2024-2025 NBA/Toronto Raptors thread

[mile]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1885922718333181992


"We’re built to win now and in the future." ??

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by browna

Very casual NBA fan but Anthony Davis has won SFA and Doncic is one of the best players in the league the last 5 years.

Besides everything else, why would Cuban want this?

He wouldn't (and he's not really the owner anymore IIRC)...but Luka was rumoured to want to go to LAL.

Originally Posted by Acey

This is the craziest/most unexpected trade in sports I can remember in my lifetime.

I'm trying to think of another finals team ditching an MVP finalist in the very next season. Gretzky and Shaq are the only that come to mind so far

[Jason14h]

Shaq was a UFA

[Senator Clay Davis]

Using Luka's conditioning as any rationalisation for the trade is also strange. Yeah he's been pretty much the least in-shape player in the league for a lot of his career, but he's been dominant as a fat ass so who cares? And trying to argue this helps your window long term is also bizarre, AD is 31 and is unlikely to age well health wise. Not sure this one will ever make sense.

[KootenayFlamesFan]

Apparently Lebron didn't know about the deal until it was made, which is also bizarre. The whole thing is so weird.

[Jason14h]

Lakers may be garbage in 2029 and Lucic is getting fatter by the year and will be getting 70 million a year going forward . I understand why avoiding that and getting a wildcard 1st could be attractive

But if the point is to win a championship this seems like a step back for Mavs

[calculoso]

From a LAL perspective, with LeBron about to retire this makes sense. They have their new star.

From a Dallas perspective, this makes no sense at all unless they need to severely cut their budget and rebuild for some reason. … or they knew that Luka wouldn’t re-sign

Truly puzzling and amazing trade

[browna]

Maybe Trump is putting tariffs on foreign professional sports players? (sorry)

[Senator Clay Davis]

Even if the Mavs knew Luka wasn't re-signing he's under contract until 2026. Could have waited until summer and gotten a better package than this. For this year only I would say the Mavs are more likely to win a ring, but they were long shots before this and they remain long shots after this.

[calculoso]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1885931808455627191

A lot of dough flying around

[calculoso]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Even if the Mavs knew Luka wasn't re-signing he's under contract until 2026. Could have waited until summer and gotten a better package than this. For this year only I would say the Mavs are more likely to win a ring, but they were long shots before this and they remain long shots after this.

Yeah I misinterpreted the “is extension eligible” that I read previously and thought it meant his contract was ending. My mistake.

[powderjunkie]

This might have made slightly more sense if it included Reeves for Gafford or something

Originally Posted by Jason14h

Shaq was a UFA

He had 1 more year. But he opted out and signed an extension

[Hockey_Ninja]

Ok, this is easily the craziest trade I've woken up and seen the news to. And I woke up randomly and saw the Tkachuk trade

[Strange Brew]

Mavs apparently were getting tired of Luka’s regression in terms of commitment to fitness.

[bluejays]

This is incredible news to wake up to. I've always liked Luka and like others have said, it makes little sense for Dallas. Guessing it really is the conditioning that's bothering them, with respect to offering the supermax as he ages and doesn't commit to fitness. They may have some inside scoop of him just being unhappy (which wouldn't surprise me). Surprising they went after aging AD. Makes me wonder if they're going to go after Butler at some point? Seems like a deal Cuban would be pushing after being upset at Luka. It's a stunner though.



As for if Lebron didn't know, I'd say there's little chance, or they knew he'd like Doncic.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Crazy to think how much money Luka lost in this trade though. He can't sign a supermax now, so that's $70 million lost. And then you remember California taxes versus no tax in Texas, and that's gonna be at least another $30 million lost over the life of the remainder of this contract and his next one, so he's gonna lose at least $100 million in all of this. Now he'll be able to make some of it back with likely more endorsement money in LA, but still a pretty massive financial hit for Luka here. Mavs really must have grown to hate him.

[bluejays]

Originally Posted by Senator Clay Davis

Crazy to think how much money Luka lost in this trade though. He can't sign a supermax now, so that's $70 million lost. And then you remember California taxes versus no tax in Texas, and that's gonna be at least another $30 million lost over the life of the remainder of this contract and his next one, so he's gonna lose at least $100 million in all of this. Now he'll be able to make some of it back with likely more endorsement money in LA, but still a pretty massive financial hit for Luka here. Mavs really must have grown to hate him.

Good points. I guess they didn’t want the hoopla and critique by dangling him out there, and Davis fit the bill of what they wanted, but certainly they should’ve received more for giving up such a young franchise player in his prime. Davis isn’t carrying a team I don’t think. They could’ve even got Giannis if they wanted.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by browna

Very casual NBA fan but Anthony Davis has won SFA and Doncic is one of the best players in the league the last 5 years.

Besides everything else, why would Cuban want this?

Davis has won an NBA championship, that’s not exactly SFA.

Still a weird trade for the Mavs.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

So, as a (now former) Mavs fan, there is no justification for this trade other than the Adelsons bought the team off Cuban last year and they don't want to pay Luka the supermax deal he's about to get.

There is also a lot of talk that they actually wanted to bring an expansion NBA team to Vegas, and when they weren't able to do that they bought into the Mavericks and are now hoping to get to a position where they can move the Mavs there.

That doesn't make a lot of sense to me, but I also don't care anymore. I'm getting rid of my Mavs gear, have unsubscribed from everything related to the team and will no longer watch their games. I had a great time during the Dirk era, and last year was fun, but I think I'm honestly done with basketball altogether. I'll probably support the Raptors when they're in the playoff picture but that's about it.

Fuuuuck the Adelsons, Fuuuuck Adam Silver, Fuuuuuuuuuck the Lakers, and good riddance to the league... As for Dwayne Wade I no longer have any reason to have any issue with the man.

[Senator Clay Davis]

Nobody is quite committed to hate watching like Corsi, I respect it.