade

 

"For the next two or three years, the Mavs won the trade."

 

As expected, a trade of this scale quickly sparked debate about which team got the better deal. Charles Barkley recently shared his thoughts on the matter.

 

"Oh, the Dallas Mavericks. They're a contender right away," responded Barkley during his recent appearance on the "Dan Patrick Show."

 

 

"He's (Davis) played great the last couple of years…the guy was just coming off a 40-20 game," remarked the 61-year-old.

 

With the Mavs, AD is set to play power forward, his preferred spot

 

 

However, Barkley points out one player "people are forgetting about," Max Christie. The shooting guard, also part of the trade, will "help the Mavs," says the 11-time All-Star.

 

Christie showed that in his Dallas debut, a 116-118 loss to the Philadelphia 76ers: 15 points on perfect shooting from three (four attempts), nine rebounds, and three assists.

 

 

[IsntLifeFunny]

No, this is incorrect thinking. AD does not make them a contender. They sold their biggest asset, the largest asset in the NBA, for a depreciating, oft-injured star, who does not put them into the conversation as the best team in the West. It's stupid. They won't win a ring. 

 

Regardless if they weren't going to win with Luka, they had a chance to parlay that into being a contender through assets, contracts, and good players (cough Austin Reaves and Knecht). They couldn't even get that right. They really fucked this up. 

Edited February 5, 2025 by IsntLifeFunny

[scine09]

1 hour ago, IsntLifeFunny said:

Like I said to Scine, regardless of the return, it's simply the strangest trade I've ever seen for all of the reasons you listed. Are they a better team this year? Not really. Maybe, but no, not really since Kyrie isn't a real PG. He's a combo guard. 

 

This doesn't make them legitimate contenders. AD is more injury prone than Luka and is at the end of his prime. It doesn't make any sense whatsoever. 

It's irrelevant whether they're a better team now.  They have no chance to seriously compete for a title at the moment and got rid of the best chance to make that happen at any time in the near or even distant future.  Honestly I think this is like a team trading a QB in his 4th year when they have to decide on extending him or not who puts up all world stats, wins a lot of games but also can't stay on the field and maybe has motivational issues although I'm not saying that's the case with Doncic and getting one first round pick, or even maybe just a second round pick since draft picks are weighted differently in the sports.  It just makes no sense.  

 

Trading him in and of itself is not the issue.

[Guest]

I don't believe this is a conspiracy. Rather this is the example of one person with power and ego putting themselves above all else. Nico had interpersonal conflict with Luka. I am sure others in his circle did too. That's my theory. 

 

They've been firing all the people he is close to and trading and getting rid of his friends on the team. Boban, Brunson, DFS, Zinger. Fired staff around him. I think whatever this is, it completely blinded them to the situation. Reports are that the Mavs FO (i.e. Nico) is legitimately shocked at the level of backlash. He probably views AD as just as good as Luka because he is friends with him. Kudos to Pelinka to smelling blood in the water. 

 

This is why they didn't offer him around the league. He didn't want Luka to know because then Luka would have leverage and control his destination. He didn't want that to be a factor at all. He saw what was happening with Butler, etc. 

 

This reeks of someone putting their personal above the well-being of the franchise. 

[IsntLifeFunny]

8 minutes ago, scine09 said:

 

 

Trading him in and of itself is not the issue.

Yep. I mean it's a part of it, so don't get that twisted because he's a top 5 player, but like you said that isn't really the issue. The process itself was almost diabolical. If you want to trade him then fine, open it up and read the rewards. 

 

This felt personal or I don't know what. There's simply no one on earth watching the NBA who thought this made sense except one dumbass. 

[scine09]

7 minutes ago, IsntLifeFunny said:

Yep. I mean it's a part of it, so don't get that twisted because he's a top 5 player, but like you said that isn't really the issue. The process itself was almost diabolical. If you want to trade him then fine, open it up and read the rewards. 

 

This felt personal or I don't know what. There's simply no one on earth watching the NBA who thought this made sense except one dumbass. 

It's like a worse version of the A.J. Brown trade.

[Guest]

On 2/2/2025 at 9:12 AM, scine09 said:

You don't think that ownership was behind this?  Supposedly he was due for $350 million and they didn't trust that he'd be able to fulfill it because of his conditioning.  There's also so many issues with these weird salary cap rules in the NBA that other sports don't have, like the apron rule that most people including me have no idea what it even means, that they were kind of hamstrung.  I'm not defending the deal, I wouldn't have done it, I'm just saying that it's not as simple as just giving him up for a bunch of draft picks.  It got so complicated that they had to get the Jazz involved.

 

Third teams are involved in these trades all the time for contract reasons. I don't think that means a lot. 

 

The conditioning issue is part of it, but again for me that's more of a perception thing than a real issue. 

 

They value AD over him him, for example, who is a walking injury risk. 

 

I honestly think the GM doesn't like his personality and that Luka has more power in the org than him. 

 

Cuban would have told him to fuck off into the sun. The new owners seem to not really care and were probably swayed by Nico. All it takes is a bunch of old school (pun intended I guess) dudes getting worked up that Luka plays fortnight or is not in the gym everyday like Kobe and these guys become completely blind to his value, as opposed to AD who looks like a traditional NBA superstar. It's dumb, but it seems the most likely thing to happen. 

 

Nico better deliver them a title with AD and Kyrie this season or next.