I read the NBA subreddit a lot and they believe that Nico personally hated Luka because Luka disregarded Nico’s desire to take his conditioning seriously and stuff like that. That Nico is a health nut and Luka would eat donuts and play video games and then go out and put up 40.
That ownership was too unfamiliar with basketball to say no to Nico so signed off on it.
This has always been my guess. Luka really seems like a spoiled brat, between his lack of dedication in the Mavs years, lack of interest in defense, and the way he’s always treated officials — mad dogging them and barking at them on nearly every single play, literally.
Nico called him out on it over time and they butted heads as a result, and it became personal.
That may have clouded Nico’s decision to make arguably the stupidest trade in history… and he looks like a goat as a result. But that doesn’t mean that Luka didn’t play an equally large role in precipitating that trade. Luka wasn’t going to ever magically get into shape under a hands-off coach like Kidd, especially while putting up big numbers he could point to as justification for his donuts and video games. He should probably be thanking Nico for making the move that ultimately motivated him to finally act like a professional and train properly.
Not that I expect it to last. I think it was just an ego thing for Luka to get into shape and make a statement, and I’m guessing he’ll lose interest and be back to donuts and video games before too long. Especially since his deal is inked for a few more years.
As for Nico, Flagg was just a temporary life preserver he was clinging to. Since that hasn’t started out like gangbusters, he had to go. Simply too hated by the fans to recover. And he deserves it for not only the meager return he got, but for how drastically and comically he underestimated Luka’s popularity.
