Big Lakers/Mavericks Trade!

[planosteve]

LeBron James has angrily hit back at claims he wanted Anthony Davis out of the Los Angeles Lakers, after his seismic trade to the Dallas Mavericks was announced on Saturday night.

The Lakers are are sending Davis, a 2029 first-round pick and Max Christie to the Mavericks, in exchange for Luka Doncic, one of the stars of the NBA, Maxi Kleber and Markieff Morris.

The incredible news shook the sporting world to the core. It is, unquestionably, one of the biggest trades in the NBA history.

Bill Reiter, the NBA Insider for CBS, told his channel that he had heard talk last year within the Lakers organization that James was growing frustrated with teammate Davis.

'It wasn't that AD was going to be traded, it was just something to keep an eye on - that LeBron is frustrated with AD and doesn't think that it is working,' Reiter said of what he heard in 2024.

James, 40, hit back abruptly on X, replying to the video clip with a Pinocchio emoji and a clown emoji plus the comment: 'You a fkn lie!!!'

[Mark]

The Dallas Cowboys have been in the news in recent weeks for having one of the worst front offices in all of sports...

The Mavericks just said, "Hold my beer."


As far as I know, that dumbass Mark Cuban is still the controlling partner in the front office of the Mavericks. He spent all of last year pimping for the Cackler on social media and on TV. To let this happen, I guess he had to display to the world that he hadn't sufficiently displayed his stupidity yet.


I quit caring about both basketball and football when both pro sports leagues started caring more about social justice warrior bullshit than playing the games and entertaining the fans a few years ago. The local teams have proven that my priorities are placed correctly.

[BigTex]

I doubt Cuban had much if anything to do with the trade. He's a minority partner in the Mavs organization now.

For all we know Doncic asked for the trade. He reportedly idolizes LeBron.

[Mark]

I doubt Cuban had much if anything to do with the trade. He's a minority partner in the Mavs organization now.

For all we know Doncic asked for the trade. He reportedly idolizes LeBron.

I can't agree with that. I'm pretty sure I remember reading when the ownership transaction occurred that Cuban would retain control of the Mavericks, even though his stake was reduced to minority owner status...

And we all know that sports team owners always have the final say over major transactions.




The conspiracy theories are already circulating about this thing. The one that's most prominent is that the Mavericks give the Lakers the league's best player so the commissioner can get his TV ratings back, and the commissioner in turn will not stand in the way of the Mavericks moving to Las Vegas so they can build their casino/basketball arena.

[Mark]

From the AP:

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has entered into an agreement to sell a majority stake in the NBA franchise to the family that runs the Las Vegas Sands casino company, it was announced Wednesday. The deal could be completed in the coming weeks.

The agreement would be in the valuation range of $3.5 billion, according to a person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because that detail was not being made public. Cuban would retain control of basketball operations in the deal.

https://apnews.com/article/dallas-maver ... 1c749186b3

[Mark]

The only way this deal makes any sense is if it's part of some bigger master plan...

The Dallas Mavericks lease at the American Airlines Center ends in 2031. Mark Cuban has been very open about his desire to build a new arena as part of a larger casino complex. The sale of the team to Miriam Adelson was a part of that plan. Could it be that the recent Texas House Speaker vote started these dominoes to falling? The good guys lost in the Speaker fight, so we all know it will be business as usual in Austin until at least January, 2027.

This wouldn't be the first time the Dallas Mavericks were nothing more than an insignificant part of a larger real estate deal. Remember the Perot ownership group and the installation of Ron Kirk as Dallas mayor? That was all about getting the current arena built, and nobody involved gave a shit about basketball.


This is from Sports Illustrated, just over a year ago when the Cuban/Adelson transaction took place:

On Tuesday, Mark Cuban shocked the sports world by selling a majority stake in the Dallas Mavericks to casino tycoon Miriam Adelson. Adelson acquired the stake of the Mavs from Cuban for $3.5 billion a day after selling a $2 billion portion of her share in her family owned casino, Las Vegas Sands.

For Cuban to sell even a sliver of the Mavericks, one has to think there has to be a bigger play at hand, which is why Adelson and her $33 billion net worth being a part of the deal means so much.

With the Adelson family being a powerhouse in the casino industry, along with her longstanding support and relationship with Texas Governor Greg Abbott, Cuban's hopes to legalizing gambling in Texas could be on the right track for the years to come.

Cuban, on several occasions, has expressed his intent to build a new arena in Dallas, meaning the Mavs' days at American Airlines Center could be numbered. The Mavs' lease with AAC is under contract until 2031, meaning that Adelson, Cuban, and company essentially have seven years to work on getting gambling legalized in Texas.

The legalization of gambling would present the opportunity for Adelson to build a casino in the DFW metroplex, which Cuban has spoken about freely.

"My goal, and we’d partner with Las Vegas Sands, is when we build a new arena, it’ll be in the middle of a resort and casino," Cuban told The Dallas Morning News last December. "That’s the mission."

As you can see from Cuban's mention of Las Vegas Sands over a year ago, this move has been in the works for some time now, although he probably didn't intend on the news leaking as early as it did.

If you begin to think of this trade in terms of a real estate deal, it makes some sense. That's the ONLY way it makes any sense. If Cuban and Adelson believe they can't build their casino/arena empire in Dallas, then they have to start working the politics in the league office so they can build it somewhere else.

[Mark]

I've read lots of posts from lots of people on social media this morning. I believe this one sums it up best...

Rachel Phelps.jpg (47.39 KiB) Viewed 361 times

[jellowrestling]

The Mavs are stuck on stupid, apparently. This is the dumbest thing since they blew up the championship team.

[planosteve]

I'll see more of Doncic now than I did before. We don't get many Mav games. But, we do get a lot of Lakers and Warriors games.