Rob Pelinka Reportedly Convinced Nico Harrison Into Giving Him Luka Doncic For A Discount Through A Masterclass In Gaslighting And Manipulation

Listen, if you thought we were anywhere close to being done with the Luka Doncic trade, I have some bad news. 

We're only just getting started. 

While the initial shock has worn off, now comes the good stuff. Now we get to learn about the details surrounding this trade and what went into both sides pulling this thing off. For the Lakers, it was a masterclass in gaslighting, leverage, and front office manipulation. For the Mavs, every single update we get is more insane and more embarrassing than the last.

Even as a blueblood card-carrying member of the Lakers Hater fan club, I have no choice but to acknowledge that what Rob Pelinka did during this whole ordeal was incredible. It's hard to play this situation any better, and while that legitimately makes me want to vomit, the truth is the truth. Give credit where credit is due, this man played the Mavs and Nico Harrison like a fiddle. It was as if he was a puppet master who was pulling all the strings in order to pull this trade off, and the more stuff that comes out about how this all went down the more unbelievable it gets.

Think about what we are being told. The biggest issue most would agree with this trade isn't just the fact that the Mavs were punting on a 25 year old MVP candidate who hasn't even hit his NBA prime years yet, but also the fact that the return they got for such a player was nowhere near what his value would be on the open market. Anthony Davis is an awesome player and all, but the total package was nowhere close to good enough or what Nico Harrison could have gotten had he taken this player to the open market.

It was one of those trade packages that when you saw it, none of it made sense. How on earth could Rob Pelinka pull something like that off? How does Nico Harrison not walk away with anything more than 1 first round pick and AD? No young assets? No protected 1sts? Not even a couple 2nds? It all made no sense.

Well, there's your explanation.

Rob Pelinka gaslit the shit out of Nico Harrison, convincing him that Luka was basically a fat, out of shape player who refused to put down a beer, and as a result, the Lakers should get him at a discount. Mind you, they are already getting him on a financial discount as well since he's no longer eligible for the supermax.

Somehow, Nico Harrison took the bait.

Think of that for a second. This is the strategy we've all dealt with 1000 times playing fantasy football. We've all had a trade offer where someone tries to tell you what a favor they're doing you by offering you a deal that is 60 cents on the dollar.

"Look, this guy kind of sucks and is trending down, I'm giving you good value in return as is"

The #1 question you ask in that situation is if that player sucks so bad, why do you want him then? If your offer is better than the player you are getting, why are you making it? It's literally Day 1 stuff.

But here we have Nico Harrison essentially responding with

"You know what, you're right! Luka is fat! He does love beer! His conditioning is actually awful. You shouldn't have to pay closer to market price for that. Thank you for saving me and my franchise!!"

I can't even lie, that is a masterclass performance by Rob Pelinka. I don't think it's possible to play things any better than that, as disgusted as that makes me.

How is it possible that at no point Nico Harrison stopped to think, hey, is this guy trying to pull one over on me? There was no questioning as to why if Luka was such a liability and had all these flaws, that the Lakers were even interested? How does that thought process not take place in a trade of this magnitude? 

From Nico Harrison himself saying he didn't even factor in the future of the team and the franchise in a move like this, to the return he got, to now learning that he was gaslit into that trade package is enough to make me want to burn everything to the ground as a Mavs fan. How can this be the dude in charge of making these decisions if he very clearly has no idea how to do this job? And to make matters worse, he got played by a conference rival for their franchise player? My lord.

So what was it? Was he so blinded by his personal relationship with Rob Pelinka that he couldn't think rationally? That's the only thing I can think of and frankly, that makes it even worse. 

As I said yesterday, at the end of the day I feel for Mavs fans. Every single detail that comes out about this trade is worst than the last, and this is only the beginning. We haven't even gotten to the juicy part of the behind the scenes stuff yet, and my guess is that's going to make Nico Harrison look even worse.