If you look at the lakers, we know that both star players have to play in order for the lakers to have a chance at beating the top teams.

If you look at the Bucks, Giannis does not have another superstar player, so the bucks would not stand a chance against a top team. I imagine they could still be somewhat competitive with Middleton and Bledsoe. But it would be a huge drop off.

Clippers are a totally different team without PG or Kawahi playing, but they have tons of Luxury, and are well off than any other team. So if they don't win the chip, then they will be the biggest failures...even bigger than the lakers.


Now if you look at the Mavs, they actually play better as a whole without Luka. Prozingas' game goes to a superstar level, as well as curry, cleva, tim jr, brunson, etc. They have played championship contender after championship contender recently without luka. They beat the Bucks, where they were killing them with 3's. They could have beaten Miami and they could have beaten Boston. They lost those games by 6 or less points. And they just crushed the Sixers.


Brunson just won college player of the decade, so he really knows how to run an offense, and he can get his own shot. Luka is ball dominant like Lebron and Harden, so the ball is always in his hands. And there is more standing around waiting for him to make plays happen, as oppose to the fluent ball movement that the players have now.

I pushed him way back on my mvp ratings recently. I'm not saying they don't need him, or this or that. I'm just saying that, right now, the Mavs look fluent, complete and more dangerous. With Luka, they will always be dangerous, because Luka is a once in a lifetime player.

Similar to Harden, does Luka hurt or help Dallas with the offense being centered around him?

It's one of those questions that people want to ask, but are scared to ask because we are talking about a megastar player. Their current play is a small sample size, but the difference in how they play without Luka is like night and day.