NBA Ratings are down across the board- NBA is trying to build a team the whole fan base wants to watch.
Damn, Shams said this trade formed in the shadows... this is some strange sh*t. The Ringer just called it potentially the "most stunning deal in NBA history"... https://www.theringer.com/2025/02/0...vis-trade-los-angeles-lakers-dallas-mavericks There had to be multiple teams that could have put better packages together for Luka and would have.
Yeah, that's just .... I don't even know what to say. Silver needs to step in and block this crap for basketball reasons.
If only you knew the irony behind that trade .... they traded the wrong dude for being a bad influence.
NBA can't help itself. I mean, I love watching basketball but the nefarious, behind-the-scenes corruption is just about too much. This is the league asking why they are losing viewers?
I was thinking even if he were a substance abuser we would probably take a chance lol. Honestly the only explanation I can think of is he went to Harris and said: "My dream since I was born has been to go to the Lakers. I've done everything I can for this franchise. I don't want my dream to happen in my 30's. You can trade me now or I can go there eventually. I'm just not happy here and it's affecting my mental health. If you consider trading me elsewhere, my agent will tell all the teams that I just want to play for the Lakers." Then basically Nico has to trade with nobody but the Lakers and get everything they have except Lebron. EVEN in that scenario, I would have convinced the Lakers to upgrade my least productive Mavs role players to their most productive role players. Lakers would still make the trade if they have to lose Reaves and Hachimura for Klay and Naji and include their FRP obviously. Why did Harris not negotiate anything beyond this first offer? You keep looking for new angles hoping to find some sanity, but it looks crazier the more you study it. On Dallas I think their best move now is to try to get Butler or Middleton to play 3rd fiddle to AD and Kyrie. They need someone like that with Luka gone. Klay becomes more playable with Luka's no-defenseness gone. I guess possible: Gafford AD (he wants to play PF) Klay Jimmy Butler? Irving Grimes, Powell, Washington
I think the league's waning popularity is exactly why this happened. They seem to think that people want to watch the Lakers and Lebron, that the Lakers somehow need to be relevant .... fact is most of us have Lebron and Lakers fatigue. Funny that after they made the new CBA that really seems to help small market teams compete with the big markets, the league does this.
They can't tank because they have 3 injury prone stars. That means they'll treadmill most likely and would be very lucky if they're all healthy for playoffs.
Seriously, I don't understand all the corruption allegations. Silver works for all the teams. not just the Lakers. As good as the profit sharing is, it is not that good that putting Luka/Lebron on the same team will boost the rest of the leagues viewership numbers and TV profits. If Silver and the NBA office were truly stacking the deck, the other owners would fire him for cause and sue him. There is some of an argument that Silver "should block the trade". But there have been so many trades in the past 10-15 years that were supposed to create a juggernaut super team and nearly none of them worked. Most blew up.
NBA losing massive numbers of viewers is the reason for this trade -- Jimmy Butler to the Warriors is up next.
