Luka Doncic Discussion: Clean Slate

That was horrible advice, Durant even with very long rest popped his, now Hali is lost and probably needs at least two seasons to return to form

 

it was only a month for kd. i just think these calf strains are more serious than they're treated.

in fact, all the muscle strains are. like lebron's consistent groin stuff is pretty serious. just because you don't require surgery doesn't mean it doesn't cause serious issues for performance and leave you susceptible to further injury (either in compensatory ways or to the same area).

 

Since we're talking about recent injuries in here...

 

Actually AR will be key down the line to allow Luka to have some rest during the season and not overplay with nagging injuries.

 

I agree. The Mavs were stupid trying to force him back into playing. He was smart to let his team guide him. Nico is going to mess someone's career up. That squad they got now is destined to never play together. Kyrie, Klay, Anthony "street clothes" Davis, and Lively are all one wrong fall from career ending.

 

AD should have sat longer last year, obviously. they have to start cutting his minutes back, imo. we should have, too, but couldn't afford to given the rest of the roster. dallas has the frontcourt depth to sit him more. i'm still not sure how that team is going to score, but that's not our concern here.

anyway, i don't think the fact that luka had a calf strain means he's destined to tear an achilles. i'm also pretty sure his game would allow him to return more to form than most guys who have that injury (AD would be cooked, imo, which is why i was terrified of that particular injury after his calf strain).

 

AD, Flagg, and DLo*. Then Klay, Washington, Gafford, Marshall, Christie, Dinwiddie, and Lively can all chip in double digits or near double digits. Combined with their defense, that's enough. Christie, Flagg, Washington, AD, Gafford, Lively: some of the rotations with 4 of them on the court will be insanely hard to score against.

*This is just 1 reason why DLo makes the most sense for them imo. With CP3, yeah, not enough.

Edit: Just realized that you might have meant, difficult to score when AD sits. Which, I agree, will be tougher. But a unit of DLo/Christie/Klay/Flagg/Gafford or something like that should be enough to score on 2nd (1.5?) units.

 

no, i just meant without a real pg (dlo hasn't signed yet, and word today is they prefer westbrook...) and with only thompson as a scary deep threat...teams can just pack it in. we saw people do it against us before dlo got here.

i suppose if AD keeps making strides as a passer out of the double teams, it can maybe work.

 

Okay, yeah, if they're stupid enough to sign Westbrook instead (never underestimate Nico's stupidity, I guess), then yes, I totally see your point. They might roll out Westbrook, Marshall, Martin, AD, Lively or something, and that would be terrrrible.

Ignoring who they sign at PG for a moment, they could roll out:

Exum (1.2 3PM, 43%)
Klay (3.0 3PM, 39%)
Flagg (1.4 3PM, 39%)
Washington (1.6 3PM, 38%)
AD

They also have:

Christie (1.6 3PM, 36%)
Dinwiddie (1.4 3PM, 33%)
Jaden Hardy (1.3 3PM, 41%)
Brandon Williams (0.7 3PM, 40%)
Kessler Edwards (0.6 3PM, 41%)

But yeah, when AD plays next to Lively or Gafford, which will be much of the game, your 1-3 have to be good to great 3 pt shooters. Which they have at the 2, 3, and backup 1, so if they sign a PG who can shoot, they should be okay.

 

If Nico doubles down with the fans and says wait .... hold my beer .... and brings Russ in to be the starting PG he has a death wish. Even the NBA trying to save the franchise gifting them Flagg against all odds won't save his sorry a**. Maverick Fans will go insane with how he wrecked this season too.

 

Nico is an idiot. Full stop. I don't care if he's smart in some things, or got lucky with some moves, or had good relationships with some people - he didn't even realize how important Luka was to the fanbase or how mad they were going to be. He flat out doesn't get it. He showed that he doesn't understand the business of basketball AT ALL by making that move and then those comments. Could he be smart with some of the little picture things? Sure, maybe. But he doesn't get the big picture AT ALL. Imagine Kupchak trading away Kobe in his prime, and saying he didn't realize how important Kobe was to the fanbase or how mad fans would be. No matter the justification, basketball or otherwise, you would be an idiot of the highest order to not realize that.

 

Nico saw a lazy a** bum who has a questionable work ethic so he gambled on AD, not lazy but obviously made of glass

 

Crazy that the Mavs could have had Cooper and Luka for the next what? At least a decade?

I know they got AD but he's realistically got 1-2 years of peak AD and then you're going to see a big drop-off, IMO, because of his age and already injury prone history.

Kyrie's coming off a serious injury and is also quite old himself.

I can see the Mavs trying to move those two next year whether during midseason or offseason after they're well accustomed with what Cooper is capable of and what he needs.

 

they don't get the #1 pick if luka's still there

 

He also has a hell of a role model to show him the way.

https://sports.yahoo.com/article/lakers-luka-doncic-makes-mind-190559330.html

 

With all of these torn Achilles happening in the league. Is anyone concern of Luka being the next victim. He does a lot of stop and go acceleration. He dominates the ball in his hands on offense and plays plenty of minutes. I saw a video of Kevin Garnett address the issue of players focusing on upper leg strength, not enough attention of calve muscle strength which causes these type of injuries. I hope with the new cash cow management, they can bring in the best trainers to do their best to avoid these injuries.

 

Lakers should hire the knees over toes guy from youtube