NBA Trade Craziness: Doncic to the Lakers and the Spurs rob the Kings

The Luke-AD trade really is perplexing.  If you don't want to pay Luka the super max extension and would rather trade him, I'm okay with that.  But no way what they got from LA is the best package they could get for a 25 year-old superstar in Luka.  Why not go into the offseason and start a bidding war and not get a massive haul.  Really, why not?  At worst run it back this season.  Doncic will be back from injury this month.  Let the season play out and then get everyone in the league on the same page - we're open for business.  I keep hearing how Dallas was ticked about Doncic's conditioning, but while that isn't petty, it isn't the reason to take less.  It just feels like a knee jerk reaction. 

I do give all sides props for keeping this quiet though.  If word had gotten out, LA and Dallas lose momentum and the whole deal could have been torpedoed.  Not saying it was a good deal.  Just props on not letting anyone know and letting players or agents drive the bus.

I'm not sure this works for the Lakers short term.  They are the #5 seed today, but does this screw up the chemistry?  And they still have no big.  But assuming Luka signs with them long term when he is eligible in the offseason, this is massive.  They have the franchise's long-term star and direction set.  Until now there was no succession plan to LeBron leaving.  Sure, they have to build around Luka still but that's just what you do.  

And somehow Luka is being painted as a victim in all this.  Yes, he'll lose ~$50M because he won't be eligible for the super max contract extension, but he'll be in LA.   He'll make that up in spades with endorsements and LA is the mecca of basketball.  If he doesn't resign with the Lakers, he can take his talents to free agency and go wherever he wants.  This is a huge win for him, period.  

Feeling left out Sacramento then trades De'Aaron Fox for very little in my opinion.  They get Zach Lavine, who Chicago hasn't been able to give away for a year due to his play, injuries and huge contract.  They get some first-round picks but Charlotte's won't convey and will turn into two second rounders.  The Spurs didn't have to give up one of Atlanta's first round picks which are much more valuable than what the actual Spurs pick.  The Timberwolves pick may be the only pick worth something in the long run.  I know Lavine is having a good year, but I can't see him being a difference maker in Sacramento.  

I know folks are in love with the idea of Fox in San Antonio but I'm not sure if it really works as well as everyone wants it to.  That said, the Spurs are in a great spot.  They have time on their hands here.  Wemby is so young that if it doesn't work out, they can move on from him after his contract ends in 2026 or trade him before that.  And Wemby will still just be reaching his prime.  If it does work out, you extend Fox and it's a good thing.  And Wemby would still be in his prime after that contract.  They'll also have flexibility in all this to add a third star if they want to.  The Spurs should be arrested for this deal.  Craziness!

CBS Sports .com does a great job breaking trades.  Hoopsrumors.com is a great site for anything basketball but especially analyzing things from a calmer perspective.

As part of a 3-team trade, traded by the Los Angeles Lakers with Max Christie and a 2029 1st round draft pick ( was later selected) to the Dallas Mavericks; the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Doncic, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris to the Los Angeles Lakers; the Los Angeles Lakers traded Jalen Hood-Schifino and a 2025 2nd round draft pick ( was later selected) to the Utah Jazz; the Utah Jazz traded cash and a 2025 2nd round draft pick ( was later selected) to the Dallas Mavericks; and the Utah Jazz traded cash to the Los Angeles Lakers. Los Angeles also received a trade exception 2025 2nd-rd pick is LAC own Dallas also received multiple trade exceptions 2025 2nd-rd pick is a right to swap 2029 1st-rd pick is LAL own

 

Spurs get: Fox, Jordan McLaughlin

Kings get: LaVine, Sidy Cissoko, three first-round picks (2025 via Hornets, 2027 via Spurs, 2031 via Timberwolves)

Bulls get: Zach Collins, Tre Jones, Kevin Huerter, their own 2025 first-round pick from Spurs

Damian Lillard To the Milwaukee Bucks In Three-Team Trade

I knew it was coming but it still hurts.  Damian Lillard is my favorite all-time Trail Blazer and beyond hope I wanted him to retire in Portland.  Lillard now goes to the Bucks where he'll team up with Giannis Antetokounmpo.  At my core I don't like trade requests but it's part of the game.  Also at my core I'm glad he'll go somewhere where he can compete for a title and play with a great like Giannis. I hope he does great and gets that ring.

Portland's haul isn't bad but not great.  Sounds like Jrue Holiday will not be with the team long since his age (33) doesn't match up with the teams young core.  But Holiday should bring back something good. He's still an excellent defender and can shoot the three.  The definition of a 3 and D guy.  Something a contender would covet.  Deandre Ayton is probably the prize catch here.  He's only 25 and averaged 18 and 10 last season.  That said I'm not big on him, but we'll see if I can get behind the big man in a Portland uniform.  The Draft picks will probably be fodder in the future for another trade down the road.  It's not the haul Brooklyn got for KD but it good and much better than anything Miami could come up with.  What they get for Holiday could really make this look even better.  As is I give it a B+.

Portland receives: From Milwaukee, guard Jrue Holiday, Milwaukee's unprotected 2029 first-round pick, the right to swap first-round picks with Milwaukee in 2028 and 2030, From Phoenix, center Deandre Ayton, and forward Toumani Camara from the Suns in the deal.

Phoenix receives: From Portland, center Jusuf Nurkic, forward Nassir Little, and guard Keon Johnson,  from Milwaukee, wing Grayson Allen

Atlanta Hawks Trade for Dejounte Murray

 The Atlanta Hawks traded for Dejounte Murray this week.  Great trade for the Hawks.  They did give up a ton of picks but if all goes well those won't be early round picks.  Murray is a great defender which is something Atlanta needs desperately (Trae Young is a horrible defender).  A lot of his scoring happens going to the rim and he is also and outstanding rebounder (8 RPG) and dished out 9 assists per game.  Atlanta now has two ball dominant guards so there is work to do but my hope is this move will be a great building block moving forward.

Does this put them over the top?  No but it goes a long way.  They still need to figure out what to do with John Collins, whom they never should have signed to the big contract, and what the rest of their roster is going to look like. They traded sharpshooter Kevin Huerter to the Kings.  I don't get it.  They picked up a draft pick and role players.  Probably a cost saving move but to what end?  We'll see what's nex.

Trade: Traded by the San Antonio Spurs with Jock Landale to the Atlanta Hawks for Danilo Gallinari, a 2023 1st round draft pick ( was later selected), a 2025 1st round draft pick ( was later selected), a 2026 1st round draft pick ( was later selected) and a 2027 1st round draft pick ( was later selected). Conditional 2023 1st-rd pick is CHO own 2025 1st-rd pick is ATL own 2026 1st-rd pick is a right to swap 2027 1st-rd pick is ATL own

Mail Day: Trade with OhioTim

OhioTim and I have done trades in the past so was I happy when he reached out with more cards to send my way.  I was blown away when I opened up the package yesterday.  There are so many cool cards. I'll kick it off with football and this John Elway Two Minute Warning insert from 1993 Collector's Edge.  Definitely looks like a design you could see in today's packs as a parallel.

Tim did a great job paying attention to some of my different likes as a collector including the Wolverines (surprised he didn't just burn the cards being from Ohio) and my love of the Buc's Creamsicle unis. 

I don't receive a lot of basketball cards in trades but as a big NBA fan they a joy to see. Tim included some so I was pretty stoked.  These two are in the acetate family of cards from sets I've never heard of.  The first is from 1998-99 SkyBox E-X Century while the other is a Two-On-One insert from the 1998 Press Pass Double Threat set.  Great cards.

Plenty of Atlanta Braves and I really like this '96 Score Tom Glavine.  The photo and simplicity in design really do it for me.

The colors on the '95 Fleer design are groovy...really I do like them.  There were many stickers included which I was very happy to see.  I hardly had any until now.

All cool looking cards.  Those 90s Dominators are cards I've always like.  

Some PC guys here.

Another really cool card is this 2000 Fleer Tradition Halls Well Chipper Jones.  The corners are rounded helping it stand out from other cards.

Plenty of BoSox in my package.  Just liked the back of this Mo Vaughn card with him looking all cool in sunglasses.  Or maybe like he's about to kick someone's ...

Oh yeah there's NASCAR!  Dale Earnhardt and Rusty, my favorite driver, did plenty of hard racing against each other back in the day.  

Some Dale and Dale Jr. goodness as well as Kyle Busch who is my favorite current driver. 

The back of this Dale Earnhard Jr. 2003 High Gear Wheels Carmeleon says "SAMPLE" on the back of it.  Maybe a prototype? I like it.

We'll finish it off with some cool Calgary Flames cards.  Can't thank Tim enough and the cards really are fun.  This is only a small representation of what he sent.  The variety made it so much fun as did many of the really unique cards.  Great job Tim and your cards will be in the mail soon!

Mail Day: Trade #2 with J's Sports Cards

 Another great trade with J's Sports Cards from Twitter.  This is my second trade with him this month.  I received some BoSox and Braves for which I couldn't be happier.  We'll kick it off with this Chris Sale Blue Sparkle parallel which is exclusive to Wal-Mart mega boxes. Nice looking card.  

This design really works for me though when I look back on the original 1952 cards I am definitely "meh" about them. 

Dalbec's average has suffered this year but he still has some pop.  Hoping he can get that up and be a good all around hitter for the Red Sox.

A nice career stats variation and another Dalbec.

Tanner Houck is still very young and only has 27 major league innings.

Nice Diamond King while that Vazquez is a high number SP.  Another great batch of cards from J's Sports cards.  You can see our first trade from earlier this month here.  I'll end it with the reigning National League MVP and my favorite card of the lot.

Mail Day: Trade with J's Sports Cards

J from J's Sports Cards on Twitter reached out for a trade and I want to show off the great cards he sent. This one really caught my eyes and of course looks like a real auto at first glance.  The Topps Through the Years cards are fun and I like that they also show off newer cards like this.  

I wasn't a fan of '86 Topps but I do like these retro cards with legends and current players.  I like that Aaron photo as well.

Plenty of fun cards including these Red Sox legends that include a Career Stats Clemens variation.

More legends.

That Pedro card is a diecut which is really cool.  I really like the design on the Clemens All-Star card.  We need more like that.

A couple of Braves show up on this League Leaders card.  I like that you don't have just the top two or three leaders on the front.

Some sweet Ozuna cards.  I was very happy the Braves resigned him in the offseason even if he'soff ot a slow start this year.  The Unleashed are an insert I didn't think I'd like but they are pretty cool.  

Devers is off to a great start this year for the surprising BoSox.

Wanted to show these great cards off and these aren't even all of them.  I'm very happy J reached out and with the cards he sent my way.

   

Mail Day: Trade with All Cardinals All the Time

 Ray from All Cardinals All the Time reached out for a trade after reading my post of a 2020 Topps blaster.  He threw up a post about some of the cards that went his way and it's always fun seeing those.  I was excited knowing this Chipper Jones patch was headed my way.  I liked the look of this insert but the odds of grabbing one in the wild was pretty low.  He also sent more Chipper which is always a good thing.

  

I'm not a Cardinals guy but there are some Redbirds I do like to include Ozzie, Mac, and Vince.  All three were so much fun to watch play.  

I'm really enjoying all these cards but that USA Baseball rookie card is the highlight.  Such an iconic card.  So many of these have great photos but the Fleer art is one I've always liked as well.  

Lucky for me Ray's son is an Altuve fan so he had some extras running around.  The Astros deserve all the grief they've gotten the last few years but I'm still a big fan of Jose Altuve.  Thank you so much to Ray for reaching out and for the great cards.  He really went above and beyond with these cards.  

And these guys...