[ClutchFans] How the stunning Luka Doncic trade to the Lakers impacts the Houston Rockets

Can’t write one article without taking a dump on all-star Alperen, after we just smoked the largest frontline in the NBA b2b.



Say it with me: I was wrong about all-star Alperen Sengun, starting C on one of the NBA’s nastiest defenses!

 

It seems like poor management, at best, for Dallas not to try and get a max return for Doncic. I bet they could have gotten something more interesting from OKC.

 

I hate the lakers so much. They gave up one pick and didn't even have to include Reeves or Knecht.

Hoping no one else gives them any front court or any other pieces. Freeze em out.

 

Yeah, I seriously wonder if Dallas could’ve gotten Reaves and the 31 first round pick.

 

This is pretty upsetting. We have stockpiled all of these assets waiting for this exact moment. And then somehow we don't even get the chance to make an offer? It definitely feels rigged to boost the ratings.

That said, I think both Dallas and LA got worse in the short term. LA will undoubtedly be the worst defense in the league. Dallas now has an injury prone 31 year old all-star center to couple with the kanye of basketball. It will at least be fun to watch them implode. Hell, I won't be surprised if AD immediately demands another trade.

 

I hate Kyrie so much. This just turns my stomach. But on top of my personal hatred for the man, he's just not a very reliable player. If he isn't injured, he's suspended or missing games for personal reasons or because he refuses to get the same vaccine shot that all of his team mates got. Not a guy I would want to invest in.

 

Is Cuban actually the NBA governor for the Mavs anymore or is Miriam Adelson going to use the whole thing to buy real estate in Vegas or Gaza or whatever.

I know we live in an age of hyperbole but this is the worst return in a prime superstar trade ever.

 

What happens if those picks become #1 and #2 in a generational draft?

 

Classic example of why you can’t set your sights on one target.

Think back to all of the reports about Butler, who was known to be available. Yet, reports were that nobody was making any offers, simply kicking the tires. That’s because once the Heat know you are interested enough to make an offer, they are in the driver’s seat on the price.

Once Dallas came in with a pinpoint target of AD, and not just seeing who on the roster was available, LA was in full control of price negotiations.

This is why it takes weeks or months of negotiating with no real progress being reported. Nobody wants to show their hand. The Mavericks showed their hand and got royally fleeced.

I have to think there’s a new group of amateurs running things since Cuban sold his controlling interest, and they just got exposed.

 

LeBron acting mad and talk that the Lakers are talking LeBron to Warriors.
(just to distract us)

Phony trade left the Lakers with a draft pick and some spare parts to make a trade.

Hearing Utah for Kessler or Pacers for Myles Turner might be dealing with Lakers
All in the NBA script writers plans.

Lakers
Doncic
Austin Reaves
Rui H.......................................Cam Redish / Dalton Knecht
LeBron....................................Finney-Smith / Vanderbilt
Myles Turner or Kessler
Can't have enough WINGS

Dallas
Kyrie.......................................Dante Exum
Dinwiddie................................J Hardy / Quentin Grimes
Klay Thompson
AD............................................PJ Washington
Gafford (Lively III...depending on injury)

Are the Mavs done? Maybe dish Kyrie?

 

Think how it must feel to be a Mavs fan right now. Remember how upset people were around here about the haul we got for James Harden? Harden was then on the wrong side of 30. He had demanded a trade, which drastically reduces your leverage and he had also given a short list of preferred destinations that he would extend with, further reducing Stone's leverage. And yet that haul was still better than the one the Mavs just got for a 25 year old Luka Doncic who had not even asked to be traded or even hinted that he would like to be. And this is the very next season after he led them to the Finals.

Ouch.

 

To say it is rare would be an understatement.

 

Cuban sold his majority stake on the team, so he has no say on any trades

 

Not wrong. I haven’t paid much attention to his injuries. But he’s definitely capable of retiring just because he woke up feeling constipated one day. Or because he fell off the edge of the flat earth.

 

Any pain the Mavs are going through, I've been feeling this way as a Rockets fan:

 

It would be the equivalent of waking up some random morning after they barely missed taking down the Warriors and finding out they traded their entire future for Russell Westbrook.

That was bad enough, but in this case it is as if Harden was the one they traded and now we’re rebuilding around an old Chris Paul and an insane Westbrook with zero draft picks.

 

There has to be something else to this story. No GM in his right mind would accept getting back so little for Doncic.

 

One way I think it impacts us is if the move makes the Rockets want to make a splash.

Durant, if he's out there. I feel like that is a trade the Rockets can make and only lose Brooks, who yeah he's been a big part of this team but obviously Durant is an upgrade there and solves the issue of having offensive droughts at the worst time.

I don't think the Rockets ever had a shot at Luka even if they had a bidding war for him because you rarely going to see a team make such a trade with such a close rival, an in-state rival at that. It's more than just winning and losing at that point, all the Texas teams are fighting for fans. Spurs, Rockets, and Mavericks are all competing for fans in cities outside of their homebase, Austin, Lubbock, Corpus Christi, etc etc

So Luka was no option for us any ways I feel unless we really gutted our team for him and at that point you have to ask if it is worth it when your team has literally been a top 5 team this year with a core all under 23 years old.

I'd rather hold on to this team and see what we have. Stars are really made in the playoffs, so lets see what we have when(if) we get there.

 

The money isn't quite a max ..... 19.29m after renouncing Tate, Green, Adams & decline FVV another 21.1m if you send Brooks out for an expiring

154.6m cap.
25% 38,661,750
30% 46,394,100

cap available 40.39

Not quite a max but he's only earning 40m for this season. Wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility and you could decline Holiday to add another 4.9m.

Kyrie might be the only PG on the free agent market you might consider. I dunno if I'd do that or not, he's a great offensive player .... but I don't know how he'd fit in with this bunch and not sure he's worth giving up Brooks, FVV & potentially Holiday along with the salary slot occupied by Adams / Green / Tate above the cap. That's actually a lot to give up.

That would put you in a position where you had few contracts to throw together to make a deal work and you have to add someone you'd rather keep otherwise.

I wonder if the team may be better off picking up the option & extending him for 1+1 team option at a lower rate, keeping Brooks & Holiday .... as for Adams, I'd keep him the rest of the season but use other moving parts (Landale / Green) to bring in another option - Williams from Portland or ??? - essentially extending the salary slot over the cap into next year where you can further manipulate the asset however you see fit.

 

I would have felt like Dallas fans are feeling today if the Rockets had traded Hakeem to Miami for Rony Seiklay, Glen Rice, and Steve Smith.