***Official 2024-2025 NBA Thread***

[KC_Connection]

Season starts tonight with Knicks and Celtics followed by Lakers and TWolves.

Will history be made early in the 2nd game?

[KC_Connection]

While I think Dallas still has a chance to make it through the West as constructed, it should also be mentioned that AD is also a weird fit on a team with Lively/Gafford. They should probably be looking to trade Lively right now for a guard.

[tredadda]

Originally Posted by Jamie

Thinking about this more, the only thing that makes sense to me is ownership stupidity. Like they didn't want to pay the higher levels of the tax to give Luka the supermax, and thought they could sell it to the fanbase if they got a "big name".

I wonder if AD is even a big name anymore.

[KC_Connection]

Asked one NBA executive if he knew Luka Doncic was available, how much would he offer in a potential trade?

“Everything.”

The Mavericks appear to have missed a golden opportunity to create a historic bidding war ahead of the deadline. pic.twitter.com/rErs5D0OXM

— Evan Sidery (@esidery) February 2, 2025

[RunKC]

Yeah this needs to be investigated

Nico just said Luka gave no indication he wanted out or wouldn't sign an extension moving forward. He also said the Lakers were they only team he talked to.

He's saying this directly into a microphone.

— Jason Gallagher (@jga41agher) February 2, 2025

[PunkinDrublic]

Originally Posted by RunKC

Yeah this needs to be investigated

Nico just said Luka gave no indication he wanted out or wouldn't sign an extension moving forward. He also said the Lakers were they only team he talked to.

He's saying this directly into a microphone.

— Jason Gallagher (@jga41agher) February 2, 2025

I can guarantee you Klutch sports was involved in steering this trade towards the Lakers.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by PunkinDrublic

I can guarantee you Klutch sports was involved in steering this trade towards the Lakers.

Don’t think so, as LeBron would have been aware of the trade and it would have clearly leaked out before it was completed last night.

It seems evident this Nico guy is just a total moron unfit for his job and the Lakers took advantage of that. The fact that the new owners gave the go-ahead for it is incredibly suspect though. Makes me think their end goal could be moving the team to Vegas.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

Have you watched Davis in the playoffs the last several years? And he stayed healthy in the postseason.

He's dramatic more than he's injury prone.

I don't expect any Mavs fan to like this trade and nothing I can say will change that. The fan equity in Doncic was immense.

But I believe the Mavs are AS capable of not MORE capable of winning a championship now than they were yesterday. Davis is very possibly the best two way player in the NBA when focused and he engaged. And he's always been that in the postseason.

That version of Davis is a top 8-10 player in the NBA and a perfect fit for the rest of that Mavs roster as currently constructed.

There aren't 4 teams in the NBA right now, Lakers included, who look more championship ready to me than the Mavs.

It just doesn’t make any sense. Mavs have center depth. And the last thing they need right now is another injury prone player. If you’re going to trade Luka, get blue chips out of it. This looks like the mavs accepted a salary dump. At worst he helps a geriatric team led by kyrie and Klay limp on, at worst they expectedly play middling basketball while being on the hook for a max contract a few years

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

While I think Dallas still has a chance to make it through the West as constructed, it should also be mentioned that AD is also a weird fit on a team with Lively/Gafford. They should probably be looking to trade Lively right now for a guard.

A sell-high on Gafford actually seems to make the most sense to me.

Get him moved for another playmaker and you're in business. Wonder if they could use Gafford to get a Cam Johnson deal put together.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

A sell-high on Gafford actually seems to make the most sense to me.

Get him moved for another playmaker and you're in business. Wonder if they could use Gafford to get a Cam Johnson deal put together.

That would work too although Lively will get you more back and he’s also hurt for a few months too.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

A sell-high on Gafford actually seems to make the most sense to me.

Get him moved for another playmaker and you're in business. Wonder if they could use Gafford to get a Cam Johnson deal put together.

If that’s the case ok… but I don’t know why this wasn’t the piece they went after in the first place. It’s what they needed most. I guess if this is the case just go after jimmy buckets because this move means the window gets super super tight and butler can give you 2-3 years before he implodes

[KC_Connection]

Kyrie sitting out today. They had finally got that guy committed to playing the past year or so but it remains to be seen whether he’ll even continue to care about this team after this sort of betrayal.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

If that’s the case ok… but I don’t know why this wasn’t the piece they went after in the first place. It’s what they needed most. I guess if this is the case just go after jimmy buckets because this move means the window gets super super tight and butler can give you 2-3 years before he implodes

If I’m Dallas I would make any kind of Butler trade immediately and go for it right now. Trade anyone but AD and Kyrie to make it happen. He has the kind of competitiveness toughness that you just traded away.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by PunkinDrublic

I can guarantee you Klutch sports was involved in steering this trade towards the Lakers.

Nah.

That's why Lebron wasn't looped in, IMO.

He and Paul could've detonated the works if they wanted to. This is a clear sign that the Lakers would've chosen Doncic over Lebron and cared more about closing the deal with Dallas than angering James.

If they have to deal Lebron now for some reason, they'll do so and be okay with it. They just couldn't let him and Klutch muck up the works ahead of time.

[Urc Burry]

russillo made me spit out my coffee pic.twitter.com/niEBk4kdC1

— J. Kyle Mann (@jkylemann) February 2, 2025

[Urc Burry]

Simmons also had a great line… imagine Nico asking Pelinka for some pick swaps, and wondering if Pelinka had the balls to say ‘no, that’s too much’.

This isn’t getting nearly beaten to death if there’s 5 picks attached.