“The center of why the Mavericks didn’t pay Luka Doncic, or traded Luka Doncic, was as a result of they didn’t wish to pay him,” mentioned Brian Windhorst on Unsportsmanlike. “On the finish of the day, they didn’t assume a $300 million funding was good in Luka. We may spend hours debating whether or not that’s true or not, however that’s what they noticed. “The idea that we are in an era where you just take all your players on your roster and just immediately pay them the max just no matter what… That era, I believe, is coming to a close. I imagine we’re simply originally of seeing groups getting, particularly that second max contract, and simply instantaneously handing it to them [is over]. And so once we watch guys in the course of their careers… let’s see how these playoffs go and let’s see when a few of these extensions come up whether or not these extensions get achieved. We’re in a brand new period proper now the place you can’t make a mistake on an enormous contract, which is the lesson that the Sixers and the Suns to a sure extent are studying proper now.” -via RealGM / March 5, 2025
