The Mavericks Stun the Basketball World

(Photo by Wikipedia)

So, the Royal Rumble ended with a shocker, Jey Uso won the thing, and everyone had the look of CM Punk's return as to the moment that they didn't think was happening. After that, it was time to settle in, thinking that the surprises would be done for the night.

Well...........

Wait, what? April Fool's Day is two months away and they decided to start the festivities off early. There is no way the Dallas Mavericks, a team that made the NBA Finals last season, would trade their franchise player for no reason whatsoever. What's that, they did it? What's the catch, then? Early this morning, I listened to plenty of YouTube content creators and their take on the trade was more of a highway robbery by the Los Angeles Lakers. The NBA's most prestigious franchise (next to Boston) is able to get generational superstar after generational superstar to come to the franchise. This trade was a no-brainer for them to accept. The Rob Lowe doppelganger, Lakers GM Rob Pelinka, probably was celebrating with his associates, Andrew McCarthy, Molly Ringwald and Judd Nelson on fleecing another franchise. This reminds me of the Pau Gasol trade for Kwame Brown. By the way, here's a tidbit,

-In 1989, Mark Aguirre, a multiple time All-Star and face of the franchise, was traded to the Detroit Pistons for Adrian Dantley. Aguirre would help Detroit win a title.

-In 1992, Rolando Blackman, a four-time All-Star and pillar of a young franchise, was traded to the New York Knicks for basically nothing.

-In 1996, Jason Kidd, the current head coach, was dealt to the Phoenix Suns for players including Michael Finley, who is an executive for the team.

I can go on about Nash, Brunson and others, but the point is that the Dallas Mavericks have been letting generational talent slip through their fingers since their inception. The one exception had them dodge a bullet with Dirk. Also, these trades were done before Mark Cuban gained ownership of the Mavs. This trade was also not Cuban's fault since he is only a minority owner. I doubt he would have signed off on trading Luka. It's in their DNA to not see things through and panic when things get hairy. Again, when they won the title with Dirk, they dismantled the squad to go after top free agents in the next couple years. Okay, that was all Mark Cuban. The Mavs have continued to stay the course.

Nico Harrison didn't really have basketball executive experience since being named GM of the team as he was an executive for Nike. His biggest thing he is known for is...(checking notes) He had a meeting with Stephen Curry where Harrison called him "Seth" his brother's name and spelled his name as "Stephon." This infamous meeting led to Steph choosing Under Armour over Nike. People are calling for his resignation after the trade was announced. His explanation is dicey saying that the team needed more defense. There were also reports that Luka wasn't conditioning like he should where there were whispers that his weight went up to 270 lbs. Harrison was afraid of this and figured that he needed to make a trade to avoid an extension. A living, breathing GM of a professional sports team had this thought in his head and followed through on this.

For the Los Angeles Lakers, it was an easy trade. My theory is that LeBron is being phased out, rather quickly. They needed a new face of the franchise and apparently, LeBron had no idea about the trade and was kind of pissy when a reporter asked him about Anthony Davis. Also, the experts said that Davis mentioning that the team needed a center was a reason why the Lakers traded him. Davis did get his wish for some center help in Dallas. Hopefully, this trade isn't Rob Pelinka's St. Elmo's Fire. (Side note: I will stop the Rob Pelinka/Brat Pack digs when I'm damn good and ready.)

So, the most insane trade in recent history was made and now being five days since it happened, people are still talking about this. Hopefully, both teams can flourish after this acquisition.

Also, the Mavericks posted this for National Texas Day mere hours before, you know.

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