INSIDE THE NBA REACT TO NICO HARRISON'S COMMENTS ON LUKA DONCIC

 

MAVS GM HAS 'NO REGRETS' ABOUT LUKA DONCIC TRADE: 'DEFENCE WINS CHAMPIONS'

Dallas Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison has mostly been unavailable to the media since trading superstar Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, but on Tuesday, he opened himself up to some questions — at least, to a select group of Dallas media, in a conference where there were no cameras present.

In that conference, Harrison reiterated that he has "no regrets" about trading Doncic, and that "defense wins championships," per ESPN.

Harrison used past unpopular trades that worked out as a defense of his moving Doncic for Anthony Davis, a deal which not only caused Mavericks fans to grow angry at the team in a way that the Kyrie Irving and Daniel Gafford trades did not, but is so much obviously worse given Doncic was a star who helped lead the Mavericks to the NBA Finals in 2024.

Defense wins championships, but not on its own: ask the team that defeated the Mavericks in the Finals a year ago about that, considering their league-high offensive rating of 123.2 in 2023-2024. Defense was vital to that team, as well, but it was paired with a dynamic offense — the kind of dynamic offense that Doncic is capable of generating, especially when paired alongside a player like Irving.

The two are now split up, however, with Doncic scoring 28.2 points per game for the Lakers over 28 games, shooting 38% on 3s and contributing over eight rebounds and 7.5 assists per game to that mix. The Mavs have gone 13-20 after trading Doncic while they were still 26-23 — that initial record was disappointing, yes, but not a lost cause even in the competitive Western Conference, given the duo of Doncic and Irving.

After dealing Doncic, though, Irving then suffered a torn ACL and the end of his own season, and Davis — who played 36, 40, 56, and 76 games over the previous four seasons — has appeared in all of nine games for the Mavs due to his own injuries since the trade. In Harrison's defense, losing Doncic wasn't the only problem, but considering that Davis was the centerpiece of the return, it's not like the GM is fully absolved or dealing with some bad luck here, either. 

The Lakers have gone 22-13 in the same stretch, minus one Davis and plus one Doncic, which allowed them to finish with 50 wins and a third-place finish in the West. The Mavericks get a chance to stick around through the play-in tournament, since their skid dropped them to 10th in the West, but it will be very difficult for them to do something with their unfortunate seeding this season if they are to make it out of that tournament, unlike a year ago when they were fifth but with their own 50-win season, and pushed through to the Finals, anyway … which the presence of an explosive player like Doncic on the roster allowed them to do.

Harrison explained that the lack of regrets is due to how unpopular moves come with the territory. "That's my job and I have to stand by it." It's understandable, given that the Mavs might very well make it into the playoffs and the season is ongoing for them, that Harrison would refuse to express regret just yet. However, Mavericks fans are likely hoping that this is all that this attitude is, and not Harrison truly believing that, in the end, shipping Doncic off was no more than an unpopular trade.

 - FOX Sports

MAVS LEGEND ATTENDED LUKA DONCIC DEBUT

(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

The Dallas Mavericks just lost their franchise player.

Luka Doncic made his debut with the Los Angeles Lakers, starting a new era in Purple & Gold basketball.

Notably, they did so while another Mavericks great was in attendance.

As Jovan Buha on X (via NBA Central) showed, Dirk Nowitzki went to Crypto.com Arena to watch his former teammate’s debut with his new team.

This speaks volumes about several things.

On the one hand, it shows just how close Nowitzki grew to be with the Slovenian star, and it was a nice gesture to watch him showing up in person to be present at such a big event.

On the other hand, Nowitzki has clearly taken a side in this situation.

GM Nico Harrison’s decision to trade Doncic was reportedly motivated by concerns about his work ethic and conditioning.

By going to Los Angeles and attending another franchise’s game, Nowitzki’s actions are speaking volumes.

He clearly disagreed with the Mavs’ decision to let go of their 25-year-old star, which shocked the NBA world to its core.

The trade was so bad on paper that even Mavs fans are complaining about getting a future first-ballot Hall of Famer like Anthony Davis.

Luka is so good and has such a bright future ahead of him that he’s making a trade for a player of Davis’ caliber look like a steal.

Nico Harrison will have a tough time changing the narrative, and once you infuriate a guy like Nowitzki, you know you messed up.

- Ernesto Cova