The Mavericks CEO Rick Welts Comparing The Luka Doncic Trade To When The Warriors Traded Monta Ellis For Andrew Bogut Is Certifiably Insane
As I blogged a little while ago, the quotes from today's Nico Harrison presser are starting to come out, and frankly every one seems to be worse than the last. As it turns out, Nico Harrison surprisingly (or really, unsurprisingly) wasn't the only one to say some of the dumbest shit you'll ever hear in your entire life. The more that comes out you get a better idea as to why they didn't want any cameras of recording devices present, because some of this shit we're hearing is so insane that there's no way anyone could possibly believe it was real.
Take Mavs CEO Rick Welts for example. Now if that name sounds a little familar, it's because not too long ago when Rick Welts touched on the Luka trade subject, he admitted that he probably underestimated the fan reaction to the Luka trade
How that could possibly be the case is beyond me, but that's what he went with at the time. For those unaware, Rick Welts is an NBA lifer as an executive. He's been in front offices since 1969, and he was part of the Warriors brain trust that won 3 titles in 5 years during the Warriors Dynasty run before the Mavs hired him back in January.
That history is important to remember when you see his latest take, that trading Luka was essentially the same thing as when his Warriors traded Monta Ellis for Andrew Bogut
Advertisement
Come on man….COME ON. Serious question, are we being Punk'd? What is going on right now in the Mavs front office, and how the hell does this stuff keep happening? How could it be possible that an entire organization is this tone deaf? Do they just think nobody remembers who Monta Ellis was? Not only that, in what world are those situations even remotely the same?
If I had to guess, what this guy is trying to suggest is that trading an offensive minded player to help bolster the defense/front court is what's similar when building a championship roster. It is true that bringing in Bogut did do wonders for the first Warriors title, but give me a fucking break.
For starters, nothing against the Mississippi Bullet. Back in those days (sigh) of the mid 2000s-early 2010s, he was electric as hell as an offensive guard
Advertisement
who overall was a "fine" player. Was he an All Star? No. Did he ever make an All NBA team? No. Was he ever in the MVP conversation? No. Was he the franchise cornerstone player? No. He did have that one MIP in his 2nd season, so at least there's that!
To even remotely suggest that Monta Ellis had anything close to the production or the impact that Luka Doncic had as a Mav is so insane that I couldn't believe what I was reading. Yes, he was traded for a defensive big man in 2012, that is true. That DOES NOT mean the situations are the same. And not to pick on Andrew Bogut, but if AD has a similar Mavs tenure as Bogut had with the Warriors, this trade is even more of a disaster.
Just think of what you're being told. A player, beloved by the fanbase and one of the best players in franchise history, with THIS resume
is basically the same thing as Monta Ellis. Listen, I may think Luka is a flawed player, but I also have eyes and a working brain. How can a fanbase have any faith in an organization and the decision makers if this is how they are evaluating and comparing NBA talent? How does that give you any confidence that this team knows what they are doing or that this plan makes any sense?
An underrated hilarious part of his insane comparison is the fact that this guy is telling Mavs fans about Monta Ellis as if they didn't already experience that player for themselves. They actually got the prime NBA years/perfect health version of Monta, and even that guy was nowhere close to what Luka is as a basketball player. You know why that Bogut trade worked out? Because the Warriors had Steph/Klay/Draymond/Iggy/Livingston etc! Sure, the 2025 Mavs have Klay, but you get the point. As we would later see for the entire back half of their Dynasty run, Bogut was not needed for them to win titles!
Advertisement
I'm not sure why the Mavs as an organization are hell bent on destroying their relationship with their own fanbase, but they seemed obsessed with it. It's almost like they're doing it on purpose. Between Nico taking shots at Dirk
and the CEO trolling his entire fanbase by comparing Luka to Monta Ellis, I mean this is basically a masterclass in what NOT to do as an NBA organization. How nobody with the Mavs seems to understand that is maybe the most troubling thing of all.