Many within the NBA neighborhood are of the assumption that Mavs GM Nico Harrison should have been having a mind aneurysm when he traded away the face of the franchise – Luka Doncic.
However, the staff have satisfied themselves that it was the best determination.
Harrison “had extra doubts about Doncic than others within the group — equivalent to Cuban or Nowitzki — did,” ESPN say.
Firstly, there was the difficulty of his looming supermax contract.
He was eligible to obtain a five-year, $345 million extension throughout the 2025 offseason and the Mavs weren’t eager in any respect to honor that.
“They had been frightened of a supermax dedication,” ESPN’s Tim MacMahon stated on The Hoop Collective.
Harrison informed the Dallas Morning Information, “We actually really feel like we acquired forward of what was going to be a tumultuous summer time, him being eligible for the supermax and likewise a yr away from him with the ability to decide out of any contract.”
However the extra urgent concern for the Mavs appeared to be Luka’s weight and conditioning.
The staff, together with Jason Kidd, has expressed considerations publicly to the media and privately with Doncic about his conditioning and weight fluctuations.
Luka gained weight when he sat out six for weeks after straining his left calf for the fourth time in three years.
It has additionally now been revealed that when he was listed as out for 11 days in late November with a wrist damage, it was really to “present Doncic time to shed weight after he had ballooned into the excessive 260s”, per ESPN.
The Doncic-Davis commerce was additionally meant to initially included a number of firsts and Dalton Knecht, however Kirk Goldsberry says that Lakers GM Rob Pelinka seemingly had some ideas.
“A deal acquired whittled down, and I believe Rob Pelinka was capable of persuade the Mavs that Luka is loads of threat… His consuming, his weight downside…,” Goldsberry stated on The Invoice Simmons Podcast.
(Whether or not Pelinka was genuinely involved about Luka or simply performed it as much as Dallas is one other factor, however we digress).
One other NBA insider spoke on Luka and stated that folks inside the Mavericks feared that he might find yourself like Joel Embiid attributable to poor conditioning.
“The most important factor, when speaking to individuals across the league, was the priority about Luka’s conditioning,” Fedor stated. “As everyone knows, and as has been reported, he’s gotten as much as 270 kilos. Based on my sources, the Dallas Mavericks had been feeling prefer it might find yourself being a Joel Embiid-type scenario.”
The Mavericks all in all, had been reportedly “over” Luka and didn’t like the very fact he employed his personal full-time ‘physique staff’, Marc Stein reported.
“With Doncic, in the meantime, one phrase you retain listening to, principally, is that the Mavericks are over him. Dallas has likewise stated to have cooled on its star’s insistence on hiring his personal staff of coaching specialists — though it was finished at his personal expense — to deal with the majority of his medical and dietary wants separate from the membership beginning with the 2023-24 season.”
Regardless of his points, Doncic remains to be solely 25 years outdated is likely one of the most proficient NBA gamers within the league.
If the Lakers can discover their groove with him and get him to modify to low-carb beer, the remainder of the league must be careful.
READ MORE: Lakers GM Rob Pelinka Responds to Anthony Davis-Luka Doncic Commerce
