Anchorage Man
@sethpartnow.bsky.social
Current: NBA Data Science @ Penn Interactive.
Author: “The Midrange Theory”
Prev: Director of Basketball Research @
Milwaukee Bucks. Dir. N. American Sports @ StatsBomb. NBA Analysis @ The Athletic
Author: “The Midrange Theory”
Prev: Director of Basketball Research @
Milwaukee Bucks. Dir. N. American Sports @ StatsBomb. NBA Analysis @ The Athletic
Ask Kings fans if it’s good to have decisions made based on who talked to the owner last…
What changed is the Mavs failed to sell out a game for the first time in 24 years. I think this move (though the right one for basketball reasons) was made for optics reasons and because of peer pressure. Dumont seems to be highly manipulatable person.
November 14, 2025 at 7:56 AM
Ask Kings fans if it’s good to have decisions made based on who talked to the owner last…
I don’t disagree, but what changed between end of summer and now that could have caused the switch to flip?
I mean surely it was about them thinking the situation with the fans was untenable and possibly harmful to Flagg’s future with the team.
They definitely should have fire Nico 10 months ago, second best was before summer, but I don’t see why now is a bad choice. Keeping him around was tho
They definitely should have fire Nico 10 months ago, second best was before summer, but I don’t see why now is a bad choice. Keeping him around was tho
November 14, 2025 at 1:06 AM
I don’t disagree, but what changed between end of summer and now that could have caused the switch to flip?
Which is definitely the way good decision makers do things.
The Mavs are tired of being made fun of because of him and put all the blame on him to try to distance themselves from the Luka trade.
November 13, 2025 at 9:13 PM
Which is definitely the way good decision makers do things.
Again, this three weeks being the thing that pushed it over the edge is damningly revelatory.
Admitting you made a mistake is the first step to making knew, hopefully not as terrible, mistakes.
November 13, 2025 at 9:12 PM
Again, this three weeks being the thing that pushed it over the edge is damningly revelatory.
What about the start to this season should have caused this shift if they didn’t already think he was bad? Team playing without its top 3 guys is bad, who knew.
I disagree with that assumption. If they have come to the realization that Nico is a bad GM who implemented a flawed plan then they should fire him instead of letting it play out to see if they're Wrong, Actually about that realization. Literal sunk cost fallacy.
November 13, 2025 at 9:09 PM
What about the start to this season should have caused this shift if they didn’t already think he was bad? Team playing without its top 3 guys is bad, who knew.
Somehow, yes.
So, you think the ownership group is worse than you though it was a week ago?
November 13, 2025 at 9:05 PM
Somehow, yes.
Always have to take the notebook dumps after a guy gets fired with a mountain of salt. If a GM got fired everytime they tried to lean on the medical staff to clear a guy before they wanted to, we’d be averaging 150 GMs per season.
that AD reporting is damning, though. can't imagine you have any chance of attracting players to your franchise if your GM is known for trying to rush injury-prone players back against medical advice. (obviously should've dumped him over the summer but c'mon)
November 13, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Always have to take the notebook dumps after a guy gets fired with a mountain of salt. If a GM got fired everytime they tried to lean on the medical staff to clear a guy before they wanted to, we’d be averaging 150 GMs per season.
This.
Why let him do the trade if you haven't discussed the post-Luka theory of the team? And assuming you discussed that, why aren't you letting him execute on that?
Like if the issue was the trade, just don't make the trade?
Like if the issue was the trade, just don't make the trade?
November 13, 2025 at 8:56 PM
This.
Because they gave up a lot for an aging, injury prone, unreliable defensive minus who doesn’t really compliment your main guy.
The things that really unlocked Luka was getting 48 minutes of rim defense/lob threat in Lively/Gafford.
The things that really unlocked Luka was getting 48 minutes of rim defense/lob threat in Lively/Gafford.
how was pairing luka with kyrie bad, having a good off ball shooter and secondary creator is pretty much exactly what you want next to luka and it allowed them to put a lot of defenders/shooters at the 3-5
November 13, 2025 at 8:56 PM
Because they gave up a lot for an aging, injury prone, unreliable defensive minus who doesn’t really compliment your main guy.
The things that really unlocked Luka was getting 48 minutes of rim defense/lob threat in Lively/Gafford.
The things that really unlocked Luka was getting 48 minutes of rim defense/lob threat in Lively/Gafford.
I thought he was bad before that. The finals run was built on the back of having to settle for PJW after they couldn’t land his real target, Kuzma. Pairing Kyrie with Luka was also bad even if it kinda sorta worked ok at times on the floor.
I don't think before trading Luka you could say he was among the worst GMs...
November 13, 2025 at 8:51 PM
I thought he was bad before that. The finals run was built on the back of having to settle for PJW after they couldn’t land his real target, Kuzma. Pairing Kyrie with Luka was also bad even if it kinda sorta worked ok at times on the floor.
Yes but if you decide to keep him, reversing course 3 weeks into the season is sort of the ownership equivalent of “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and to remove all doubt.”
Curious, do you think it was obvious he should have been fired in the offseason? If no, it makes sense to fire him now given the reporting about rushing AD back against medical advice.
November 13, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Yes but if you decide to keep him, reversing course 3 weeks into the season is sort of the ownership equivalent of “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and to remove all doubt.”
To be abundantly clear, I think he was among the worst GMs we’ve ever seen. This is specifically about ownership mashing buttons rather Nico per se.
Can’t just look at the Luka trade in a vacuum. Nico mortgaged their future building the team around Luka. After this draft, they don’t own any of their firsts until 2031. No one is trading a lottery pick for anyone on the Mavs roster, so they are incredibly limited in terms of paths forward.
Look I’m not defending the trade, but their three best players have played 8 games this season total. Sure AD and Kyrie are injury prone, but we haven’t actually seen the team that ownership “bought” with the trade. You can’t give him a full offseason and then eject 3 weeks in.
November 13, 2025 at 8:45 PM
To be abundantly clear, I think he was among the worst GMs we’ve ever seen. This is specifically about ownership mashing buttons rather Nico per se.
This.
I don’t think Seth is saying they shouldn’t have fired Nico. He’s saying the fact that they did it now signals that they have even less of a clue of what they’re doing than anyone thought
November 13, 2025 at 8:43 PM
This.
My point is that I somehow feel worse about the Mavs future now AFTER winning the lottery than I did at the time of the trade because any uncertainty about the ability of ownership to get their shit together has been resolved in the negative.
Look I’m not defending the trade, but their three best players have played 8 games this season total. Sure AD and Kyrie are injury prone, but we haven’t actually seen the team that ownership “bought” with the trade. You can’t give him a full offseason and then eject 3 weeks in.
The fact that the “post-Luka theory” is still a theory 9 months after the trade is evidence enough of the fallacy of the “post-Luka theory”
November 13, 2025 at 8:30 PM
My point is that I somehow feel worse about the Mavs future now AFTER winning the lottery than I did at the time of the trade because any uncertainty about the ability of ownership to get their shit together has been resolved in the negative.
Look I’m not defending the trade, but their three best players have played 8 games this season total. Sure AD and Kyrie are injury prone, but we haven’t actually seen the team that ownership “bought” with the trade. You can’t give him a full offseason and then eject 3 weeks in.
The fact that the “post-Luka theory” is still a theory 9 months after the trade is evidence enough of the fallacy of the “post-Luka theory”
November 13, 2025 at 8:27 PM
Look I’m not defending the trade, but their three best players have played 8 games this season total. Sure AD and Kyrie are injury prone, but we haven’t actually seen the team that ownership “bought” with the trade. You can’t give him a full offseason and then eject 3 weeks in.
Take it from a Process guy.
The one counterpoint might be that Nico would be too stubborn to trade AD because he'd be desperate to prove he was right with the Luka trade. Whereas new management won't have those same emotional ties.
(Overall point is true, though: Ownership flip-flopping like this is not a great sign!)
(Overall point is true, though: Ownership flip-flopping like this is not a great sign!)
November 13, 2025 at 5:50 PM
Take it from a Process guy.
I don’t disagree, but if you’re going to let him do the Luka trade then fire him before the post-Luka theory of the team even has a chance, you somehow look like a bigger imbecile than you did allowing the trade in the first place.
Counterpoint, there's never a bad time to fire Nico Harris. I wish I could fire him again today from something else he's in charge of. His fantasy league. His Netflix subscription. His driver's license. I don't care
November 13, 2025 at 5:40 PM
I don’t disagree, but if you’re going to let him do the Luka trade then fire him before the post-Luka theory of the team even has a chance, you somehow look like a bigger imbecile than you did allowing the trade in the first place.
I’m not going to defend the “Jrue just as good as Jokic” implication, but I will say that A) I can easily imagine a team having a player rating scale that treats 25th and 1st as in the same category.
1/x
1/x
November 13, 2025 at 1:07 PM
I’m not going to defend the “Jrue just as good as Jokic” implication, but I will say that A) I can easily imagine a team having a player rating scale that treats 25th and 1st as in the same category.
1/x
1/x
According to @sports-reference.com, 21 teams have finished a season with a point differential of -10/gm or worse. It’s very early still. As of tonight (with the Kings getting drubbed) 5 teams are currently -10/gm or worse.
If the season ended today, WAS would have the worst PD in NBA history.
If the season ended today, WAS would have the worst PD in NBA history.
November 13, 2025 at 9:54 AM
According to @sports-reference.com, 21 teams have finished a season with a point differential of -10/gm or worse. It’s very early still. As of tonight (with the Kings getting drubbed) 5 teams are currently -10/gm or worse.
If the season ended today, WAS would have the worst PD in NBA history.
If the season ended today, WAS would have the worst PD in NBA history.
If All-Star selection starts to read like the side effects statement at the end of a pharmaceutical, maybe it’s not worth saving.
So to sum up the All-Star Game selection process this season:
24 All-Stars
12 from each conference
Positions don't matter
16 US players
8 World players
2 US teams
1 World team
8 players per team
If there are not enough US or World players then Adam Silver will select more to fill out the teams.
24 All-Stars
12 from each conference
Positions don't matter
16 US players
8 World players
2 US teams
1 World team
8 players per team
If there are not enough US or World players then Adam Silver will select more to fill out the teams.
Looks like NBA just revealed the All-Star Game format this season. Two teams of American players and one World team. Same selection process for the All-Stars but they will not be picked based on position. So positionless All-Stars selections.
November 12, 2025 at 3:25 AM
If All-Star selection starts to read like the side effects statement at the end of a pharmaceutical, maybe it’s not worth saving.
“Where did the kids that AREN’T alright come from?”
I think the belief by the powerful that "people will put up with many things if you are excellent at math" is incredibly revealing in terms of understanding How We Got Here
November 11, 2025 at 11:43 PM
“Where did the kids that AREN’T alright come from?”
Bigger misread by these chuckleheads: LOTR or RATM?
The far right is obsessed with Lord of the Rings and Musk keeps posting about "hobbits" because modern scientific racism owes more to fantasy worlds and gaming systems than genetic science, and they see both as effective mediums for right-wing propaganda www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Why Elon Musk Needs Dungeons and Dragons to Be Racist
The fantastical roots of “scientific racism”
www.theatlantic.com
November 11, 2025 at 8:06 PM
Bigger misread by these chuckleheads: LOTR or RATM?
I’m preemptively a little sad because I’m going to miss all the memes because I’ll be on a very long flight shortly after the announcement.
November 11, 2025 at 3:55 PM
I’m preemptively a little sad because I’m going to miss all the memes because I’ll be on a very long flight shortly after the announcement.