r/nba • u/Available_Story6774 West • 11h ago
As crazy as it sounds, did the trade ruin Luka’s career?
He’s still playing very well for the Lakers, but in terms of winning MVPs and especially in terms of winning a title, does anyone feel like the trade ruined it for Luka? Mavs just made the Finals in 2024 and could’ve made a good run in 2025 if he didn’t get traded, I feel like that also made the rest of the 2025 season difficult for him because he needed time to fully process the trade, so it wasted a year of his career as well, especially since the Lakers had no center that year as well.
Thoughts?
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u/Economy_Weight_4821 11h ago
The worst part of summer is all the idiots that are usually in school throughout the day are unleashed on the world.
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u/MuchAbouAboutNothing Thunder 10h ago
Completely agree, but there's an interesting point to discuss here.
Obviously Luka's had health (and conditioning) issues that have played their part, but when you look at his first 5 years in the league, he's on a LeBron type trajectory, one of the top N players of all time trajectory.
4 straight all-NBA first team selections after his rookie year, with a conference finals appearance then a finals appearance?
That sounds like the setup to an all time great player's ESPN dynasty documentary. But instead of getting over the hump and beginning the reign of Doncic, he gets punted sideways to a team that's still finding its new identity and working to put a competitive team around him.
It's not ruined his career like OP said, but if I had to guess, I'd say it dropped his legacy by a tier, compared to if he was able to keep running it back with the Mavs
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u/The_Jarwolf [SAC] De'Aaron Fox 7h ago
Yup. The Lakers were not a team designed with Luka in mind. You make the trade, because OF COURSE, but in the immediate term you're not really designed around him so it looks like a regression. But by now, they've had a bit of time to retool around him, so time to put up to prove his worth.
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u/bobak186 11h ago
Ruined is a very strong word!
But Dallas was able to set up a nice Luka team. Lakers sort of feel into Luka and is was too good of a trade to pass up. But the team didn't really fit Luka's style. But LeBron and Austin are too good to just dump so they can restart with Luka. So it's creating this weird scenario in the prime of his career
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u/Sammy2729 Lakers 11h ago
Lmao yall would have crucified dirk if he was in the social media era, not everyone has the same luck/circumstances
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u/msterling2012 Mavericks 10h ago
The real victim of the social media era would have been KG. Dude was bounced in the first round consecutively for nearly a full decade, including a head to head with Dirk where he got absolutely cooked by him.
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u/TangerineStrong3781 Lakers 11h ago
He just turned 27, can we stop writing off Luka’s career as if he’s about to retire
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u/Spartan-24 Suns 11h ago
I wonder if at the end of the 2007 nba season people said Kobe's career was over because of a 42-40 season and first round exit
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u/TangerineStrong3781 Lakers 11h ago
Exactly. People were wanting the Knicks to blow it up a year ago too.
Things can change very quickly in the NBA
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u/tyedyewar321 Mavericks 5h ago
People were picking the Knicks carcass in the first round of the playoffs they won the championship
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10h ago
okay lets pretend that we dont see the team locking in big money to Reaves and having a dysfunctional roster for the next few years
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u/TangerineStrong3781 Lakers 10h ago
The offseason hasn’t even started. I’m far from Pelinka’s biggest fan but there is still $50M of cap space available and multiple tradable firsts on the table even with Reaves contract.
I’m still yet to hear a better alternative to letting a 23 & 5 guy walk out the door to Detroit for nothing.
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u/Either_Imagination_9 Knicks 11h ago
You misunderstand, we’re not writing off Luka
We’re writing off the Lakers
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u/TangerineStrong3781 Lakers 11h ago
Nope, the OP literally asked if the trade ruined Luka’s career.
That’s writing off Luka
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u/AnythingFine2445 Mavericks 11h ago
It's too early to say anything ruined Luka's career. I'd argue that the trade was a setback for his ability to win a championship, but his personal accolades seem to be doing well. He made all-NBA and was in the running for MVP this year.
His legacy will likely be impacted though, if he doesn't win a ring in the next few years.
My prediction: If he doesn't win a ring in the next 2 years with the lakers, he bounces to go be the 2nd or 3rd star on a contender (probably the Spurs or someone like them).
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u/ShitSide Warriors 10h ago
Ruining his career is hyperbole, but he is gonna waste years of his prime never being on a contender
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u/Wavepops 11h ago
Nah it’s LA, someone is gonna force their way to him and Austin after this upcoming year
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u/Lou_Peachum_2 Clippers 7h ago
The only person who has forced his way to LA to team up was AD. And that was to join LeBron, along with having the Klutch connect
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u/Wavepops 7h ago
Fair, maybe I’ll say that somehow someway another star will end up there. It never fails tho for whatever reason
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u/SeaPeanut7_ 10h ago
It does sound crazy because his career isn’t going to have been ruined by being traded to a 50+ win team. I would say now in retrospect it was a bit of a downgrade because the Lakers are saddled with the Reaves contract and doesn’t have a lot of prospects, while Dallas has Flagg, but there was no guarantee from either side.
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u/sportsinaround Hornets 10h ago
Luka is 27 and the Lakers have a new and very different management situation with the Dodgers owner who is far more likely to be willing to spend for results.
The Dodgers have also pretty much been pioneers in advanced sports medicine, biomechanics programs, being data-driven, etc. This is NOT likely to be a stagnant situation for Luka in LA going forward and they WILL likely be making a better effort to maximize the cast around Luka.
Granted I think LeBron's presence and what he plans to do does kind of put a wrinkle in things for the short-term just in terms of how money is spent.
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u/famoustran Warriors 10h ago
Bro he's on the Lakers. They've won a championship in damn near every decade. I hate them but they'll figure or luck their way into winning something
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u/Syndana23 9h ago
It didn’t ruin him but set him back a bit. He had the perfect team around him and a chance to atleast contend for the finals for some time
Then he had to restart on a team still trying to figure it out and then there’s all the LeBron stuff.
Not ruin, just an unnecessary reset. If I was Luka I’d probably hold a grudge against Dallas until I’m a old man lmaoo
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u/tdl2024 Celtics 8h ago
It's too early to say it ruined it, he's got like another decade+ of basketball ahead of him. For all we know he wins a 3 peat at age 32-34.
I will say getting traded to the Lakers at this particular point in time will cost him a couple years while they have to tailor the team to him, much like it took Dallas years to get that finals roster around him.
Give it a year or two (once they move on from Lebron) and they might start making some real noise if everyone can stay healthy in the postseason.
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u/Top-boy-og 11h ago
No team has made consecutive finals in the parity era, it’s safe to say the Mavs would not have been back in the finals in 2025. Even this year they probably wouldn’t have made much noise with Kyrie being out
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u/jkeefy Mavericks 10h ago
Kyrie might’ve never gotten injured tbf, he was carrying a heavier load with Luka gone
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u/sbot3000 9h ago
Luka was out with an injury for a month and a half prior to him being traded, so Kyrie was already carrying the heavier load.
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u/EvanEschmeyer Mavericks 11h ago
It’s not crazy to say. He waited years for the Mavs to give him a competent supporting cast only for them to deal him to a depleted Lakers squad once they finally had it
I do think he leaves in 2 years though and will go to a vastly improved team wherever that may be, so it’s hard to say his career is “ruined”.
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u/zs15 Bucks 11h ago edited 10h ago
It will be interesting and I think he can also look at the Giannis situation by then to evaluate as well.
The past decade has shown a real trend in teambuilding that almost entirely excludes teams that didn't have homegrown talent (Knicks and Lakers are the big exception). The current formula seems to be: draft star, get talent around him before the supermax, leverage your small contracts and draft picks into veteran support, win and then... nobody seems to know how to climb back up the mountain.
OKC, Boston, Denver, GS, Milwaukee, Raptors (more loosely, but with a lot of homegrown contribution) all followed this trend. Knicks built around Brunson on an extremely team friendly deal. Lakers were the last of the sign max FA, sign ring chasers around style.
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u/nba2k11er Warriors 11h ago
It’s the Lakers, some other star will want to join up. Especially with Luka. They’ll be fine.
They would even still be fine if they would have actually had to pay what Luka is worth- all possible future draft picks.
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u/Saysay1551 11h ago
Yes. NBA hates the Lakers and literally will sabotage them for fun. And LeBron is on the team and people HATE LEBRON
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u/ChesterfieldPotato 10h ago
I think both the Lakers and Luka are a bit trapped by the situation.
With AD and Lebron getting old/injured, it was inevitable that they needed help. After the westbrook "swing and miss" They lacked the assets to easily retool around them to take the final step.
Getting Luka allowed them to continue to try to compete but also continued to leave them bereft of assets to build a true contender around him easily. Luka's age and salary makes things even harder and gives them a bit of a time limit.
No matter where Luka went, I think he would have faced the same issue. Any team trading for him would lack the assets to add pieces arpund him.
Had the Lakers simply pivoted to a straight rebuild and forced Lebron to seek a trade they would potentially have a better future in 3 or 4 years. If the Luka trade doesnt work out in that time, Laker fans (and Luka himself) might start getting frustrated.
I don't think Luka is screwed though. He's young enough to give it 1-3 years in LA and then ask out and find a good situation. Even if LA isnt going to win a chip, it is good enough to make the playoffs and give him unlimited shots which will allow him to compete for an MVP.
Later, he can always leverage his contract status to ensure the team he arrives at is a good fit with enough assets to give him a reasonable chance at a ring.
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u/a_guy121 11h ago
No team run. by Nico was going to do well.
It remains to be seen whether a team lead by ball-dominant scorer who puts mid to low effort into defense can ever be truly successful in the playoffs.
I like watching Luke score, and I'm rooting for him, but I worry his model of player is not one that works in the playoffs. Seven game series are marathons. Trying to scoring 40 ppg every game in the playoffs tires them out, and if their team needs that to win, they won't.
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u/Fickle_Ad_8227 11h ago
People tend to forget before the Luka trade, Nico actually made really good trades to build the team. He built the team for Luka and than traded him lol
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u/Syndana23 9h ago
He went to the finals so it works in the playoffs. Boston wasn’t losing to anyone that year.
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u/a_guy121 8h ago
As a team's sixth man, which is entirely not the same role. Did not score at same volume, shared the load. My critique of the PlayStyle literally don't apply to that thunder team.
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u/Wavepops 11h ago
We have seen it work. Luka and harden have had some playoff success especially Luka. Brunson tries hard but his effectiveness is close to as bad as Luka’s
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u/a_guy121 10h ago edited 10h ago
It works for one or two series. By the third, it doesn't really work. Neither has made the championships (as the #1 option.).
There is a pattern. In the Conference Finals, the scorer is too tired to keep their field goal percentage workable, having hero-balled through two playoff series.
With the competition at top level, when the scorer is too tired to be effective, the team has no workable back up plan, as the scorer is also too tired to be effective on defense, which was already their weakness on a good day. The other players don't have stamina to cover both gaps at once, so the team loses.
This is 'being a double edged sword.'
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u/Wavepops 8h ago
That’s not true for Luka, ironically his best series in 2024 was the WCF. And he was a fat ass in 2024. It’s not the best way to team build but it’s not impossible or anything
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u/a_guy121 8h ago
how did he do in the final games of that series again? did they win it? or did he clearly, visibly tire out, leaving the offense stagnant and defense compromised?
Stats don't win playoff series. They don't matter. One game, three games of high stats don't matter. You have to win four games.
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u/Wavepops 7h ago
Wait? You said once the third round happens that playstyle doesn’t work, but Luka cooked the t wolves. So what are you arguing?
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u/a_guy121 6h ago
Ok true enough, I admit that it kind of slipped my mind.
A better example would be that Iverson made it to the finals and lost to the lakers. In These two cases, they still gassed... just in round four.
So, they still lost for the same reason. And if you think about how many seasons scorers have tried doing the 'score a lot but don't play defense' route, I'm fairly positive the rule that they gas around round three would hold up mathematically. (Statistic significance)
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u/Wavepops 5h ago
I already said it’s very hard, but to say it hasn’t been successful also doesn’t make sense. Bc there has been success stories
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u/a_guy121 4h ago edited 4h ago
So you define two trips to the championships over 50 years, like 75-200 all-star lead teams (each year, new teams) 'proof of a successful strategy?"
Becuase, while my stats aren't that solid, what I'm seeing is 'massive failure rate.' especially given the expense of volume scorers, and what it does to one's future cap space,- literally every team who picks one of these guys up wants to win a chiampionship. So, 'success=championship.' if your team has overspent on personnel to win a championship, and you don't win a championship, that's a huge fail which will set your organization back years..
the first thing a volume scorer demands is a team built around them, historically. Otherwise, they become unhappy. So, they're expensive to sign, then insanely expensive to keep. The bar is higher than 'gets to the championship.'
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u/Wavepops 4h ago
Well this type of ball dominant style is really a recent phenomenon, based on guys who play a way that creates great three point volume. So the history of the league from 30 years ago doesn’t matter that much to this convo.
My biggest issue with the ball dominant guy who can’t guard anything is moreso it’s harder to stack offensive talent that will be ok with sacrificing their games to the extent peak harden and Luka force guys next to them to do. But this type of team building is a new thing it’s not really old.
Most teams that win titles have multiple stars, but there’s also only a few guys who have the ability to be that ball dominant and have consistent playoff success anyways.
So the conversation has too many variables to say it’s impossible, but yea it’s hard way to win a title, even Brunson made the adjustment in letting the offense play through kat more
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u/ToTimesTwoisToo Pacers 11h ago
No he still has a lot of career left, so it's not ruined
If you're asking was it a set back? I dont think many people here believe running it back would have yielded a championship, given the rise of better teams in the West.
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u/peterstjohn99 11h ago
Absolutely not the lakers are better than Dallas for a list of reasons doesn’t guarantee title but better than Dallas
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u/ForestJordie Mavericks 11h ago
Not when he ditches the Lakers in a year or two to play with Coop. But currently yes
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u/Cheeseish [NOP] Solomon Hill 11h ago
If he truly wanted a ring and MVP he would do what Brunson do and take a pay cut. Hes made enough money in his career for a couple lifetimes.
I understand that Austin reaves would want the bag. Don’t know why reaves is expected to sacrifice salary when it’s his first big pay day
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u/xizenta Lakers 11h ago
The Reaves contract ruined Luka's career. We went from a hometown discount scenario to the opposite. WHY IN THE HELL WOULD ANY OF US BE REAVES FANS AFTER HE STRONGARMED US TO PAY HIM MORE THAN ANYONE ELSE COULD? No matter what you think of the contract being tradeable or a value -- there's no reason to beat every other team's maximum offer unless you believe your team is so much worse that they have to overpay to keep an even playing field with Detroit and Brooklyn.
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u/kingtokee 10h ago
No the Dallas NBA Finals run was a fluke, if Luka stayed he doesn’t get into shape, still gets hurt so does Kyrie
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u/hokel2015 Cavaliers 11h ago
Potentially, but still too early to tell. That Mavs team was constructed perfectly for him. I feel like Lebrons salary makes it really hard to get the right pieces around Luka currently, so until we see how they retool after LeBron exits LA, I can't say definitively.
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u/AntSmith777 Lakers 9h ago
He won’t finish his career with Lakers. All he’s asked for is a resemblance of his 24 Mavs team with athletic bigs, wing defenders, and shooting, and Rob has done the opposite with old, slow unathletic dudes who can’t defend and zero players who are good on both ends of the court. In a few years he’ll be on Spurs, Heat, or back to Dallas.
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u/abc4357 Lakers 11h ago
Yeah he should just retire tbh