Embattled Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison made a damning admission on the Luka Dončić trade.
“I did know that Luka was important to the fan base,” Harrison told reporters on Monday, April 21, during his end-of-the-season press conference. “I didn’t quite know to what level.”
Dončić had just led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season and is entering his prime years. But his reported off-court habits, which led to nagging calf injuries, and the differing philosophies between his camp and Harrison on how to manage his recovery, led to the most shocking trade in league history.
The manner it was executed all the more angered the Mavericks fan base, who called for Harrison’s dismissal with “Fire Nico!” chants in their home games since the trade went down.
Fans also felt the return package — Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a 2029 first-round pick — was underwhelming for a generational star like Dončić.
But Harrison stood by his decision.
“The way we look at it was if you’re putting a team on the floor that’s Kyrie (Irving), Klay (Thompson), P.J. (Washington), Anthony Davis and (Dereck) Lively (II), we feel that’s a championship-caliber team and would have been winning at a high level, and that would have quieted some of the outrage,” Harrison explained.
Davis, the headliner of the return package, is a 10-time NBA All-Star and a five-time NBA All-Defensive center. But he is six years older than Dončić.
“When you trade a guy of Luka’s caliber, you are not taking it lightly,” Harrison said. “But we really feel that defense is our calling card and what we hang our hat on. When we had an opportunity to get one of the best two-way players in the league, we jumped at that opportunity.”
Luka Reacts to Nico Harrison’s Post-Trade Barbs
Dončić took the high road in response Harrison’s constant shade in his post-trade comments.
“It’s just sad the way he’s talking right now,” Dončić said of Harrison in an interview with ESPN’s Malika Andrews that aired Friday, April 18. “I never say anything bad about him, and I just want to move on. The fans, my ex-teammates, I’ll always keep at heart. It’s time for me to move on from there.”
Harrison quadrupled down on his reasoning on trading away Dončić, a generational star who is entering his prime with his oft-repeated mantra “defense wins championships.”
It’s a shade to Dončić, whose offensive brilliance led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals last season, but his defense and conditioning have always been questioned.
Luka’s Portrayal From Dallas Post-Trade
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon reported in the aftermath of the trade that one factor that contributed to the Mavericks’ decision to trade the 25-year-old superstar was his poor conditioning, which led to several injuries in his tenure in Dallas.
“The [Mavericks] had major concerns about moving forward with Luka Dončić due to his constant conditioning issues and the looming commitment of another supermax contract extension this summer, sources told ESPN,” MacMahon wrote on X.
Combine those with his social habits which Sam Amick of The Athletic reported and Harrison just decided to move on and betting against him as a the focal point of a championship team.
“Make no mistake, the people who witnessed Dončić’s last days in Dallas do not paint a flattering portrait of the 25-year-old’s professionalism. They call him lazy. They talk about the weight issues that were such a frequent frustration within their walls. They mention the social habits that The Athletic has reported on — such as a taste for beer and hookah — which have been a point of concern for NBA types since he was a 19-year-old star for Real Madrid who was entering the NBA Draft. They predict his basketball demise, highlighting a health history that, as some see it, will likely lead to catastrophe in the next five years or so,” Amick wrote.
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