Mavs’ GM Nico Harrison Labels Luka Doncic Move as ‘Best Decision’ in Closed Door Meet
Not so long ago, on February 1, fans were hit by a major bombshell as the Dallas Mavericks traded Luka Dončić to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis in a three-team deal with the Utah Jazz playing the facilitator role. Two and a half months later, Mavs GM Nico Harrison decided to speak on the matter, following huge backlash from fans to date. But it was a closed-door meeting, with Dallas media. No camera or recording was allowed.
As per reports from the invite-only meeting, where chief executive officer Rick Welts was also present, Harrison addressed the issue and praised the player for his abilities. Still, he stood by his decision, calling it ‘best ever’. Harrison said in a press conference that the team was focused on building for the next 3 to 4 years, not the next decade.
“There’s no regrets on the trade,” said Harrison, whose only other media availability since the trade was a brief pregame session the following day in Cleveland. “Part of my job is to do the best thing for the Mavericks, not only today, but also in the future, and some of the decisions I’m going to make are going to be unpopular. That’s my job and I have to stand by it.”
After that statement, he went silent, declining to speak further with the media about the franchise’s future plans. On the floor, the Mavs will play a win-or-go-home Play-In game in Sacramento on Wednesday night.
What Nico Harrison Said About Luka Doncic Trade
Luka Doncic, when traded to the Mavs on draft night, was a fairly unknown star for the NBA followers. But his unique passing and scoring abilities instant fan favorites. In his seven seasons with the franchise, he led the side to the NBA finals, the first time after the 2011 championship run. Literally seen as irreplaceable at the Texas-based franchise, he was traded to the Lakers just before the trade deadline.
Mavs fans were confused and angered at the same time with the news. ‘Fire Nico’ chants filled the American Airlines Arena. Protests were held. Addressing the heat, here is what Harrison has to say.
“Well, the beauty of Dallas is it is a passionate fan base,” Harrison said.
“For us to reach our goals, we need that fan base. And to be honest with you, every trade I’ve made since I’ve been here has not been regarded as a good trade, and so sometimes it takes time. When I traded for Kyrie, it was met with a lot of scepticism, and it was graded as a terrible trade you didn’t see it right away, but eventually everyone agreed that that was a great trade. When I traded for [Gafford] and [Washington] again, it was like, ‘Oh, he gave up way too much. These guys aren’t going to help us.’ Now that trade, you saw the evidence a lot sooner. So I think a lot of times trades take a little bit of time.
“But our philosophy, like I said, going forward is defense wins championships and we’re built on defense. And this trade cements us for that.”
In reality, without Luka, the Mavs are down to 10th place in the 2024-25 season with a 13-20 run post-trade, while the Lakers moved up to the third place and won 19 out of 31 games with Doncic joining the locker-room. Whatever Harrison has to say about the Doncic-Davis trade, it will remain as the ‘shocking move’ in the NBA. And why not? It was the first time in National Basketball Association (NBA) history that two reigning All-NBA Team players were traded for each other midseason.
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