Smith reacting to the trade heard around the world.

By now you know the details.

It was Luka Donchik for Anthony Davis and it stopped the conversation everywhere.

That is the twenty five year old Luka arriving in L.A. last night meeting with the Lakers general manager Rob Polenka and soon enough his new teammate LeBron James Mavericks general manager Niko Harrison yesterday meeting the media explaining his motivation to deal Donchik for Davis.

It's right along with our time frame to win now and win in the future and in the future to me is three four years from now the future ten years from now.

No I don't think they probably bear me in jail or we bear ourselves.

Yes.

All right.

That was super awkward.

So we've got we've got charms we got windy.

We got Legler.

J.

Will will join us in a moment.

Again Michael Wilbon and Steven Smith and Charles Barkley all on the way.

But let's start with the charms.

I cannot begin to tell you how many people asked me if you had been hacked.

I can't possibly fathom how many people must have asked you if you had been hacked.

Take everybody through everything they need to know how in the wide wide world did we get from where we were Saturday morning to where we are now.

Yeah I mean I thought my phone was hacked when I got the text messages with the details of the trade.

And when I got wind of the deal but you peel back the curtain and for the Mavericks they honestly internally believe that this move puts them in a better position to win a championship.

Of course there are issues that they had obviously with Luka Dodgers his conditioning levels to an extent.

But they have that belief.

And when you think about the next several months the next few years that we're going to know the exact answer to whether they were right in this decision or with it or if they were wrong.

And and they they want to pair Anthony Davis as a center defensively with Kyrie Irving.

They probably need another addition as well in the back where they have three first round picks now that they can use.

And I don't think the Lakers at any point this season expected to be in contention to moving Anthony Davis.

They didn't seek to move Anthony Davis.

But when Nico Harrison the Mavericks general manager called and offered Luka Dodgers that he would change the game.

So Wendy I'm trying to figure out.

So there's two separate parts of this that don't fully add up to me.

One of them is the Mavericks trading a superstar at this age and development in his career.

Let's put that one to the side for a second.

The other is if I'm understanding everything I've read from Shams and from you and everybody else it's that this deal just kind of got done like that as opposed to opening it up.

I am a surprise that this is all they got for Luka Dodgers.

Coach Wendy what can you tell me.

Yeah within the league what the reaction was this.

Even if you decide that Luka Donchik is not going to be your franchise player and that's a repudiation of one of the highest levels we've ever seen.

But there are people in the league who say OK the Mavericks have more information on Luka than anybody else.

If this is what they believe then they made their decision.

People in the league can kind of get that.

What people in the league don't understand is why they wouldn't then open this up to a wide market to get the best deal and get a trade a bidding war going.

But OK if the Mavericks decided that the player they wanted no matter what bidding war happened was Anthony Davis.

OK you make a deal with the Los Angeles Lakers.

But within that deal with the Lakers what the league can't understand is how do you not get everything from them.

How do you not get Austin Reeves.

How do you not get both first round picks that they have.

Heck even if you couldn't get Austin Reeves because the mechanics of doing a trade are much more difficult.

How do you not get both first round draft picks the Lakers have.

That's what the league was reacting to.

What was left on the table with the Lakers not to mention what could have been left on the table across the rest of the league.

Chams it before I bring the other guys in.

Is there any part of that you can fill in here as far as the specifics of the trade and why the Mavs did or didn't get whatever it is they got.

Well I think they targeted Anthony Davis in this deal.

Obviously the Lakers they know they never they've never wanted to really part with Austin Reeves unless they got a transcendent player.

Well Luka Dodgers is a transcendent player.

But you know in these negotiations they did give up a first something they gave up Max Christie and like Brian said and everyone around the league has pointed the same thing out as why didn't they open it up to a bidding war.

They wanted Anthony Davis.

The questions as far as why they didn't get everything.

I mean that's in negotiations.

They just you know the Lakers obviously stood firm.

OK so now let me bring in Legler and J.

Well Tim I'll start with you.

I'll ask you the most basic question.

First of all what was your first reaction when you this thing breaks and when you realize charms had not been hacked in this deal had actually taken place.

What was the first thought that went through your mind.

Well like everybody else I'm laying there and I was in bed and when I get the news and I like my phone's blowing up and finally you start to go man something going on at home.

Is there a family problem.

So I roll over I grab my phone I see 32 missed messages and I'm like what does that say.

I have to grab my glasses and read it.

I couldn't believe what I was reading.

So shock doesn't begin to describe the way I feel about this trade.

I'll put it this way.

I'm more shocked about this trade than I have been about any trade in any sport at any time ever.

Period.

You're talking about a once in a generational talent.

The best offensive player that this organization has ever had and he's twenty five years old.

He's already been to a conference final.

He's been to a final.

I understand whatever concerns they have are probably legitimate about some of his conditioning issues if that's really what this is about.

But I'm telling you right now there is nothing that I can say that would adequately describe how shocked not only I am every single person I talk to in this league.

I was reading through your notes you think that this is a sea change that this is a new time in the NBA.

This signals something entirely new happening in the NBA.

Why and what is it.

Yeah.

I think we're transitioning from player empowerment to ownership empowerment.

You know over the last several months I've been spending a lot of time with a lot of different owners and one of the common things I continue to hear is around this affinity for the NFL and the way the NFL operates.

Now there are a couple of players maybe a handful that can dictate terms and can kind of force the issue.

But for the most part you know that the owners are the ones that have the power.

And I think now you have a new ownership group and just like like said a once in a generational type player right.

Like think about that once in a generation type player was moved because I don't think this had anything to do with on the court.

I don't think ownership and Niko Harrison felt comfortable where it meant for the future of the organization.

And that's a new ownership group since Mark Cuban has been dwindled down a little bit stating like hey look this is my organization.

This isn't your organization.

This isn't a situation that's going to be forced like a Kauai Leonard.

This isn't going to be a situation that can be forced like a Jimmy Butler.

I'm going to tell you what I want to do with my franchise.

And I think that is a huge sea-change because even agents feel like there is no player that is not on notice right now.

No player cannot be moved.

And I think actually Greeney is going to give a lot of owners the confidence who may have been on that that teetering line of well I'm afraid of the backlash from the media I'm afraid of the player empowerment from other players wanting to come to my organization.

But now they're going to be able to make those moves or force the change that they want to see with their organization.

OK so let's go on the court here.

Tim Legler in order for this to be justifiable from a Dallas standpoint it seems to me they have to win a championship with Anthony Davis who is going to be 31 years old in March.

Do you believe the Mavericks this weekend got closer or further away from winning an NBA title.

I wouldn't say they're closer but I'll say this I disagree with you on this Greeney I don't know that this matters if the Lakers win a championship in the next two or three years and that justifies this because how do you know you wouldn't have done that with Luka Dodgich because Luka Dodgich could have won a championship in the next two or three years and also could have been the face of your franchise for the next decade or more.

So here's how I look at this trade.

Ultimately I think one of two things is going to happen and only one of two things.

I think in the next four to five years if Luka doesn't win in L.A. this trade will be seen as justified by Nico Harrison because by that time Luka will be approaching 30 years old still not having won.

And if that happens then I think you can basically make the argument that Nico Harrison did the right thing.

So it's either going to be that or 50 years from now this is going to be regarded as maybe the worst trade in the history of this league.

So you take your pick because if Luka goes this isn't even about what the Mavericks do in the next two to three years.

This is more about what Luka Dodgich is able to do going forward because if he goes to L.A. and he wins at a high level and he wins championships multiple championships and he does that over the next six to eight years and they do that there that's how this is going to be viewed.

The front office they gave up on a once in a lifetime talent for your organization at 25 years old that had already had great deal of success.

And by the way is incredibly good under pressure.

He's already proven like that stage he embraces.

That's a big quality for a star player to have Lucas proven that he just hasn't broken through yet.

You know at age 24 he had won a championship.

So I think that's how this is going to go.

Nico is going to know in the next four or five years or 50 years from now we're still going to be talking about this.

Fair enough.

Let me show everyone just exactly what like can we put up a thirty four please a thirty four just to give everyone a sense.

Lest you are not aware of just how good Luka Donchik has been in the postseason.

There were two players in NBA history who have averaged 30 points a game in the postseason.

They are Michael Jordan and Luka Donchik.

He led the team to the finals last year.

He was a plus ninety seven over twenty two games on the floor in leading a Mavericks team that people did not see coming all the way to the finals.

And a few years ago he had led them to the Western Conference finals.

But so let's throw all that other stuff out legs.

Is this team the Mavericks right now as constituted ready to win a championship in the next year or two with Anthony Davis Kyrie Irving Clay Thompson and whatever else they're able to put around them.

This team is absolutely in the mix to potentially come out of the Western Conference.

I believe that Anthony Davis is that good.

He's that big of a difference maker.

Defensively you still have Kyrie Irving who's a superstar offensive talent.

They've got really nice role players around them.

I believe this team got better after going to the finals because of the additions that they made in the offseason.

But Luca being hurt has really derailed their season.

So we don't know if he had come back and had a push after the All-Star break.

Dallas would have been in the mix with Luca.

I think they're going to be in the mix as currently constructed.

There's no question about that.

For me it's really not about that for the Mavericks.

It's about the next decade.

And that to me is what you just gave up on to try to win as Nico Harrison put it in the next three to four years.

I think that is so short sighted organizationally.