Is it Possible that Russillo is Wrong About his Leverage Argument?

My initial reaction was 100% aligned with him. Let everyone know Luka is available and the market will create a bidding war because everyone will want Luka.

But, I just keep thinking, if it’s THAT obvious to all of us, how was in not obvious to Nico? Even if he always wanted AD, a bidding war might drive up the price so you can get AD + Reaves + more picks or something, idk.

I just wonder if maybe there is a little bit more going on behind the scenes. Maybe there was real animosity between Mavs front office and Luka and they knew Luka wasn’t going to sign the extension. So instead of waiting for Luka and his camp to let the world know where they wanna go, who they will sign with long-term, and all the reason they’re leaving Dallas (which would drive the bidding down if Luka said he was only going one place) Nico decides to do a deal with Lakers behind closed doors that nobody knows about and maybe this IS the best he could do without it getting messy.

Is that plausible?