I'm a Metro-plex sports kind of guy having lived there from 1982 - 1994. As such, I'm a Mavericks loyalist. Anyone watching the Dennis Smith Jr. saga? Seems as if he is so unhappy about Luka taking over the primary point position that he is now not playing and possibly causing internal problems. The grumpy old man side of me say's suspend him but I know you can't beat these guys because they assume they are always correct until they finally grow up (see Kyrie Irving). I'm not sure the situation can be salvaged but it is clear that Luka is going to be a superstar and Dennis will be a very good player. Hopefully they can trade him for more than a box of rocks because I just don't think he has the mind-set to defer to Luka.
Smith cannot accept the fact that Luka is playing on a higher level than Smith at this time. Carlisle seems to be saying the right things, but very few people really know what is actually going on (other than the player getting what appears to be questionable advice from his agent). It doesn't look like the Mavericks will get anywhere near real value for Smith, so I suspect the agent is telling him to make an a** of himself so the Mavs will just give him away. (Who knows the unbalanced owner who either traded away or let go a championship team just might let him go.)
Now they dump Harrison Barnes for a 50-year-old Zach Randolph and Justin Jackson. If I were an impartial observer, I might think that the Mavs were trying to build a new arena like the baseball team across town. Tank everything and start over, I guess. I honestly don't mind it. Luka and Porzingis are obviously the future... but there ain't one free agent that comes to mind who would be willing to go to Dallas and be the third guy.
Not a Mavs fan - but you gotta start building somewhere, and Luka and Porzingis is a pretty great start.
Trading Barnes wasn't about tanking this year, as much as setting up cap space for this summer. Porzingas trade took up their meaningful cap space. Bummed though as Barnes is a great guy. But he's not worth his $25M+ and they need a back court shooter or a real center this summer.
It was a great gesture, although also a bit amusing, as Dirk hasn't actually announced he's going to retire.
I just read in the DMN that the league is saying they informed the Mavericks of an extortion attempt; not a rape. League sources strongly contradict Porzingis report: Knicks told Mavs of 'extortion,' but never used word 'rape'
