A Slight Change of Plans
Good morning, dear readers. I hope you had a wonderful weekend.
I was planning to do the entire blog on the Super Bowl today but, as I was playing Marvel Rivals last night - terrorizing teams with my mad Scarlet Witch skills, my phone buzzed.
BREAKING: Dallas Mavericks are trading Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis.
My first thought, like many peoples, was that Shams Charania, the reporting party, had been hacked. There was absolutely no way that the Mavericks were trading the player that took them to the NBA Finals last season. Surely this was a hack, or a joke, or maybe we all got zapped to an alternate universe.
But no. It wasn't a hack, or a joke, and the sun still rose in the east this morning. The Dallas Mavericks GM Nico Harrison really traded one of the NBA’s best players in Luka Dončić for an older, injury prone Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and ONE first round pick.
Now, as a certified Mavericks hater, I am thrilled. The Mavericks have literally just made themselves a laughingstock. As shocking as it may seem, Jerry Jones is no longer the worst GM in Dallas. However, as an NBA fan, I am horrified. The Lakers don't need help attracting Super Stars. The LeBron James era of the Los Angeles Lakers is coming to an end soon, and instead of having to go through a long rebuild, they now have Luka - without giving any real assets up. The Lakers get to remain relevant - all at the low cost of the aging Anthony Davis. Don’t get me wrong, Anthony Davis is one of the Association’s best big men and an elite defensive player, but he is not Luka.
Looking at the reports coming out, the Lakers didn't even inquire about Luka. The Mavericks OFFERED Luka to them. No shopping around. No bidding wars. Just, “Here you go LA.”. The Brooklyn Nets got 5 first round picks from New York for Mikal Bridges. The Jazz got 4 first rounders for Rudy Gobert. There is no universe where Luka is only worth one first rounder - 5 should be the absolute minimum starting point.
The official reason for the trade has been reported that ”there had been significant frustration within the organization about Doncic's lack of discipline regarding his diet and conditioning, which team sources considered a major factor in his injury issues.”
That's right. The Mavericks called Luka fat and then traded him to LA. This may go down as one of the worst sports trades of all time, beating out the Herschel Walker trade of 1989 or the Red Sox selling Babe Ruth's contract to New York to finance a musical (yes, this actually happened). I'm not one for conspiracy theories, Darth Jar Jar being the only exception, but something smells fishy and I believe it's Nico Harrison or Adam Silver. This reeks of collusion at best and an NBA mandate at worst - but that remains to be seen.
Now, dear reader, I did promise you a Super Bowl preview. Walker’s Wranting’s presents a Walker’s Wrants Production:
A Super Super Bowl Preview:
And (Probably Wrong) Prediction
I am not going to lie to you, dear reader, this Kansas City Chiefs - Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl matchup is probably the least exciting of the potential matchups that we could have gotten on last Sunday’s Championship Sunday. I personally would have loved to have a Commanders - Bills Super Bowl, but we live in the real world, where, like Thanos, Patrick Mahomes is inevitable.
The Eagles will ride into New Orleans as champions of the NFC East with a record of 14-3. The addition of Saquon Barkley in the offseason gave the Eagles, already formidable with Jalen Hurts at quarterback, a huge boost in their offense. Barkley showed the league that he was still a force to be reckoned with, coming just 30 yards shy of Terrell Davis’ record of 2,476 total yards gained set in 1998. The addition of Barkley helped a Philly passing attack that was fourth worst in the league at 187.9 yards per game. However, as I’ve always liked to say, defense wins championships, and the Eagles have the NFL’s leading defense, only allowing 278.4 yards per game, along with a second best 17.8 points per game. That defense, combined with the NFL's second best rushing game, has brought the Eagles to Super Bowl 59.
On the other side of the field will be the two time defending Super Bowl Champions - the 15-2 AFC West Champions Kansas City Chiefs. What can I say about Kansas City that you don’t already know? Patrick Mahomes has etched his name as one of the Greatest Quarterbacks of all time, Andy Reid loves creating intricate offensive schemes almost as much as he loves nuggies, and Travis and Taylor are still the NFL’s power couple. Middle of the road offensively, as weird as that sounds with Mahomes and Reid, the Chiefs have also made the Super Bowl on the backs of a top ten defense, coached by defensive minded genius, Steve Spagnuolo. The Chiefs just know how to win, even in a “down” year.
My (Probably Wrong) Prediction:
I really want the Eagles to win, I love Saquon Barkley, but, as much as I hate to say it, I believe the Chiefs win their third consecutive Super Bowl, and their fourth in the last six years. Like Tom Brady and Bill Belichick’s New England Patriots before them, the Chiefs will continue to dominate the National Football League, whether we like it or not.
Spoiler Alert: I don’t like it.
Walker’s Weekly Wrecommendations
Each week I’m gonna review and recommend random things - TV shows, music, or a restaurant. IDK. Whatever I feel like. This is my blog.
This week's Triple W is HBO’s “Harley Quinn”, a DC Comics animated series about Gotham City’s favorite bad girl, Harley Quinn, voiced by Kaley Cuoco. A dark comedy series, Harley Quinn follows the titular Villain/Heroine as she leaves the Joker for good, forging her own super villain path. With popular characters such as Poison Ivy, Bane, Batman and Clayface making appearances along with spectacularly witty and irreverent writing, Harley Quinn is a must watch for any Batman fan. The show's fifth season is currently airing on HBO.
NEXT WEEK: Walker’s Wranting’s presents “(Probably Wrong) Predictions: NBA All-Star Edition”
2 comments
Pamela Walker
Sometimes I think people in the sports community have different mindsets then the rest of humankind. What they do makes no sense has no rhyme or reason or it really has any bearing on my life because I just enjoy the games as they come and wonder why I’m not being paid that amount of money. Love your post Mr Walker.
Pamela Walker
Sometimes I think people in the sports community have different mindsets then the rest of humankind. What they do makes no sense has no rhyme or reason or it really has any bearing on my life because I just enjoy the games as they come and wonder why I’m not being paid that amount of money. Love your post Mr Walker.