NBA 25/26
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They had to get rid so they can focus on a rebuild.
They’ve got a roster still half built to play with Luka - Klay is more shit that he should be simply because he was recruited to feed off Luka.
I’m so scarred from the 90s. I was relentlessly bullied by fair weather (bulls) fans for the decade I played intermediate/college basketball. I think the two expansion teams were technically worse than us, but off the established teams, the Mavs were a fucking Jolie in the 1990s. Fans carry that shit and the organization has fucked up by not recognizing it.
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@gt12 they had some pretty good pieces around him. The Kyrie acquisition, the Washington trades which they won big time, getting Lively in the draft (a perfect fit). Luka just had to be the superstar.
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And he is.
See, the counter argument can be made that he would turn the corner at the Mavs.
Everyone knew he had this capability, its an organization error that they couldn’t get him to his absolute peak.
You’re old enough and ugly enough to remember the shit they used to say about Dirk too, btw.
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And he is.
See, the counter argument can be made that he would turn the corner at the Mavs.
Everyone knew he had this capability, its an organization error that they couldn’t get him to his absolute peak.
You’re old enough and ugly enough to remember the shit they used to say about Dirk too, btw.
I do and and I’ve always liked the Mavs even dating back to the Rolando Blackman days, but Dirk had that work ethic in him and whilst this generation are wired a bit differently, Luka and Dirk personality wise are very different.
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I agree with that but go in the opposite direction, because Luka, whilst problematic is still better player than Dirk. The job is easier (talent) and harder (ethic).
I reckon the Mavs are the last team to win the Championship when their best player would not have easily been chosen as one of the three best players in the league.
Maybe Boston a couple of years ago but most people would have picked Tatum as one of the best players going around.
Shay, Tatum (not finals MVP), Joker, Curry, Freak, LBJ, Leonard, Curry x 2 (finals MVP Durant x 2), LBJ, Curry (finals MVP Iguodala), Leonard, LBJ, Dirk.
My point here is that even the basketball argument is flawed. Neither Kyrie nor AD are at that level. It would be a huge thing for a team like that to get over the hump anyway, given their age and the relative quality of players in the league. Luka belongs on that list above though.
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@ACT-Crusader said in NBA 25/26:
And he is.
See, the counter argument can be made that he would turn the corner at the Mavs.
Everyone knew he had this capability, its an organization error that they couldn’t get him to his absolute peak.
You’re old enough and ugly enough to remember the shit they used to say about Dirk too, btw.
I do and and I’ve always liked the Mavs even dating back to the Rolando Blackman days, but Dirk had that work ethic in him and whilst this generation are wired a bit differently, Luka and Dirk personality wise are very different.
I think winning a championship changed the perception of him because I recall in the late 00s people calling him out for not being committed to basketball.
As far as I recall Dirk was big into back packing at that time and didn't pick up a basketball much in the off season and people viewed that as a reason why he didn't win a ring. Of course it's all overly simplified media driven narratives anyway but they tend to change when a player wins a championship.
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Plus getting the right pieces around him. As much as I love Steve Nash, that was not going to be the team that would take them to glory. Dirk was having to the play the 5 where he was not comfortable.
They tried a few other options but it wasn’t until they got Chandler and the guys like Howard and Terry improving that they had a shot.
Sure Dirk didn’t live and breathe bball, one of my faves David Robinson didn’t either in the off season, but Dirk never allowed himself to get out of shape or play with a lax attitude.
Luka had all kinds of support in Dallas.
By the way I’m happy for him and what we see now at the Lakers. He and Austin are ballin and his effort on both ends is very good.
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@ACT-Crusader said in NBA 25/26:
Chicken and egg with Luka though. He clearly wasn’t changing his ways in Dallas no matter who was trying to help him - veteran players like Michael Finley couldn’t even. And it was over multiple seasons.
Whilst many will say it was a crazy move, but Luka has to share a lot of that. Yes his numbers were great but the defensive liability and overall attitude on the D end was severely exposed and that came back to his fitness and conditioning. Something had to give if he wasn’t going to change.
How does that explain not shopping him league wide and getting maximum value for him?
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@ACT-Crusader said in NBA 25/26:
@gt12 they had some pretty good pieces around him. The Kyrie acquisition, the Washington trades which they won big time, getting Lively in the draft (a perfect fit). Luka just had to be the superstar.
To be fair Fat Luka carried them to the finals....
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@ACT-Crusader said in NBA 25/26:
@gt12 they had some pretty good pieces around him. The Kyrie acquisition, the Washington trades which they won big time, getting Lively in the draft (a perfect fit). Luka just had to be the superstar.
To be fair Fat Luka carried them to the finals....
With the other pieces playing D…
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Got some Kings-Nuggets tickets at the last minute today. Jokic is ridiculous, would have had a triple double but for his teammates blowing some layups and open threes.
His touch around the basket is so, so nice and when the Kings cut the lead late in the 4th he just nails an all net three to stop the momentum . He dominates the game but makes it look effortless. Easily one of the most impressive athletes I've seen in person.
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@ACT-Crusader said in NBA 25/26:
@ACT-Crusader said in NBA 25/26:
@gt12 they had some pretty good pieces around him. The Kyrie acquisition, the Washington trades which they won big time, getting Lively in the draft (a perfect fit). Luka just had to be the superstar.
To be fair Fat Luka carried them to the finals....
With the other pieces playing D…
Should the Nuggets trade Jokic then?..
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@ACT-Crusader said in NBA 25/26:
@ACT-Crusader said in NBA 25/26:
@gt12 they had some pretty good pieces around him. The Kyrie acquisition, the Washington trades which they won big time, getting Lively in the draft (a perfect fit). Luka just had to be the superstar.
To be fair Fat Luka carried them to the finals....
With the other pieces playing D…
Should the Nuggets trade Jokic then?..
Jokic defence is fine. He has tremendous hands and gets in the passing lanes more than people give him credit. Plus the effort is there.
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Al Horford is still kicking around I see - on the Warriors now. I swear, 5 years from now I will turn on a random NBA game and he will still be playing.
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Spurs down by 5, 6 to play.
They really got to keep the warriors off the three point line.
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Warriors win, 44 from Curry, he surpasses Alex English on the all-time scoring list.
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@ACT-Crusader said in NBA 25/26:
@ACT-Crusader said in NBA 25/26:
@ACT-Crusader said in NBA 25/26:
@gt12 they had some pretty good pieces around him. The Kyrie acquisition, the Washington trades which they won big time, getting Lively in the draft (a perfect fit). Luka just had to be the superstar.
To be fair Fat Luka carried them to the finals....
With the other pieces playing D…
Should the Nuggets trade Jokic then?..
Jokic defence is fine. He has tremendous hands and gets in the passing lanes more than people give him credit. Plus the effort is there.
He's my favorite player so I don't want to really rag on him, but he cheats so much on defense. He barely moves out of the paint at times and will often not even contest jump shots. His teammates obviously know he's vulnerable on D so they constantly sag off their guys to help him. But in saying all that, his offense overwhelmingly makes up for his defense. Doncic is in the same boat, although not to the same degree.
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Wemby stacking the stat sheet isn't enough. Steph is never going away is he?
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Damn. Jokic already has 18 in the first.
