I need to see like the next two years of Luka before I’m ready to say that but I’m very close to being with you on that.

Flagg got all the dawg in him and with Luka idk if I can say that. I kinda get the sense he’s plateauing a bit in his career, even though that plateau is one of the greatest offensive players ever. Hate to sound like Nico on this one but defense really does matter and will absolutely be the difference in a top 50 player oat and a top 10 one.

I think Coop definitely has the potential to surpass what Luka has done so far, it just won’t be as heavily weighted on offense.

No idea why you’re getting downvoted.

The contract, age, and team control for how good Flagg already is means that he is untouchable for any player in this league right now.

And given Luka’s flaws are never getting fixed at this point, Flagg has a very real chance to be a better player than Luka in a couple of years.

Been saying it since the trade that Lakers took a massive immediate downgrade and threw out all championship hopes for a potential future payoff.

AD obviously can’t stay healthy, but there is no version of Lakers since Bron’s timeline that wins anything without AD. 5 mins of any Lakers 2nd quarter game would show this when compared to Bron+AD on. AD is not only massive on defense, but Bron+AD was basically unstoppable when both healthy.

League would look completely different if guys like AD and Zion were perennially healthy players.

LOL at your username. reminds me of the lesbomancy joke from Witcher 2

I like how Haynes specifically wrote in “defensively-challenged star” Luka Dončić but nothing to add to “healthily-challenged star” Anthony Davis.

Top 75 player of all time lol

Its not only a matter of being healthy imo. when hes healthy its like he chooses games when he plays like an all time great and other games he plays passive af. AD was always like this

He’s injured too much, and at almost 33, that isn’t going to get better.

Def still has major value, but not as much as his numbers suggest.

Edit - If I’m the Mavs, I honestly may just let it ride lol. See if you can get a Kyrie-Flagg-Davis trio going and make some noise. If injuries prevent that oh well, still gave Flagg some time to develop and then rebuild around him.

I mean Haynes is basically a mouthpiece of Rich Paul so I don’t think they care what Dallas gets back.

He is a terrible value for his performance and age/injury profile. Any team trading for him has to give him a Max extension.

He is not going to be a top 20 player for the next three years. Hes not worth his salary now. Paying him 50-60 mil in two years is suicide in today’s CBA world.

Because of that, the only teams willing to trade for AD are win now teams that view him as the missing piece. Teams like that can’t give up real value on the court otherwise it’s counter productive. So all that’s left is draft capital.

How many teams are an AD away that have draft capital? Not many. So if Dallas feels they need to move on they aren’t going to get much.

The only other option is something like AD for KAT straight up. A max contract for a flawed player that may be a better fit for each team. Speaking as a Knicks fan, no thanks.

He’s got a huge contract, he’s 32, he’s hurt all the time, and he wants an extension.

He’s great when he plays, but there aren’t that many teams who want to pay $54mil to a guy who only plays sometimes. And looking ahead, it’s not like he’s going to get healthier and less injury-prone as he ages into his mid-30s.

A potential trade partner needs to either be desperate enough to swing for the fences and pray that he’s available when they need him, or stacked enough that they can easily survive on defense when he inevitably misses time. The teams in that second group got to be good by not doing stupid things like trading for guys with huge contracts who are hurt all the time. There aren’t more than two or three teams in the first group who can actually construct a trade that would interest Dallas. For example, Philly could offer Paul George, but that wouldn’t help Dallas at all. The realistic possibilities are very limited.

When there’s a tiny market for a guy, you usually don’t get a ton in return.

He’s a player that is sometimes plays great

Yeah I’m not saying AD specifically is the answer, but when your 38 year old franchise GOAT is still playing like a superstar why wouldn’t you use the all your assets for a last try? The odds of drafting someone better than Steph even 10 years post Steph is pretty close to zero.

Has this ever worked? Genuine question, i’m not very knowledgeable about NBA history. To me it seems like teams will kill their future just to be slightly less shitty than they are now, it’s too late for win now moves, even more so if you consider their opposition

Because maybe AD isn’t an improvement? Maybe?

Well since you are “kind of puzzled”, those warriors picks would probably be unprotected, and if you were to rank which teams unprotected picks are probably most sought after…….. the warriors would probably be a top 5 choice

Would be so sick bro. Like some serious alpha male shit bro. Fuck yeah.

Steph Curry for AD you say?

Hey I watched Baron Davis ruin Dirk’s MVP year in the playoffs and had a great time.

The Run TMC years were pretty fun.

I mean a chance with Steph on the Warriors. I can’t see them ever trading Steph

very much agree, however current ad is not a homerun move. while we can probably get him for pretty cheap relative to his value, it is clear he still has lasting problems with his groin and the probability that he stays healthy enough to make golden state a viable contender i personally feel is very low. last year he was traded to the mavs and like immediately went down. you are right though, golden state is in a predicament. i honestly dont feel good about anyone we can realistically trade for.

Sunk cost. Rather take a shot at a young guy who has a sliver of potential left

The plan wasn’t lucking into a #1 pick at 1% odds, assuming it wasn’t fixed.

Bold and stupid are different things

Nobody could’ve foreseen Kyrie’s injury

I disagree. Kyrie’s known to be injury prone, so pairing them together was always high risk. I’m just surprised it all came crashing down as fast as it did.

I love the idea of Kyrie and AD, I wouldn’t have done it because you can’t count on either of them to be healthy but it reminds me of Kobe and Pau Gasol. I for sure wouldn’t have traded Luka to make it happen but I think they would have been a very good playoff team if they didn’t both immediately get injured after the trade lol.

They don’t have control of their pick after this draft so might as well try to compete. Obviously health is the question mark but that’s not a terrible team if things fall right.

We don’t have picks. To me if the return is middling for AD, might as well let them run out their contracts, or dump as expirings when Flagg will be ²²⁄₂₃ and entering his prime

They are 100% committed to Kyrie… Which is fucking hilarious

Except nobody has to feel bad for Luka because he’s swimming in a McDuck style money bin regardless and the whole “Luka doesn’t play defense” angle is context for why Nico made the braindead decision to trade Luka away in the first place

Wonder why you think Trae is a terrible fit with Toronto - lots of cutters on that team who could use a facilitator. Toronto’s not a great defensive team but lengthy (Barrett/Barnes/Ingram with Poeltl on the back line) enough to cover some of Trae’s deficiencies

Absolutely not. 

Why? We have Kyrie coming back and both Trae and Kyrie aren’t really on the Flagg timeline

Balmer does like to collect aging stars tho

Worse than that, OP included Yanic too which basically would leave us with Lopez as the only center since AD doesn’t want to play at this position. I can see Zu being traded this year though, but definitely not for an older package.

good thing AD loves playing center…oh wait