2023-24 Around the NBA Thread

[Lorenzo]

Both things can be true - he is a great player AND he is overrated. There is a lot of evidence that he is NOT a great team guy, and he seems more focused on stat stuffing than winning. Personally, I wouldn't at all be surprised if his career mostly ends up paralleling that of James Harden.

I don’t agree about the stat stuffing over winning. He can win and still yet have great stats. Maybe one thing he doesn’t get enough credit for is his defensive rebounding. People just take that for granted I guess.

IMO Luka has already eclipsed harden, but if his career parallels harden or
Chris Paul with no titles, all of those guys are going into the HOF as all time greats. Hopefully doncic stays in Dallas, but I wouldn’t blame him if he leaves like lebron, KD, Barkley, Paul, and so many others did to chase a title.

 

[Muggz]

Bottom line is if we had drafted Luka I would Love the dude, but we didn't so F that guy.

 

[Lorenzo]

We’ve had some great playoff villains in the west over the years; Duncan, Kobe, Dirk, Ginobili, Luka.,, Shame that WCF vs Curry never happened.

Hakeem too. He has to be one of the most underrated players I’ve ever watched. He was better than TD at everything TD was good at.

 

[Joe Mama]

You’d think after he essentially whipped the best Suns team ever singlehandedly that would be the case, but we still see plenty of people saying he’s overrated here.

It's been a while since I can remember a player who ******* at the officials more than Luka while simultaneously getting calls/no calls in his favor. He's the poster boy for two of my biggest gripes the officiating. They let him lower his shoulder and just ramrod his way through defenders and he takes palming to a whole new level.

That said, I swear the dude loves shooting that step back three-pointer on the Phoenix Suns home Court. It's kind of hard to defend somebody at his size who is hitting step back threes from 25+.

He's like Chris Paul, Kevin Durant, or Draymond Green. I love to hate him on the other team, but I would love to see him in a Phoenix Suns uniform.

 

[Lorenzo]

Bottom line is if we had drafted Luka I would Love the dude, but we didn't so F that guy.

That’s what I think too. I wouldn’t like him if I weren’t a Dallas fan. I wouldn’t have liked dirk either until he beat lebron in the finals.

 

[Lorenzo]

He is a phenomenal player, I don't doubt his talent but he doesn't look like a fun dude to play alongside. He dominates the ball like no other player in the league, whines constantly, will show up his teammates when they make mistakes and has a really bad habit of glaring at his teammates for defensive lapses that are often clearly Luka's fault.

He ran Carlisle out of town, Kristaps out of town, Grant Williams (although, Williams sucks to be fair), Brunson didn't give the Mavs a chance to compete to keep him in free agency.

You also never hear rumblings about players trying to force their way to play along side him. Dudes are forcing their way to both LA teams, Miami, Phoenix, Brookyln, Philly. I get the impression he is not well liked around the league.

Easily one of the best players in the league, but I think between his play style and his attitude, it puts somewhat of a ceiling on how good his actual teams can be. If he were to hand over the reigns a bit on offense, allow for more ball movement and either be better on defense or at least act somewhat accountable, it would help.

I don’t agree with a lot of this. I’ll clear the record on Carlisle. He should have been fired long before Luka or any other player wanted him gone. If anything Carlisle was only there because of dirk and Cuban didn’t want to fire him. Luka did not get Carlisle fired. but devil’s advocate, if Luka was consulted he would have done what everyone else would have done. And that’s asked for a new coach. Carlisle was a dinosaur by that point in Dallas. He benched kristaps and Brunson late in playoff games. He didn’t trust Brunson because he was young and still developing. Those are actually words that he used. But that never made sense to me because Luka was also young. Not sure about kristaps other than he must not have been 100%. all Kristaps did was stand on the perimeter in his final games with dallas. Just like in New York, Kristaps was seriously injured most of his time in Dallas. He was traded away more because of that than anything else. Brunson not staying in Dallas is probably the best anti-Luka (being a bad teammate) argument. initially made me question whether or not he liked Luka, but by all accounts they both were friends and luka always advocated for Brunson being a superstar before he was considered one. It’s unfortunate that the mavericks couldn’t keep Brunson. He’s better than I gave him credit for. I think that comes down to Brunson wanting to be out of Luka’s shadow because they basically play the same position.

 

[Mainstreet]

Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington are going to really help Dallas.

They both might be capable of starting.

Mavericks 146-111 Thunder (Feb 10, 2024) Box Score - ESPN

Box score for the Dallas Mavericks vs. Oklahoma City Thunder NBA game from February 10, 2024 on ESPN. Includes all points, rebounds and steals stats.

www.espn.com

 

[BirdGangThing]

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[Mainstreet]

Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington are going to really help Dallas.

They both might be capable of starting.

Mavericks 146-111 Thunder (Feb 10, 2024) Box Score - ESPN

Box score for the Dallas Mavericks vs. Oklahoma City Thunder NBA game from February 10, 2024 on ESPN. Includes all points, rebounds and steals stats.

www.espn.com

Dallas took a huge step forward at the trade deadline. They traded for two players that will have an impact in Washington and Gafford.

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[Lorenzo]

Dallas took a huge step forward at the trade deadline. They traded for two players that will have an impact in Washington and Gafford.

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They looked really good. That’s the most impressive team win that I’ve seen in a long time against a good team. A lot of dunks in that game and fast break points with Luka throwing the ball before half court and not lugging it up all game. That’s something that Kidd talked about being an emphasis for this year’s team. finally glad to see more of that. Most of doncic’s assists were lob dunks with gafford getting a several of them. It’s hard to imagine that players don’t like playing with doncic and Irving too. They also have a young impact player that I like, Dereck Lively II who has had nagging injuries. Hopefully Gafford can lessen some of that load for him.

 

[Mainstreet]

They looked really good. That’s the most impressive team win that I’ve seen in a long time against a good team. A lot of dunks in that game and fast break points with Luka throwing the ball before half court and not lugging it up all game. That’s something that Kidd talked about being an emphasis for this year’s team. finally glad to see more of that. Most of doncic’s assists were lob dunks with gafford getting a several of them. It’s hard to imagine that players don’t like playing with doncic and Irving too. They also have a young impact player that I like, Dereck Lively II who has had nagging injuries. Hopefully Gafford can lessen some of that load for him.

Tell the Mavericks to quit taking the players I like. IMO, both players were flying under the radar.

 

[Lorenzo]

Tell the Mavericks to quit taking the players I like. IMO, both players were flying under the radar.

Haha I didn’t know about these players. I’ve been a very fair weather mavericks fan of late to be honest. A lot of changes recently, hopefully for the better.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Haha I didn’t know about these players. I’ve been a very fair weather mavericks fan of late to be honest. A lot of changes recently, hopefully for the better.

Lively and gafford is a nice one-two punch of rim runners. Springy. We don’t have one of those.

 

[Mainstreet]

Kyle Lowry intends to go to the 76ers after buyout, per report.

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[Phrazbit]

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Shots fired.

 

[Hoop Head]

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Shots fired.

We need to start a list of players who have fired similar shots at Luka/The Mavs after departing.

I think Dinwiddie going to LA is a more subtle shot but he was putting up decent numbers in Dallas and they wanted him back but he went to LA, who is behind Dallas in the standings. Dallas is 8th and LA is 9.

 

[GatorAZ]

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Shots fired.

So two perennial playoff teams get rid of him but he enjoys the cellar of the league Hornets. Good for him I guess.

 

[Phrazbit]

So two perennial playoff teams get rid of him but he enjoys the cellar of the league Hornets. Good for him I guess.

Dallas overpaid him, Boston probably keeps him if not for that funny money Dallas tossed him. 53 mil for a guy who averages 8 and 4 was wild.

And worth noting, Dallas missed the playoffs last year and they're looking like a play-in team this year.

 

[Phrazbit]

Dallas had a deal in place for Kyle Kuzma but the Kuz shot it down. Says he didn't want to leave Washington for a team that isn't a contender.

I'm tellin ya'll, Luka is not liked around the league.

 

[Covert Rain]

Who do you all think got better at the deadline?

 

[Mainstreet]

Three criminal counts against Miles Bridges are dropped due to "insufficient evidence to warrant prosecution."

It sounds like the Suns knew something more than we did.

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[Phrazbit]

Who do you all think got better at the deadline?

Dallas, Miami, Knicks… Indy. Kind of a quiet deadline.

 

[Hoop Head]

Three criminal counts against Miles Bridges are dropped due to "insufficient evidence to warrant prosecution."

It sounds like the Suns knew something more than we did.

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Just to clarify for anyone who doesn't want to click the link, the charges dropped were related to him attacking his ex and her vehicle. He's still guilty of beating her up initially and is on probation for that still but the probation violation charges stemming from the incident where he allegedly threw billiard balls at her car while his kids were inside were dropped due to insufficient evidence. Apparently his ex gave conflicting statements over the course of the investigation.

 

[Phrazbit]

Three criminal counts against Miles Bridges are dropped due to "insufficient evidence to warrant prosecution."

It sounds like the Suns knew something more than we did.

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It sounds like the ex decided not to cooperate.

“I don’t know how the car got damaged”.

It’s a sad but pragmatic decision. If she testifies against him it will cost him, and her by extension of child support, millions.

 

[Covert Rain]

It sounds like the ex decided not to cooperate.

“I don’t know how the car got damaged”.

It’s a sad but pragmatic decision. If she testifies against him it will cost him, and her by extension of child support, millions.

This.