NBA 2024-25 Season Thread

Man, did the Mavs re-hire Haralabob or something?

Are the lakers gonna trade LeBron now?

I hate the lakers but gotta give them credit for staying relevant most of the time.

Maybe Silver told them to do this trade to shut up all the NBA is dying talk?

That was a joke from the beginning. No one’s going to buy something for Billions and not want to run the ship.

I said when that happened that Cubes probably sniffed out a top on values and wanted to get out before he has to start paying 100M a year contracts for franchises that are valued too high for anyone to buy.

Year later and we’re trading a 25 year old MVP level guy for financial reasons.

Sports ownership is changing fast. The book values just keep going up and now you got PE types viewing it as a profit investment and wanting to come in an cut costs etc

It doesn't matter if Luka fell off a cliff and is in multiple pieces. You still don't make this trade because of the chances you can rebuild him.

Mavs much too high.

If it comes out something is wrong with Luka, fine, trade him to OKC for every pick + CHET. This deal makes nonsense.

Luka has had conditioning issues for his entire career and he's a top 3 player.

Zombie David Stern would "basketball reasons" this so fast

Somebody said something about the apron? The apron is why I'm watching Julius Randle scowl every night. Cheap owners being cheap and nothing more here?

I'm prepared to believe that this trade gives Dallas a little bit more title equity this year if AD is fully healthy for the playoffs. But it's still insane because we all know that Mavs' chances to win this year remain slim. And now the Lakers are set up just fine for the post-Lebron era.

I have more than a little difficulty imagining Luka playing alongside Lebron, but whatever. You have to do this deal if you are the Lakers.

Has any player of Luka's stature been traded in the last 25 years without publicly demanding a trade?

Stunning. Word is supposedly Lebron was unaware of the trade too. Lakers were really picking up steam this year and looked like they could potentially make some noise.

I hate the Lakers and this as a trade for Lebrons final year or two (as of now) but as mentioned they can't turn this down. I'd love to know who initiated talks about it.

Luka HAD to say something to Dallas, and if this is bout money. Yea, the new owners suck.

I have to imagine bron is following AD out the door. Luka and Bron has less than no fit together and I would have to believe the lakers can get pieces that fit for Luka dealing him

I genuinely believe this blindsided LeBron and is definitely a sign the lakers are finally looking beyond him

It was always JJJ #1 and Lonzo generational. Dean is never wrong, just early

If you’re gonna do it that way then Luka himself counts since he basically got traded for Trae Young.

Haven’t really looked at the Mavs roster lately - kinda crazy stat, they have three guys shooting over 70% from the field this year with Lively, Gafford, and Powell.

Lively and Gafford are both in the top 5 all time FG% as of now.

like it sounds like it was the Mavs driving this 100%. maybe they do trade lebron now but you don't pass on this even if you were committed to riding lebron til he died

I'd have to see the full trade deadline rosters but don't think this makes Mavs better this year at all. Luka is the ultimate teammate enhancer and made all of their roleplayers way better in a way that AD/Kyrie can't. Don't buy AD being able to play the 4 much there either.

We'll see if they have another move or 2 in them but otherwise I just think this is a horrible deal (albeit tough to fully gauge since we don't have all info)

Their west odds went from +950 to +1600 after the trade for a reason, they got worse even this year

It’s almost like publicly demanding a trade hurts everyone

My comment was based on the highly uncertain prospect of AD being healthy throughout the the playoffs. On balance, like everyone else, I think this was a horrible deal for the mavs.

How did that Dallas gm get his job..

Apparently he was the dude who botched Nike's pitch to Steph which was another historically awful business move.

Now I'm rooting for Kyrie drama to return!

yeah I know but even that I'd say I don't really agree

think AD/Kyrie as your top 2 is gonna have limitations on offense as you don't have that elite creator anymore, the whole team was built around Luka

I don't get how AD plays the 4 against legit playoff teams with Lively/Gafford at the 5 either so the Lively/Gafford cheat code the Mavs fund becomes devalued. Washington isn't a good enough shooter to play the 3. You need an elite level offensive player to make configurations like that work at the highest levels. Curry, LeBron, Luka level perimeter guy.

maybe they make another move well see

cant exactly deal luka in part because of character concerns and then go get jimmy butler obviously

more i hear nico harrison talk more I think he is just an idiot who overreacted to luka having some terrell owens type tendencies

Looks like they come out about $24M ahead as things currently stand?

My guess is sooner than later, maybe 2 yrs, we'll look back and say Mavs should've just let Cle/Houston/OKC/SAS/whoever get into a bidding war over him rather than get AD so they could be a 6-8 seed for a few years.

but it is tough to deal a guy like that and then you win 36 games the next year, especially after you were in the finals 6-7 months ago

24M is peanuts to a franchise worth 5billion plus there are other ways of shaving 5M of luxury tax than trading your megasuper star

honestly sounds Mavs GM got drunk on a night out in LA

"Why would these billionaire vermin want more money? They already have enough money!"