Luka Doncic Discussion: Lean Mean Slovenian Machine

Me too!!

 

Finally got to witness the Luka Lakers in person last night vs. NOLA... Damn is Luka smooth.
Makes it look easy. This Team is gonna be tough for anyone to beat in a 7 game series..

 

Karma for Cuban for leading the charge to veto the legitimate Chris Paul trade and what that did to our franchise for a decade, keeping it from what surely would have been more rings and Kobe probably playing more years uninjured. But as well I've always kind of liked Marc and he has to be absolutely sick over what happened to his team once he left the decision making / approving process by selling control of the team and becoming a minority owner.

 

Personally, I can't stand Cuban, so am super happy for him. Got karma Marc!!???

 

When Hi Definition first came out and the networks were all dragging their feet I was forever grateful being an early adopter for Marc starting HD Net and then he got into basketball, another love of mine with the Mavericks, so I've always had the fond spot a bit.

 

i lived in dallas for 15 years and adopted them as a second team. i may have been more happy about dirk's 2011 title than i was about most laker titles in my lifetime, tbh. the mavs fanbase isn't huge--and it has its share of fairweather fans--but there is a dedicated group that follows them and didn't deserve this at all. lots of stuff happened this year that was just bad luck, but the midnight sale of an absolute icon in his prime is just crushing.

i've had trouble enjoying the trade as much as i should because of how bad it is for mavs fans and how bad it is for AD.

and this isn't like memphis giving us pau. memphis was meh for years, and they'd been shopping pau for a while with teams lowballing them in trade offers (this has been erased from the annals of history, but i lived in dallas when josh howard was off the table in a pau deal). and pau was great, but he wasn't luka by a long shot. finally, memphis created cap flexibility to lure a key FA the following year and begin a quick rebuild that resulted in their best teams ever. dallas is in no such position, imo. and that was even before irving's injury.

anyway...

i still sort of can't believe luka is here. i've always kinda thought he belonged here, but it's surreal seeing teams double him for lebron to play with advantage. i'm trying to soak as much of it in as i can, as this particular iteration is likely to be brief but amazing.

 

he's still not quite moving like the best version, imo, and he basically said that in the post-game--that he's not driving as much as he likes to. i think that's lingering conditioning and injury stuff. i'm good with him easing back into it. the shot's coming back, and the defense is also getting closer to what he's capable of. the drives will be the last thing.

 

I feel bad for the Mavs and AD as well. This all feels a little too unfair to me.

But from a technical analysis point of view, Luka unlocks this team to a higher level than AD could and I still think AD at his peak is a top 5 player.

The big issue we had with our AD and LeBron team (since the bubble or really LeBron’s ankle injury) is roster construction. Both our top guys wanted to play PF. This only works if you can find a big that can rotate out to guard the perimeter, provide elite rim protection and be a good outside shooter. It also helps if you have a SG that is mobile enough to defend quick guards but strong enough to clamp down large wings so LeBron can focus on offence. Both those player profiles don’t grow on trees. An ideal starting 5 would have been: Reaves / OG / Lebron / AD / Turner. That’s just an impossible team to put together.

The second major issue is we were asking LeBron to playmake for 40 mins a game during the playoffs because AD can’t create offence by himself. This meant we were easier to stop when teams wore LeBron done. The other knock on effect was Lebron had to take plays off on the defensive end of the floor regularly.

See, the issue with fit meant that for the longest time we were trying to maximise AD, and make this his team and it just wasn’t working. AD’s flaw is he just isn’t a world beating offensive player on his own (he is that on the defensive side though) - he can’t playmake well, and he can’t shoot to a high level. Because of this he could never take the reins from Lebron.

By getting Luka, not only can we maximise him as the main playmaker when he’s on the floor, but we’ve also maximised this iteration of Lebron. Lebron now scores more effortlessly and as a result has the energy to play fantastic defence. He has become one of the premier off the ball players in the league over night. And the fit is just so much simpler. Just surround them with a lob threat and lots of high energy, pesky defenders. It’s a simpler roster construction with a higher ceiling.

Unfortunately, what Lebron needed was a top shelf playmaker and not a top shelf defensive finisher.

 

This. I have in-laws in Dallas with whom I'm close. They loved the Mavs and absolutely LOVED Luka. They were already starting to dislike the Dallas FO due to the change in ownership and perceived stinginess, but this trade completely devastated them to the point of abandoning the team (both my cousin and brother-in-law said they'd already done that with the Cowboys). I tried to comfort them and tell them how great AD is and how they had a real shot at a title this year; neither one of them cared. They said they were done with the Mavs after this. And this was all BEFORE the injuries to AD and Kyrie. Just a catastrophic series of events for the team and for their fans. And I never had an issue with Dallas, never. Always loved Dirk, always saw Cuban as a fantastic owner, and I've always rooted for them in the post-season when not playing the Lakers (that one time in my adult life). Absolutely brutal. But I also cannot overstate my dislike for the new owners. So, you know, I guess . . . screw 'em.

 

Luka trade is by far the worst trade I have ever seen a host team make. If the Lakers win it all this year, there is no doubt it’s the worst trade in NBA history.

 

luka would have to win multiple titles with the lakers for it to top the KG/pierce to brooklyn trade. gave boston the picks they used to draft brown and tatum

 

boston only got one ring (so far) out of that. and i wouldn't trade luka for both of them, lol.

 

I would normally say it would take a few years to know how the trade played out for sure. There’s always a chance that Max and AD push Dallas to a title, but I no longer believe this after seeing Luka on our team.

so far it seems like Dallas really screwed up

 

Our what?