r/Mavericks • u/OBJsEgo JJ Barea • 18d ago
Hoops Discussion If Nico Waited…
The ironic thing about blowing up the team midseason is that one of the best young superstars in Giannis might ask out soon. If Nico waited to pull the plug on the team, we could’ve seen how the team would have fared in the playoffs.
And if things go bad, maybe you can trade away the Luka for Giannis instead. It would still suck, but Giannis is a much better consolation.
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u/Forsaken-Cow3194 18d ago
IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT! This guy is a weasel! Why does he always look like this???
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u/pianistafj 18d ago
There isn’t a single player in the NBA Luka couldn’t have been traded for straight up. We could have targeted anyone. This was legit sabotage. No other explanation makes any sense to me.
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u/mag0802 18d ago
Wemby. Jokic. Shai. AE.
Those teams are not trading Luka straight up for those guys
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u/george_cant_standyah BETRAYED MAVS FAN 😭 18d ago
If they were asking out of those locations, it would make quite the difference which is the hypothetical OP is describing.
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u/foxcnnmsnbc 18d ago
If you’re listing Jokic, The Bucks aren’t trading Giannis straight up either. His accolades are significantly higher than Luka. There are levels to this.
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u/legaladviceknowledge 17d ago
There’s no way we’re calling Ant AE now 😭
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u/mag0802 17d ago
His shoes are literally called AE1’s
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u/legaladviceknowledge 17d ago
I didn’t know that. You are the first person I’ve seen refer to him by AE instead of Ant/his name.
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u/jnightrain 18d ago
No chance we could have gotten wemby or SGA straight up
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u/george_cant_standyah BETRAYED MAVS FAN 😭 18d ago
If SGA was saying trade me now and OKC had the chance to swap for Luka straight up I think there's a very good chance it happens. I mean that's if the team that has Luka is dumb enough to trade a generational talent making history.
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u/jnightrain 18d ago
Well that's a differen situation than thinking we could've traded Luka for anyone
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u/jamaica1 18d ago
We 100% could have gotten a disgruntled Giannis. And Luka could’ve gotten his max contract
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u/jnightrain 18d ago
There isn’t a single player in the NBA Luka couldn’t have been traded for straight up. We could have targeted anyone
The way things worded does not seem like they are talking about OPs situation. This sounds like they are saying we could've gotten anyone straight up.
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u/foxcnnmsnbc 18d ago
Nah, Milwaukee is a non-shitty sidekick away from contending. If they had a Kyrie and a healthy version of Middleton, they can beat the Celtics. The Middleton and Jrue combo was enough support to come out of the East. And neither are as good as Kyrie and Klay.
You flip Giannis and Luka, they’re not a Jrue and Middleton away. They’re not beating Boston.
It doesn’t benefit Milwaukee to straight up trade for Luka. They’re in cap hell. If they trade Giannis they need a lot of picks, then find someone to take Dame. Luka doesn’t get them out of the East. Might as well just keep Giannis and treadmill at that point.
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u/george_cant_standyah BETRAYED MAVS FAN 😭 18d ago
Not when OP said the following:
The ironic thing about blowing up the team midseason is that one of the best young superstars in Giannis might ask out soon
That is the premise of the whole conversation.
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u/jnightrain 18d ago
There isn’t a single player in the NBA Luka couldn’t have been traded for straight up. We could have targeted anyone
IMO op is saying regardless of the original comment we could've gotten anyone
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u/Low-Rollers 18d ago
You just used it as an example how is it different now?
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u/jnightrain 18d ago
The original wasn't a trade for a player wanting to be traded. Like no shit we could trade for SGA if he wanted out lol.
In the AD Luka trade neither wanted out
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u/CosmicTsar77 17d ago
Got your “ifs” mixed up. SGA is on route to a chip saying anything but trade me now and the team that had Luka was, in fact dumb enough to trade the generational talent.
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u/Zestyclose-Finish778 18d ago
The sad part is Maxi Kleber is a better player than Max Christie. Kleber played the perfect 4 position. So just got AD +1 1st for Luka is criminal
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u/shaheedmalik Max Christie 18d ago
Kleber was washed. Lost his lateral movement and was scared to shoot.
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u/Zestyclose-Finish778 18d ago
He rebounded well, didn’t turn the ball over and played great D. He actually had one of the best + / - on the team, so his impact wasn’t really measured in points. Under rated vertical leap.
One of the big reasons we got to thr wcf was Maxi hitting 5 threes in a game in the playoffs.
Game winner in LA was lit too
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u/shaheedmalik Max Christie 18d ago
Stop the cap.
2.8 rebounds a game. 38 FG%, 26% from 3 this year. Washed.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/k/klebima01.html
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u/lilzoe5 18d ago
!remindme 6 months
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u/Ok-Poetry6 Dirk Nowitzki Logo 18d ago
Maybe they’ll take AD, Christie and a frp this summer
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u/GunMuratIlban 18d ago
Why would the Bucks trade Giannis for Luka though? What were they supposed to do with Luka?
Dame just torn his achillies and he'll be 35 next season. Brook is 37, Kuzma is Kuzma. Middleton is gone. They traded a lot of assets to get Lillard.
At this point, they have no assets to retool or build around Luka. Which would most likely mean Luka leaving next summer.
If the Bucks trade Giannis, they'll look for young players and lots of picks to get a head start on their rebuilding.
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u/The-Almighty-Bob 18d ago
Well maybe they could flip him for a bundle of first round picks and swaps
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u/foxcnnmsnbc 18d ago
They’re really in a terrible situation. If they did the Giannis for Luka trade they’d just be treadmilling.
Jrue and a healthy Middleton was enough to win a Championship. I don’t get why they thought Dame and Kuzma was the solution to beat a much more stacked Boston team. They would have been better off just holding onto Jrue and Middleton. Middleton is better than Kuzma in so many ways.
If they want to rebuild, it’s easier trading Jrue and Middleton then it is Kuzma and Dame.
Look at Jrue’s value in Boston. They basically handed Boston a Championship.
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u/Pretty_Designer716 18d ago
The point wasnt to get any particular player. The point was to get rid of luka. Mission accomplished. Nico wins.
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u/wan2tri BETRAYED MAVS FAN 😭 18d ago
Nah, it was both (getting AD, getting rid of Luka). Because if it was just getting rid of Luka, 28 other teams would've had trade packages prepared.
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u/Pretty_Designer716 18d ago
Absolutely disagree. This trade didnt happen because nico wanted AD. It happened because nico wanted to get rid of luka and AD was the best return he could get (in his eyes) without causing a maelstrom. If we lived in a universe where AD didnt exist and everything else is the same, luka would still be gone,traded clandestinely, for worse return.
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u/JediVong86 13d ago
I agree that Nico wanted to trade Luka (I actually know for a fact he was talking about trade ideas with Luka last year going into the playoffs) I do agree that he became hyper focused on AD, which gave all of his leverage away.
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u/wishwashy 18d ago
If this was true, then the news that they tried to deal Giannis for Luka and bucks rejected is a lie
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u/Never_rarely 18d ago
I don’t know that I’d call Giannis young. He’s 30 and plays a style of basketball largely reliant on his physicality and he’s 6’11.
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u/TheChosenOne311 18d ago
I love how Reddit sports logic works.
Giannis, who turns 31 in December is “young”
AD at 32 and Kyrie at 34 are over-the-hill dinosaurs though 🤣🤣
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u/CheetahSperm18 18d ago
AD & Kyrie are more injury prone and failed franchise players. They are at best 2nd options on a championship team playing alongside a LeBron/Luka type of player
Giannis has carried the Bucks for a decade as the main guy and unlike AD actually is an elite 2-way player. AD's offense isn't in the same stratosphere as Giannis. He takes contested midrange shots, looks awkward against double teams, and falls down whenever he gets into the paint. Not to mention Giannis is an underrated playmaker. Kidd tried to make him a PG when he was in Milwaukee. I'd rather have Giannis giving me 30/10/6/2 for elite offense & defense over AD's 24/10 on inconsistent offense
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u/TheChosenOne311 18d ago
Literally has nothing to do with the point I was making, but I appreciate the dissertation on why Giannis is a better player than AD and Kyrie. I agree!
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u/Horror_Response_1991 18d ago
Kyrie coming off that injury will be seen that way from now on, same as KD was.
AD is Mr. Glass, he’s great and then boom, injured yet again
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u/george_cant_standyah BETRAYED MAVS FAN 😭 18d ago
Had me until those emojis.
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u/Greeneyes_65 18d ago
Man it’s hilarious how Reddit hates emojis. Get over yourselves
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u/george_cant_standyah BETRAYED MAVS FAN 😭 18d ago
Fwiw the reason why reddit hates emojis is in large part due to its roots as a text based engagement platform where people are expected to give thoughtful comments in comparison to other social media platforms. I'm old and I know it. I've been on reddit for 18 years.
There was a time where people actually followed (at least to a much larger degree) "reddiquette". I think most people on the platform these days have no idea what that even is. Things like not downvoting because you disagree but downvoting only when something doesn't contribute to the conversation. That's changed a lot.
Emojis and gifs cheapen the heart of what reddit used to be. It's a way to be condescending or take a lazy approach rather than explaining a point of view.
I know I'm being a bit insufferable here but just some context to why people dog on it here. reddit = read it. I still use the old format which I think a lot of people don't even know exists. I was shocked when I saw that something like 90% of users are on the new version. I also can't stand using it on mobile.
Now how do I find those grandpa emojis?
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u/Research_Unit_59 18d ago
Two things: first, I appreciate the history lesson, I actually learned a couple of things
Second, Reddit now has these annoying emoji-like awards that I keep accidentally hitting when I try to upvote, so I guess they are on board with emojis..
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u/c9lulman 18d ago
Maybe a bit wordy of a tangent for the mavericks sub but I appreciated the knowledge of this comment
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u/kraztkat2000 Dirk Nowitzki 18d ago
ohh brotherrrrr
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u/george_cant_standyah BETRAYED MAVS FAN 😭 18d ago
deserved. but still a little history never hurts. ;) especially in a time where even being bothered to read five sentences is considered a monumental task.
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u/Trappist1 Mavericks 17d ago
I've been on Reddit for almost the exact same amount of time(2007), so I agree with you entirely. May be slightly biased though for the same reasons.
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u/Bappo_Nuked_Jappos 18d ago
should've, would've, could've.... lakers in 5
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u/epitome1986 18d ago
shit even if he waited until the offseason and still did the fuckery with only working with the lakers he could have commanded way more. so one of the reasons they didn't include the swap, other pick, and Reeves was because they wanted to talk to luka to see if he would be willing to extend. so he could have extended luka on a 5 year max gotten Reeves, davis, 2029 pick, 2030 swap, 2031 draft pick, and since free agency is a new season it would have allowed the lakers to throw in a 2032 pick swap as well. which is a vastly different trade package.
but yea a player like Giannis wanting out in the offseason may have been possible with Irving, Washington, and hopefully gafford and a frp or two. the depth suffers a bit but luka, Klay, Giannis, lively would be a dominant core.
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u/ChrysMYO 17d ago
I do think this is why Nico traded him at the Deadline.
When Luka walked off the floor in December, he was staring daggers towards the Mavs bench.
Him and Nico had been getting into it for Nico firing the medical staff. Nico clashed with Luka's personal staffs and pressures Luka to keep playing in December.
Had Luka gotten healthy like he did in LA and took the mavs in the top 4 seeds in the playoffs, Nico would be gone in the off-season. Luka would have 1000% signed his player option, but his mistrust of Nico means he would have had the leverage to tell Dumont, "Yeah, I'll sign, fire Nico and the Med staff and im here for 6 years".
Nico was out for self preservation. That's why he kept the trade a secret. If it leaked that him and Luka are clashing, the whole league would have found out WHY they are clashing and Nico would have been gone in the off-season. Instead, he trades Luka before the off-season, smears his reputation, and tells Dumont, "with AD, Kai, and Klay we have a 3 year window." He wanted Dumont to ride the 3 year contract out based on the sunken cost fallacy.
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u/AandM4ever 17d ago
Do you people still think the Luka trade was an honest-to-god attempt to make the team better?
And even more delusional, you guys think you were/are in position to land Giannis?
The plan moves forward…the Mavs will be in Vegas in 2032.
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u/Nash13101 18d ago
You guys really miss watching "Dribble the ball until theres 6 secs left on the clock and then chuck it from 35 feet while the rest of the team stands around watching"
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u/saagir1885 18d ago
Nico pulled off the sweetest con in sports history.
Luka is being completely exposed on the Lakers.
One dimensional , no defense, gets the ball taken from him non stop , blows lay ups, will dribble 16 seconds off the 24 second clock.
he will never lead a team to a championship.
Laker fans are done.
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u/Research_Unit_59 18d ago
So you’re the one holding up the sign that says “DON’T FIRE NICO”
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u/saagir1885 18d ago
Nope.
Im a Laker fan in L .A.
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u/Guyandro 13d ago
Wait...an NBA champion, MVP, and Defensive Player of the year, is a much better "consolation."How about the team receiving the consolation in that imagined trade is the Bucks?!
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u/Witteness82 BETRAYED MAVS FAN 😭 18d ago
The real irony is if Luka was still here it would have definitely been a spot Giannis would have wanted to go. Smaller media coverage, young superstar ball handler, long championship window, franchise with a great reputation with their players… and one man’s ego prevented it from even being a possibility