For sports activities followers in Dallas, the late-night hours of Feb. 1 function a stop-down, remember-where-you-were second. The information of all-world celebrity level ahead Luka Dončić being traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the Western Convention rival Los Angeles Lakers was a surreal expertise.
Lower than seven months later, it was déjà vu. For a metropolis that runs on the Dallas Cowboys, few Dallas sports activities followers will neglect the place they had been within the late afternoon hours of Aug. 28, when the Cowboys traded celebrity cross rusher Micah Parsons to the Inexperienced Bay Packers in change for 2 first-round picks and veteran defensive sort out Kenny Clark.
Parsons turned 26 years previous in Could, three months after Dončić did the identical — Dončić was traded simply weeks earlier than his birthday. Given their standing of their respective sports activities, and being within the prime of their careers, it’s simple to narrate one to the opposite. The returns additionally invoke an identical feeling, with Clark taking part in the a part of Anthony Davis, and the 2 first-round picks feeling equally unsatisfactory to the draft compensation the Mavericks obtained.
Though each trades depart followers with a way of despair, the small print make the 2 conditions fairly totally different. Each are painful, sure, however they’re two various kinds of ache.
The Mavericks underwent a franchise overhaul within the yr and a half main as much as the Dončić commerce. Mark Cuban bought the franchise to the Adelson household, with Patrick Dumont taking Cuban’s place because the staff’s governor. Nico Harrison was employed as common supervisor by Cuban however he wasn’t put in place because the decision-maker. Cuban was the de facto common supervisor and had the ultimate phrase.
Mavericks followers protested instantly after Luka Dončić was traded to the Lakers. (Tim Heitman / Getty Photos)
After the sale, with Dumont having nowhere close to the basketball operations curiosity or expertise of Cuban, Harrison was elevated to the true duties of common supervisor. Harrison rigorously noticed Dončić for over a yr and made the calculated resolution to maneuver on from the celebrity level ahead.
Would Dončić nonetheless be a Maverick if the organizational construction hadn’t utterly flipped with the sale? Cuban’s historical past, and his phrases for the reason that commerce, would point out that to be the case.
With the Cowboys, the organizational construction has been constant to a fault. Jerry Jones has served because the staff’s proprietor and common supervisor since 1989. Jones has made it abundantly clear, particularly in current months through the Parsons contract saga, that he’s calling the pictures, simply as he at all times has. Whereas issues modified in a single day within the Mavericks’ operation, the Cowboys’ possession and entrance workplace has been serving its fan base dying by a thousand cuts.
The Mavericks traded Dončić as a result of they had been unhappy with who he was as a participant. The Cowboys traded Parsons due to a contract negotiation standoff that was pushed by ego.
The most important distinction, although, is the participant. To ensure that the Parsons commerce to equate to the Dončić commerce, Parsons must be a quarterback on the degree and profession stage of Josh Allen or Joe Burrow. Parsons is an elite cross rusher, even perhaps the most effective within the NFL. He’s one of many league’s greatest defensive gamers. However that’s not the identical factor as taking part in the premier place at arguably the very best degree.
The opposite main distinction is the participant’s emotions in direction of his state of affairs earlier than the commerce. Dončić was shelved with an harm however he had each intention to return to the court docket as quickly as potential, and to do it in a Mavericks jersey. There was no public friction with the group and no indication {that a} seismic commerce was coming. Dončić has mentioned that he was completely shocked and livid — to the purpose he threw his cellphone and broke it — when he discovered concerning the commerce. The commerce was so surprising that even the insider who broke the information had to ensure he wasn’t being duped.
It’s a really totally different situation with Parsons. Parsons has publicly expressed his dissatisfaction with the Cowboys for months, with issues reaching a boiling level when Parsons penned an essay on Aug. 1 asking the Cowboys to be traded. Parsons was nonetheless exhibiting as much as practices in order that he couldn’t be fined. Cowboys head coach Brian Schottenheimer nonetheless expressed confidence that Parsons could be on the sphere for the Cowboys in Week 1. However the truth that there was sufficient smoke that Schottenheimer needed to routinely reply the questions exhibits how totally different it was from Dončić’s state of affairs.
In his assertion following the commerce, Parsons expressed regret for a way the state of affairs unfolded and instructed Cowboys followers that he by no means needed to depart Dallas. There may be fact to that, and the Cowboys did their half in breaking down that future, however Parsons additionally requested the commerce. When information broke Thursday afternoon that Parsons had been traded, the prevalent response was, “I can’t consider they did it!”
When Dončić was traded, the prevalent response was, “SAY WHAT NOW?!”
It does little to heal sports activities feelings that one participant’s premature departure was unexpected and invoked rage, whereas the opposite’s departure was believable and invoked frustration. Ultimately, the frequent losers are Dallas sports activities followers, who’re left choosing up items of their sports activities coronary heart, shattered by the franchises they hoped would deliver them pleasure.
(Prime photograph of Cowboys followers emploring Jerry Jones to pay Micah Parsons: Sam Hodde / Getty Photos)
